eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee PODS!!

[bcollie]

I'm looking at my tank and wondering where the heck has all the silt come from! I'm checking filters, skimmers, powerheads...and I'm really starting to get upset because everything looks ok. Then my eyes focused on the glass & I saw all these pin prick size white things all over the glass....PODS!!!!! And all in the water column! They are everywhere...all shapes & sizes.
If its the only pod eater in the tank can I NOW have a dragonet or rainford's goby...PLEEEEEEEASE!!! I've waited so long and I've been so good! LOL!!

 

[jb rekit]

It depends on how much rock you have. Without 80+ pounds, the dragonet will be able to hunt most of them down and gradually starve to death. If you have a lot of rock and can see a lot of pods, then I would say you are about ready to add one if you want.

 

[bcollie]

Nope...I don't have 80 lbs of lr, but I do have a sufficient amt for my small tank. I thought a refugium could replace a ton of lr. The brillo algae is undulating with bristle worms, micro serpent stars and that's where it appears all the 'pods' (are the micro shrimp considered pods too?) are coming from. I certainly don't want a fish in my care to starve.

 

[jb rekit]

As long as the fuge has a lot of pods and they have a way to get into the display tank, you might be ok. How much rock do you have?
I have over 300#'s of LR with a refugium and only have a mandarin and a wrasse that eat my pods and they do a pretty good job of keeping them depleted to the point where I don't see too many. If one does come out of the rock, it becomes food, that's why it is important to have a lot of rock.
Hopefully someone else will chime in and tell what the minimum amount of rock they have successfully kepy one with.
I don't want to sound to discouraging, I am just trying to prevent some of the mistakes I made during my 12 yrs in the hobby. That was the first fish I wanted in my SW tank and after getting it cycled and had about 20 #'s of LR in my 75 gal tank, I got a mandarin and in about a month and a half he starved to death. The pet store didn't bother to inform me on any of this and there was no internet forums back then and the books only told you what they ate, not how much or established a tank needed to be to keep them alive long term.

 

[reefnut]

Mandarins do not do well in small systems and a small refug will help some but you really need a good amount of LR.
How much LR and how big is the refug?? So far I would say a Mandarin is out of the question.

 

[farmboy]

How about a 75 with - 100lbs of rock? New tank but coraline is spreading. Pods are everywhere. There must be thousands of little white dots on the glass. There are longer ones all in the sand and on the rock. I spied the ones that look like mini shrimp also-not as many. We have had some little worm sitings.
What is a good indicator of "enough" pods for a Mandarin? Is there a rule of thumb?

 

[reefnut]

No real rule but I would say you have the rock but I would wait until the tank matures. It would be best to also setup a refug to aid in their population. IME feeding phytoplankton twice a week really helps their populations.

 

[farmboy]

Thanks for the reply.
I have a 29 with about 11.5 gallons of fuge. (waiting on the u-tubes for overflow to complete) I had planned on some Chaeto macro for it and maybe some rock rubble from the display.
I will wait to add mandarin. Don't want to rush things. Maybe a few months down the road. "Only bad things happen quickly in a reef. . ."
BCOLLIE, are you goin to add a fuge? How big is your tank?
Hope you can work it out for the mandarin. They are great fish-very colorfull.