Pod-maximizing refugia

[herring_fish]

I agree. My local reef club has periodic gatherings and we exchange tank water and or rock. Multiple tanks may not be as diverse as you would like because they are all subjected to many of the same influences that you alluded to. Of course, adding corals, from various parts of the world, is one of the best ways to get large amounts of diversity, both bacteria and larger critters.

As for my farm, I plan to draw down the population and buy new batches of stock periodically, for that very reason. Still, the populations that you could buy tend to be fairly narrow in the genetic area. Rotifers do come in a few different sizes commercially (L, S, SS) and I hope to have different cultures running at the same time. I would try to keep them fairly pure if possible.

 

[rlpardue]

I was keeping reefs in college around 2003-2006 and took a break from the hobby during graduate school. During the first phase of my reefkeeping, everybody was concerned with keeping live rock shipments alive, curing times were shorter and people did water changes when cycling their tank with fresh live rock. (In order to minimize die-off from ammonia levels and keep the rock "alive" with more than just ammonia-consuming bacteria).

Now people prefer dead rock and bottled bacteria, which I know has its place, but man is it fun to have some healthy fresh LR that hasn't had massive die-off while curing and/or cycling. I'm kind of excited about buying some LR from Tampa Bay Saltwater once my tank is cycled. Apparently they actually ship the rock submerged in water. If you want bio-diversity, that's really an easy way to get it. Is shipping more expensive? Sure, but it's a premium product.

I'm going to get some of their rock and sand, put it in an above tank refugium, and see what kind of stuff starts to grow. Hopefully I'll buy another batch of 10 lbs rock and 20 lbs sand each year and re-charge my fuges. Why? Because it's fun to see what life forms will start to grow and thrive in my tank. I like growing more than just coral. Fresh LR is fun. Will I get ticked off when I see some random crab eat something he shouldn't? Sure. Is it worth it? You'll have to ask me then lol.

 

[Bugcrusher]

Pod condo instructions at this link:

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f76/diy-pod-condos-92373.html?highlight=pod+condo

 

[reefervinny]

Or like this. I find this working out for me very well.

 

[dougdstecklein]

I have a couple questions about pods.
What are the benefits of having Copepods and/or amphipods?
There are so many copepods in my tank that it looks like a snow globe.
I only have 2 clownfish, a sailfin blenny, and hippo tang. Will my fish even eat them?
I have been considering attaching a filter sock with chemipure to my sump drain. Will this destroy the pod population? My only mechanical filtration is a protein skimmer. Not sure whether I should add the sock filter or not.

 

[MARINECRITTERS]

I have a couple questions about pods.
What are the benefits of having Copepods and/or amphipods?
There are so many copepods in my tank that it looks like a snow globe.
I only have 2 clownfish, a sailfin blenny, and hippo tang. Will my fish even eat them?
I have been considering attaching a filter sock with chemipure to my sump drain. Will this destroy the pod population? My only mechanical filtration is a protein skimmer. Not sure whether I should add the sock filter or not.

Pos are highly beneficial animals, they serve as a natural food source to all sorts of animals, fish and inverts. The are also great algae grazers, when their population is high it will allow your tank to thrive like never before.
Your fish will eat amphipods and larger plankton, copepods are a bit too small for the fish you listed, although your clownfish may have an occasional snack, not nearly enough to decimate the population though. Adding a filter sock probably won't destroy the population, you may notice fewer levels but it won't wipe them out.
For constant health of these animals, refugiums are a good addition.

 

[erics3000]

Tagging Along

 

[SantaMonica]

If there are really that many pods, then the larger ones are being eaten by the fish.

 

[dougdstecklein]

I overlooked the fact that my corals would eat these. Maybe that's why my Xenias are pumping like crazy.
I will probably forgoe the filter sock for now so I don't filter out too many pods. I like the idea of having a more natural ecosystem in my tank.
I do have a refugium by the way. Lots of the pods are just overflowing into the DT.
If anyone is looking to purchase pods, I purchased a $15 pouch at my LFS of copepods. I think the brand was Algen? At first I didn't think it had much in it. I couldn't see anything, so I ordered 2000 pods from reefs2go.com for $40+$15 shipping. I then noticed a lot of little white specs on the glass in my refugium. Later when I added the 2000 extra pods, my fuge and tank were teaming with pods. Anyone else have a certain brand or company you like to get your pods from?

 

[erics3000]

Do brittle star fish eat pods? I have a couple in my fuge because they were getting huge and I wanted to add little fish to my display and shrimp were always missing. So I put them in my sump to eat and uneaten flake food that makes it there.

 

[rlpardue]

Hi Doug, I believe Xenia feed on very very small things; probably smaller than pods. I could be wrong though. I *believe* they pump to generate more flow and oxygen amongst all their arms. Thanks for the tip on buying pod cultures.

