mooric Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 (edited) Has anyone ever doped their new system with reef pods (or equivalent), to get a strong foundation of copepods before any livestock get added to the tank? Would this be something done during or after the first cycling of the new tank? Moo Edited December 7, 2009 by mooric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefman Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Yes, I have done it, and continue to add some from time to time just to make sure the population stays up. You would not want to do it until after your tank has completely cycled. Stephen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 +1 on after cycling and yes I add them occasionally also Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadodge Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 YES.... i put 2 things of DT's in my system. One in the DT(displaytank) and one in the sump. Im gonna add more soon to keep the pod count up. i have some realy big ones in my chaeto in the sump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 I'm curious on another item based on Moo's questions. Is there a benefit to having a healthy pod population if you don't have livestock that will use them as a food source? I'm curious if they do more than just eat plankton to become something elses dinner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Simon Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Yes I seeded my tank with a cultures of copepods, amphipods and mysis shrimp before introducing any animals that might eat them. Not only do they provide food for larger animals but a good population of these small animals will help process uneaten food and other detritus. Couple good sources are: Inland Aquatics Homepage and : : : : Indo-Pacific Sea Farms : : : : Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteorflower Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 I seeded my system by just adding macroalgae and sand from a well-established tank. My refugium is just now starting to crawl with pods, it's great! +1 for after cycling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefman Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Offroaddodge, Are you getting the DTs at RC? I've gotten 2 from them, but haven't seen them there since. Stephen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reybeast Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 this is a great topic! question, does the population in the main tank become a problem for filtration or pumps etc? I dont want to clog stuff up. I'll be setting up a 10 gallon in a couple of weeks that I'll be getting from RCA and I would like to seed the pods in that one before we add fish, but I dont want to plug anything up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 I have never heard of anyone having a problem with too many pods or with them clogging anything they are very small and should not be as issue. I have been wanting to order some from Ocean Pods they are supposed to be the best available. Ocean Pods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Is it better to add to a HOB refugium or direct into the display? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooric Posted December 8, 2009 Author Share Posted December 8, 2009 Based on the responses it looks like I will be doing what John_Simon did after my tank cycles. Thanks for all the comments. Moo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 moo, have you decided from where you will be getting your pods? reefcleaners carries reef pods: ReefCleaners.org | Clean Up Crews and Macro Algae - Reef Pods i was looking to seed my tank with pods as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisfowler99 Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Fishy Business had DTs last time I was in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 fyi, i just setup a reefcleaners group buy if you want to pick up any of the reef pods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooric Posted December 8, 2009 Author Share Posted December 8, 2009 (edited) Thanks for the suggestion but I don't even have water in the tank yet. I'm just trying to plan out as much of it as I can. As for where I am going to get it from, I had considered ordering it from the reef cleaners website. Edited December 8, 2009 by mooric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Is it better to add to a HOB refugium or direct into the display? I would add them to both, but some will make it to the tank from the fuge. If you add them to the tank do it at night so your fish will be lees likely to eat them from the start. they multiply quickly, I think females reproduce every other day for something like 20 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 Yes I seeded my tank with a cultures of copepods, amphipods and mysis shrimp before introducing any animals that might eat them. Not only do they provide food for larger animals but a good population of these small animals will help process uneaten food and other detritus. Couple good sources are: Inland Aquatics Homepage and : : : : Indo-Pacific Sea Farms : : : : These two sources have excellant detrivore kits. The bacteria and worms are even more important than the pods. As a general rule, six months are longer should be devoted to establishing the bottom of the food chain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Simon Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 (edited) this is a great topic! question, does the population in the main tank become a problem for filtration or pumps etc? I dont want to clog stuff up. I'll be setting up a 10 gallon in a couple of weeks that I'll be getting from RCA and I would like to seed the pods in that one before we add fish, but I dont want to plug anything up. I have been seeding all my tanks this way for years and have never had a clogging issue. I usually introduce the cultures once the live rock is in and let them breed in the tank for a couple months during cycling before I introduce something that will eat them. Both my current tanks have viable continually breeding populations of copepods, amphipods and mysis. These two sources have excellant detrivore kits. The bacteria and worms are even more important than the pods. As a general rule, six months are longer should be devoted to establishing the bottom of the food chain. Totally agree, I also regularly reseed the tanks every couple years with fresh populations of detrivores from both sources. Edited December 9, 2009 by John Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefman Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 So you are seeding your sand beds with bristle worms, among other things? Stephen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefman Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 Has anyone seen any difference in any of the pods you use? In other words, does anyone have any opinion on DTs versus Inland Marine vs Tigger Pods, etc.? Are does it appear that they all are basically the same? What I would be interested in is being able to order a very large bulk quanity without the jars. I'm sure the jars and packaging make up a lot of the $20 those normally run. RC has or does carry the Reef Pods (i.e. reefcleaners.org). They don't seem that freat a deal to me, as they say they only contain 300+, but I'm open if someone has other opinions. Stephen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Simon Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 So you are seeding your sand beds with bristle worms, among other things? Stephen Yes, I seed with bristle worms, spaghetti worms, copepods, amphipods and mysis from Indo Pacific and Inland Aquatics. I also have found it helpful to get a handful of sand from friend's tanks and LFS when possible to get a broad spectrum of micro fauna. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Simon Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 Has anyone seen any difference in any of the pods you use? In other words, does anyone have any opinion on DTs versus Inland Marine vs Tigger Pods, etc.? Are does it appear that they all are basically the same? What I would be interested in is being able to order a very large bulk quanity without the jars. I'm sure the jars and packaging make up a lot of the $20 those normally run. RC has or does carry the Reef Pods (i.e. reefcleaners.org). They don't seem that freat a deal to me, as they say they only contain 300+, but I'm open if someone has other opinions. Stephen I haven't used DT's or Trigger Pods but if they are live salt water copepods I can't see why they would be any better then one another. 300 is probably enough to start with you don't need millions just enough to get a population started so they breed in your live rock. Course if you have something in your tank that eats them already (like a Mandirin) you might want to look at a in tank refugium as a safe breeding area. OZ REEF - In Tank Refugium Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 I have read that tigger pods are canibalistic. They will eat other copepods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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