I don't have copepods, amphipods, etc. WHY?

Siapin

Siapin

Member
Either I can't see them, I'm not looking hard enough, or I just don't have high populations of them. But some people that I talk with tell me how their glass is teaming with pods, and although I saw that somewhat on my tank about a year ago, there's not much to speak of right now. I'd like to eventually get a mandarin, but I know I can't do that without high populations of pods.

What's my problem here?
 
I sure do, and I have chaeto...I've had refugium for about 4-6 months. I can't remember specifically how long.
 
Hmmm...Usually a refugium will allow for quick/large reproduction of these pods.

Do you keep fish in the fuge? If so I learned that the hard way when I catched a damsel and I threw him down there and he demolished my pod population.

Do you have sand and LR in the fuge. In the cheato, u have no pods in there?
 
no pods in chaeto...no fish in refugium. Only fish I had for a while is a maroon clown and blue-green damsel. I have plenty of live rock.
 
What other fish do you have in the tank? Certain fish eat them, and if they're hunted, they hide.

I feed phyto nearly daily, and have lots of rock in contact with the sand, which is their favored habitat. I'm successfully maintaining 2 mandarins in a 52 with a supplement. I did get pods from Reed Mariculture after killing off most of my pods by using Chemi-clean, and the population is now healthy, but with two in there, and other small fish with an appetite for them, even with a small fuge, I'm supplementing and increasing the 'pod piles'. You're in California: shipping from Reed wouldn't be as much for you as for me here in Spokane, and that's certainly a route you can take if you're willing to go that way.
 
where can i get that at? my buddy with a 100g might want to buy a jug of it as well to get his tank going.
 
Well, it's www.reefnutrition.com and it's one of our sponsors, if that link doesn't work. "Kathy" is a very nice person and checks up to see if your stuff got there, and if it was ok. You want the tiggerpods, not the arctipods [those are preserved: tiggers are live] and a bottle of their Phytofeast would be helpful too. I wait until just after lights out and shoot a big dollop into the tank: the pods and other life are out and about after dark [take a look with a flashlight about 2hrs after lights-out] and will feed during the hours the mandarins and other fish are asleep. You can just dump the bottles into your refugium when you get them, and feed the phyto to that.

You'll also notice that sponge and the nicer sort of featherduster and any other filter feeders you have will start blooming. I have 7 different kinds of sponge that turned up and grew like crazy after I started feeding the stuff. They're great at filtration. Not to mention I have a crocea clam, and it really appreciates it if I feed it in morning twilight.
 
How long has your tank been established? Some populations take time to grow. Also, you should look in the early morning for them. They do not come out when the lights are on.
 
Have you looked in your tank and refugium at night when your lights have been off for a while? If not, take a flashlight and look in there. You usually can see all of them come out on your live rock and chaeto.
 
I dont see mine except for in the filter floss behind my overflow, and my Spotted Mandarin's fat stomach.

I did notice that when I got rid of the filter floss (polyester pillow batting) the Mandarin got skinnier after a few months so I put the floss back in.

Flake food and extra supplements get trapped in there and the pods love it. Drives up the nitrates & phosphates a little I'm sure.
 
does filter floss promote nitrates?

I'm going to look tonight in a few hours, when I have to wake up for work (night shift).

I do feed phytoplankton, not all the time, maybe only once or twice every two weeks, sometimes more if I can remember. Is phyto the answer to feeding the pods, so that they reproduce more?
 
Create live rubble rock piles in your display and in ur fuge. That will make a big difference. I have a pile of rubble in my display, hidden behind my rock-scape. Lots and lots of pods.

You do have pods... they are just either eluding ur notice, or getting picked off. But they are there... just give em somewhere to populate.
 
I agree with AntJefferson...great idea and it works. You could also use a magnifying glass to search on the walls of your tank for small white dots that has movement. It's them!!! Do feed phyto to your tank, it helps a lot.
 
i've never treated my tank with anything, knock on wood, no uv, and I do add phyto.

I know I do have pods, and I can see them on the walls, but not as much as others, and I'm totally jealous. I want my six line wrasse to get obese. I'll go check out Tongs in whittier, they're about a hop-skip-and-a-jump away from my house.

Do you suggest that I buy Reef Nutrition phyto along with the tigerpods, or can I just use the Kent Marine Phytoplankton that I use right now?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

griss
Hanna Colorimeters
Replies
6
Views
438
Reefing102
Reefing102
Z
5.7ft tank stocking
Replies
7
Views
555
ZanaZoola14
Z
revclyburn
I think it's time
2
Replies
38
Views
2K
Patrick Seastar
Patrick Seastar
ralph82396
Mandarin dragonette
Replies
2
Views
523
OrionN
OrionN
Paul B
How Fish are Different from most of us
Replies
1
Views
297
Paul B
Paul B
Back
Top