Hi Eric, I think brittle starfish will eat anything they can catch or find that makes it to their arms, but I don't imagine them hunting pods. They do eat little fish though - it took me awhile to figure out where my small gobies were going. Glad you banished the stars to the sump when they got huge.

Anyone else have any ideas on how to maximize microfauna populations in refugiums? I ordered some super-fine sand/silt/mud from West Mariculture; it's the "leftover" stuff after he sorts aragonite sand by grain size, so I have particles that are all less than 200 microns! I'm going to try a remote deep sand bed a la Ron Shimek (I'll call this my "RDSBALRS" just to confuse everyone!) and use the silt. Before I set it up I want to source my "seeding" material. I think I'm going to go with Tampa Bay Saltwater live sand & rock (just 10 lbs of each), then Indo-Pacific Sea Farms for a worm package, and maybe GARF to boot. Hopefully I'll have a thriving population of sandbed creatures; not just pods but worms of all kinds, filter feeders, etc.

 

[dougdstecklein]

If you buy pods from reefs2go.com, that is all I recommend buying. I decided to order fish too and one was DOA and another died shortly after. The clownfish were super duper tiny, maybe 3/4". I quickly found out their 14 day guarantee is only for store credit. So I paid $50 + $40 shipping and all I have to show for it is one 3/4 inch ocellaris clownfish and some store credit. Their pods are nice though.

 

[SantaMonica]

I like the 2000 pods from R2G... amazingly every pod was alive every time.

 

[behlke]

Tagging along

 

[jmstukey]

Great thread. My husband and I are also wanting to use our refugium to cultivate live foods (especially pods for a mandarin we would like to get). Does the use of biopellets affect copepods? If so, how?

 

[SantaMonica]

If you bring nutrients too low, which pellets can do, the periphyton on the rocks might thin out enough to reduce pods, but this is just a guess.

 

[codyreed29]

I HAve alot of input I'll talk about sand beds rdsb and mud. I use a 2.5gallon tank for my fuge which is located in a low flow sump and the water level is about a inch above the top of it. I have about 15 lbs of live rock as well down there. I used Real live mud and sand from the ocean. Directly from the clear waters of south padre island The most southern tip of texas which is only a few hundred miles from coral reefs. I put about 2-3 inches of mud about 5 lbs from a bay with alot of natural plants and wildlife. I then covered the mud with about 2-3 of sand on one side and about 1/2 inch above the mud for some natural plants. Then i added some lr rubble and cheato. The flow is really low about 300 or so. I have some hermiasts live down there that live in he 2.5 they won't even et out of it lol. They eat food that lands on the sandbed and keep it clean, As far as pods i guess I'm giving the the best I can without sacrificing water quailty Skimmer which probably sucks abunch up. Oh and i light the sump with a 65ook 42watt florescnet.

 

[herring_fish]

SantaMonica"
Dude, "Periphyton"? Really? Where did you get that one?

I had to Wiki that one and I still didn't understand it all. Cool. I guess I am falling behind the times. What you said sound right but can you expand on this stuff just a little? How do you encourage its growth and health etc.

I am doing research on how to grow pods in that tower system of mine and want to have a good population in the main tank so any input would be helpful.

Thanks

 

[rlpardue]

I HAve alot of input I'll talk about sand beds rdsb and mud. I use a 2.5gallon tank for my fuge which is located in a low flow sump and the water level is about a inch above the top of it. I have about 15 lbs of live rock as well down there. I used Real live mud and sand from the ocean. Directly from the clear waters of south padre island The most southern tip of texas which is only a few hundred miles from coral reefs. I put about 2-3 inches of mud about 5 lbs from a bay with alot of natural plants and wildlife. I then covered the mud with about 2-3 of sand on one side and about 1/2 inch above the mud for some natural plants. Then i added some lr rubble and cheato. The flow is really low about 300 or so. I have some hermiasts live down there that live in he 2.5 they won't even et out of it lol. They eat food that lands on the sandbed and keep it clean, As far as pods i guess I'm giving the the best I can without sacrificing water quailty Skimmer which probably sucks abunch up. Oh and i light the sump with a 65ook 42watt florescnet.

Woah, you used sand from South Padre? The 'ole lady and I are headed there in a couple of weeks. Not sure if the water is clear but it's a lot better than Galveston! I've had negative experiences with Texan coastal critters in my tanks - peppermint shrimp and a blenny that both ate my expensive Acans lol.

 

[SantaMonica]

Periphyton is all life that grows on the rocks; mostly photosynthetic. It's why rocks don't stay white, and is primarily what makes up the "established" part of an established tank (12 month, etc). Periphyton does a lot of filtering and pod production if you let it be. Any change of flow or lighting will disrupt the food supply and kill off a lot of it.