Healthy pod population...

[dpotts]

I recently added a Mandarin to my 90g and she is just thriving....nice and fat!!:) I have a healthy pod population right now and was wondering what I need to do to keep it that way. I have >90lbs of LR with some small rubble areas but was wondering if I need to "feed" the pods or add new ones to keep the population healthy and reproducing? I do not have a fuge and have no room in my sump to add one right now.

[Europhyllia]

Most of the pods we have are detritus feeders at least as adults. Many pods however have a naupli stage in which they consume phytoplankton versus detritus.
If you want to breed/feed your pods live phyto would be the way to go in my opinion.
Your soft corals and clams will like it too.

I wiped out most of my pod population by dosing magnesium (Kent Tech-M) to get rid of Bryopsis. The Brypsis went away but with it about 90 percent of my pod population (something to think about - a lot of people think adding another pod eating fish is the only way to wipe out pods -it's not)

I've been dosing live phyto (mainly for the clams actually) and my pod population is bigger than ever.

I would focus on adding pod foods over adding more pods.

Ultimately I wouldn't rely on pods 100% though.
I like having a back up plan in case something causes a shortage. None of my mandarins go in the display tank until they are solid on eating frozen food. (that's of course especially crucial for me since I have a pair. One slightly hungry mandarin is not problem. Two hungry mandarins will constantly fight with each other over territory)

[corydrysdale]

Holy crap, I had no idea that dosing and or adding magnesium to the tank would kill copepods? What would you consider a lethal dose? and would just adding a few ounces to counter balance a water change also kill them? When i used miracle mud in my fuge i had tons of life in there. Growing chaeto gave them room to live and i fed phyto. Since then , i got ride of M.Mud and went bare bottom with chaeto, but that didnt seem to work good. Now i have 3 inches of live sand and crushed coral and chaeto , but have no growth of anything live in the fuge. I spend 20 bucks a month adding copepods to my tank just to keep the mandarin happy. All this time i could have been adding them and turing around and killing them with Mag. There's just too much to learn...arrrrg. LOL

[Europhyllia]

I have no idea why the mag reduced the population so much. Perhaps there was something else in it too. It's just an anecdotal observation - not science. :)
Right now my mag is down to normal levels (1350 - mag eliminates Bryopsis at around 1700) and the pods don't react to any dosing.
I bet a Mandarin can plow through 20 dollars worth of pods in a day or two.
That's why it's so important to get them trained onto frozen food.
If you haven't already perhaps consider doing it now.
Think of it like you would if you were getting any other kind of pet.
You wouldn't get a cat relying on her being able to catch enough mice to sustain herself. :)

Then in addition to that get some cheato from somebody else's tank to get that life and feed your fish and perhaps add live phyto and it should grow from there.

[kkiel02]

Another good idea is to give pods an "in tank fuge". Try piling some live rubble together where the mandarin can't really get into.

[allan]

Another good idea is to give pods an "in tank fuge". Try piling some live rubble together where the mandarin can't really get into.

That's what I do, although I also depend on the fuge.

[allan]

Deanna, you could tie in a 10 or 20 gallon fuge to your system off to the side and turn it into a display fuge similar to Pete's POTM two months back. Those would continously feed into your display, especially if its gravity powered return. I had thought of doing this earlier, but the financial advisor advised me not to spend any more funds on the aquarium. Hmpt!

[Rychek]

++ to dosing phyto. It's much more cost effective than adding live pods. Training mandarins to frozen is a good idea as well. Every green mandarin I've ever had (three so far) has taught its self to eat frozen brine/mysis. I never did see my spotted mandarin eat frozen, but I didn't have her nearly as long as the greens....

If anyone needs some cheato, I've got a bunch I need to thin. Just PM me.

[dpotts]

Nope not an option right now. The 90g is the center point in my living room and there is nowhere to put yet another tank/fuge.:bigsmile:


Deanna, you could tie in a 10 or 20 gallon fuge to your system off to the side and turn it into a display fuge similar to Pete's POTM two months back. Those would continously feed into your display, especially if its gravity powered return. I had thought of doing this earlier, but the financial advisor advised me not to spend any more funds on the aquarium. Hmpt!

[allan]

Nope not an option right now. The 90g is the center point in my living room and there is nowhere to put yet another tank/fuge.:bigsmile:


Yeah, I guess this my problem as well, but much easier to blame the wife. :-)

[dpotts]

In my case I am the wife!:blushing:



Yeah, I guess this my problem as well, but much easier to blame the wife. :-)

[Ping]

If the fuge can be isolated from the rest of the system for a short period of time as to keep the phyto concentrated in the fuge, the pod population will explode. I would say an hour would be the minimum.

Most phyto is skimmed out quickly. Skimming is how most species are harvested for resale to the consumer.

[Europhyllia]

Here's what I do about avoiding to have it all skimmd out:
I have my pump hooked up to a timer. I use the ones with the little green 'on' markers and red 'off' markers only that I don't have any red off markers set on it. All of the markers are green 'on' switches.
I manually click the timer over to off before I dose the phyto and within one to three hours it automatically hits the next 'on' switch. That way I don't forget to turn the pump back on. It's very convenient.
I don't skim out the phyto but I also don't accidently leave the pump off.

[Ping]

What a great idea.

[allan]

That is a good idea. I've left my skimmer off for a couple of days for forgetting to turn it back on. Nice.