How is the pod culture going? I’m thinking about starting one myself and I’m looking at kits. Is there one you prefer?
Hello! I had a small bowfront acrylic tank that I had laying around. I think its about 3 gallons, but you could use smaller, or larger (5 gallon bucket). I added a few 3 or 4 inch pieces of rock and a few pieces of plastic cross stich mesh to the bottom. No sand or substrate.
I started with one small bottle of Reef Nutrition Tigriopus copepods.
No light or heat is needed, as they can tolerate wide temperature ranges from around 40°F to near 100°. With that being said they
may reproduce a little faster in warmer water.
For feeding, a few drops of phyto (enough to turn the water very light green) and detritus are sufficient to keep them fed. They'll also feed on surface algae on the glass, so make sure not to overfeed and make the water too dirty. I'd imagine this would be the #1 way to crash a bigger pod culture.
I do a 50% water change once every 10 days or so, filtering the pods through 2 different sizes fines mesh filters to collect the pods. Then I feed the tank, or rock refugium and add new water to the tank.
In about a month you should have a self sustaining culture, that is enough to feed and seed your system(s) frequently. My next culture will be misbehaving, but the tiggers tolerate a lot more, and are great pods!
