Building Pod Population

[Clowny88]

Don't get a bag so fine they can't get out once they've grown. Just fine enough to hold the rubble together.

I was thinking something like this...

 

[CStrickland]

I've used lingerie bags from Walmart, they're like $5. Looks just like that one. I tear off the zipper and weave in a drawstring instead so it doesn't rust.

 

[vikinglord13]

I plan on switching my bioballs in my 29 gallon (gradually of course) to a refugium. I was wondering how exactly the pods move from the fuge to the DT, wouldn't they avoid being sucked into the pump? I sure would haha

Anyways, I like the idea of making nesting bags like sk8r was talking about. I feel like combining those bags with piles of rubble in the back of my DT would be a good safe haven for pods in the DT. Anyone know of an ideal size for rubble? The pieces from my LFS are about the size of a golf ball, maybe a billiard ball.

 

[rt67ghy]

Pods go through various stages of growth. After the eggs hatch they're called nauplii and float around in the water column. I think this is when a lot of pods enter the DT from the fuge. They molt several times before they become copepodites; again they molt several times before becoming adult pods.

I think smaller rubble such as marble size to a bit larger (up to half the size of a golf ball) should be fine. I have made some pod condos using rubble of this size and there are pods living in them but it takes time for them to multiply and become noticeable. Growing chaeto in the fuge helps a lot; they feed on it and love the stuff. I have chaeto in my fuge with lots of pods visible- much more than I see anywhere else in my fuge.

 

[Customride0105]

In the past I tried to raise pods in a seperate tank or bucket to supplement my Mandys. I had little success until I switched to cheato in the tank. Now I am pulling thousands of pods out of the tank. Stay away from from Reefs2go, you will get very few pods in bad shape. There are better alternatives. http://www.amazon.com/Poseidons-Fea...=UTF8&qid=1430837465&sr=8-1&keywords=copepods

I have never tryed this but have bought from reefs2go and all my orders were good and have gotten a lot more than what I paid for.
The stuff that comes in this bag is it alive and will repopulate?

 

[ericarenee]

I concur, don't get it from reefs2go.. in fact don't get anything from reefs2go. Their customer service is decent, but its hit and miss when it comes to what you get. They advertise copepods and amphipods but the orders that I received were all amphipods and the water was pretty dirty. Poseidon's feast from algaebarn you just pour the whole bag in and it was all tisbe/tigris pods

This i agree with.... I got mine from a guy on e bay who also sales phyto . he is Missouri but do not remember the name its been a while.




I Have a Very low nutrient system so i dose plankton by kent marine into my Slow flow refugium . the pods have Multiplied like crazy. they will infest your tank as they get thru the circulation pump alive..... Of the night time Watching our tank is like looking into another world of all the Creatures and night dwellers..