Jesse Rorie
Member
Can someone please explain what exactly pods are and how do I get them in my tank?
Pods
- Thread starter Jesse Rorie
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silverado61
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Jesse Rorie
Member
what if I don't have a refuge? can I add them straight to my tank? if im starting a new tank how long should I wait to add them?
silverado61
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Jesse Rorie
Member
ok how much do u recommend I buy?
silverado61
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flower
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Hi, I agree with Jay...if you have live rock...you already have them. That's why it's called "live" rock, tiny critters are living in it, otherwise it's just a rock. You don't have to have a refugium, it's a good thing, but not a must have. SW fish spend all day searching the rocks for food, algae gets nibbled, and any sea-bugs, (isopods, amphipods and copepods) get eaten. A refugium is just a place where the tiny things can grow undisturbed, and macros can grow (to do their job) and not be eaten.
silverado61
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beaslbob
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I agree with what others have said.
You do not have to wait nor do you have to have a refugium that is external to your tank. I recommend an in tank refugium and starting the tank with that refugium right from the very start.
What I did was partitioned my old 55g with 1/4"sq plastic grid (egg crate). Just basically crammed it in 3" in front of the back glass. So the area between the back glass and egg crate formed a refugium. I also added a couple of cheapie 4' utility shop light fixtures 6' behind the glass pointing forward. so you basically just need a partition and some lighing for the macros.
I then put chaetomorphia, caulerpa profilera and grape caulerpa in that protected area.
The macros took off. And pods thrived in that area also. Plus the pods also came in as hitchhikers on the macros especially the chaetomorphia.
As an additional plus, my two tangs were constantly grazing on the macros that poked through the egg crate.
Nitrates dropped to unmeasureable levels in 3 weeks (from 60-160ppm api nitrate test kit) and phosphates dropped down a few weeks later.
It was kinda a combination of the best yet lease expensive addition I made to that tank.
my .02
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silverado61
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flower
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LOL...Dear friend, You said and I quote " SOMETIMES you CAN get them as hitchhikers on your live rock or sand" Indicating that it isn't the norm. That's how anyone gets them, even the people who breed them got them originally from their live rock and sand....and we actually pay them, hey they will always take your money. I did pay for amphipods once, to really over populate in a hurry for my seahorses who love to hunt them down. Many people do the same thing purchasing copepods for mandarins. Folks like yourself who made your own rock, also buy a starter bunch to get the population going.
New beginners don't understand that live rock is only called "live" because of the tiny critters that live in it. If they buy live rock, they have all the sea bugs they need to get the population going. Otherwise, going on what you told them...they would be trying to see the bugs to find out if any came as hitchhikers, or if they have to buy some. Well, at least that's the way I read the post.
silverado61
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Jesse Rorie
Member
So would y'all recommend I buy more to put in the tank? Or just let what comes on the live rock multiply?
flower
Well-Known Member
The pods will populate, and other stuff besides. One of the greatest things about saltwater tanks is that life just abounds and changes as it matures. Unless you have a critter that needs the extra pods, such as my seahorses who like to feed on amphipods, or a mandarin that must eat 100s of copepods a day just to survive...there is no reason to have to add any more to the tank.
A saltwater tank balances itself out, the food supply will determine how much of what abounds. For example, my seahorses are very messy slow eaters, now I have a bristle worm population that's like a horror movie when I feed them...they come out of everywhere. They sting and the poor horses are being stung. I am in the process of switching the tank they stay in, for a more sterile environment. I set up a new tank, then used dry sand and rock, along with fake décor and large seashells...nothing live. I will seed the tank with amphipods and copepods, but there will be no bristle worms to populate from live rock.
Bristle worms are good guys in most tanks, I don't want you to think they are a critter to worry about. They are a problem for seahorses. bristle worms feed on the dead, along with any rotting food that gets caught in the rocks. That's why if a fish dies in an established tank, you won't have to go ripping apart all the rock work to find it's body, the bristle worms will eat it, and protect the tank from pollution of an ammonia spike from the dead critter.
If you over feed your fish, then the bristle worm population will increase to feed on the rotting food. So only feed what your fish will consume in about 2 minutes. Seahorses take up to half an hour, to an hour to eat, and they waste lots of food that they never find, but the bristle worms find it, and boy do they populate then.
Bottom line, whatever critters in your live rock you need, will be there in the numbers they need to be to keep your tank healthy.
Jesse Rorie
Member
I plan to have a mandarin eventually. I was told that its best to get a mandarin after your take has matured. so should I buy some when I start my tank so that they have plenty of time to populate before I get the mandarin? also is it difficult to have seahorses? can they be put in a tank with small fish such as clown fish?