Add pods, or no?

[Sophie"s mom]

Hey everyone! So as the title states, My tank is just over 2 years old, I do not culture my own pods or phyto, and am not interested in doing so. I have been adding 2 jars from Algae Barn monthly along with some of their phyto, ever since the beginning. As one can imagine, this gets rather pricy! I don't mind at all continuing to do this if it is deemed necessary, or even just a really good thing todo! By my question from all you long time reefers here is, is this necessary in a 2 + year old system? I am good either way, but I don't mind saving that money if it's not at all necessary at this point.

 

[JTP424]

What is your livestock situation? And your tank size?
Do you have any Pod heavy eaters? I.E. Mandarins etc.
You probably have a good Pod stock established.
I would start tapering off! Either go to every other month... or even 6 months.
I re-up once a year.

 

[higher99]

I added some when my tank was about 1 month old. Mainly to my refg and not the main display. They were so small that there was no way to track therm nor see them after release. I see my striped blenny picking at the back wall so I'm sure they're a population there.

I just dose phyto every other day in spots where I think they're hiding in. I think it's always good to introduce a population and the goal is for them to multiply on their own.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

What is your livestock situation? And your tank size?
Do you have any Pod heavy eaters? I.E. Mandarins etc.
You probably have a good Pod stock established.
I would start tapering off! Either go to every other month... or even 6 months.
I re-up once a year.

Yeah I was thinking about either every other month, or every 3 months. My tank is 90 gallons, and the pods eaters in there are a six line wrasse, a diamond goby, and a yellow watchman goby.

 

[RacinRevo0818]

I would think your tank would be established with a good amount of pods. Feeding phyto would help but that’s takes a lot of phyto if your just buying it. I would look at reed nutrition and get some of there super concentrated phyto or start your own. Most people start with the easiest one being Tetraselmis chui and some f2 fertilizer. Dosing a 90 gallon reef could use 9 to 15 oz daily to be optimal of diy. So algae barn is like 8 different species where you would only be dosing one if you grow your own. Pods are easy once you either grow your own phyto or do the concentrated option if you don’t want to invest time.
DIY is time and only cost cents to make.

 

[Biokabe]

Yeah I was thinking about either every other month, or every 3 months. My tank is 90 gallons, and the pods eaters in there are a six line wrasse, a diamond goby, and a yellow watchman goby.

Assuming you have an appropriate amount of rockwork in your tank, it's completely unnecessary to keep adding pods. Those three are not heavy consumers of pods, and the breeding population of pods in your tank is likely well above what is necessary to replenish what those three fish consume. You could likely add a mandarin or a pipefish to your tank and still have plenty of pods for everyone.

Regular addition/cultivation of pods is only really necessary in brand-new tanks started with dry rock, or in tanks that are too small to support the necessary pod population for something like a dragonet. And in that case, you're better off just not having the dragonet rather than spending a fortune buying pods.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Assuming you have an appropriate amount of rockwork in your tank, it's completely unnecessary to keep adding pods. Those three are not heavy consumers of pods, and the breeding population of pods in your tank is likely well above what is necessary to replenish what those three fish consume. You could likely add a mandarin or a pipefish to your tank and still have plenty of pods for everyone.

Regular addition/cultivation of pods is only really necessary in brand-new tanks started with dry rock, or in tanks that are too small to support the necessary pod population for something like a dragonet. And in that case, you're better off just not having the dragonet rather than spending a fortune buying pods.

Thank you! In my 90 gallon tank I have close to 80 pounds of live rock! I believe there are plenty of pods, my only concern really is that I am not so great at feeding my tank phytoplankton! I do it, but maybe once a week or so. not very consistent.

 

[Lavey29]

Have you tried a flashlight after lights out to see if you have a bazillion pods scurrying around in the tank? They are nocturnal due to predators.

 

[exnisstech]

My only known pod eaters are 3 sixlines and a yellow banded possum wrasse. They are in separate tanks and eat frozen well. I see pods in every one of my tanks. I've only been in the hobby 10 years but I have never purchased pods to add.

 

[Biokabe]

Thank you! In my 90 gallon tank I have close to 80 pounds of live rock! I believe there are plenty of pods, my only concern really is that I am not so great at feeding my tank phytoplankton! I do it, but maybe once a week or so. not very consistent.

Phyto is also not necessary, though not in the same way that adding pods is.

You can keep a healthy tank just fine without dosing phyto, but adding phyto is usually a net positive even if it's not needed. To use an analogy, it's the difference between having a nice, home-cooked meal or having a nice-home-cooked meal with a really nice dessert afterwards.

There are some situations where phyto vs. no phyto is the difference between being able to keep something vs not, usually with particularly fussy clams or corals. But for the most part, nothing in your tank will die if you fail to dose phyto. They just do better when you do dose an appropriate amount of phyto.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Have you tried a flashlight after lights out to see if you have a bazillion pods scurrying around in the tank? They are nocturnal due to predators.

I have, and yes they are abundant! I think I will at least switch to every other month and see how that goes.

 

[zbrusko]

Thank you! In my 90 gallon tank I have close to 80 pounds of live rock! I believe there are plenty of pods, my only concern really is that I am not so great at feeding my tank phytoplankton! I do it, but maybe once a week or so. not very consistent.

Phyto is also not necessary, though not in the same way that adding pods is.

You can keep a healthy tank just fine without dosing phyto, but adding phyto is usually a net positive even if it's not needed. To use an analogy, it's the difference between having a nice, home-cooked meal or having a nice-home-cooked meal with a really nice dessert afterwards.

There are some situations where phyto vs. no phyto is the difference between being able to keep something vs not, usually with particularly fussy clams or corals. But for the most part, nothing in your tank will die if you fail to dose phyto. They just do better when you do dose an appropriate amount of phyto.

What is an appropriate amount of phyto? I’m thinking the 40mL I put in my 100+ gallon is far too little.

 

[Buckster]

I purchased pods 6 years ago for two tanks. I stopped adding in the small tank after adding pods 3 or 4 times. My 180 I probably added 6 times in the beginning and have never added. I have two mandarins and I add photo daily. The front glass of the tank has plenty of pods noticeable. you can watch them moving! I also purchased amphipods 3 times also 6 years ago and I clean the 3 socks between 1-2 weeks and they have several amphipods in each. The system maintains so therefor I don't need to purchase more.

 

[Lavey29]

I have, and yes they are abundant! I think I will at least switch to every other month and see how that goes.

Unless you have pod eaters there really is no reason. Maybe a jar every 3 or 4 months. I add phytoplankton every other day. Just 5ml because the ocean offers a never ending supply of phytoplankton to corals and micro critters to consume.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Unless you have pod eaters there really is no reason. Maybe a jar every 3 or 4 months. I add phytoplankton every other day. Just 5ml because the ocean offers a never ending supply of phytoplankton to corals and micro critters to consume.

The pod eaters in my tank are a six line wrasse, a diamond goby and a yellow watchman goby. So yeah, I am thinking 2 jars every 3 months should be good. Thoughts? I need to do better with my phytoplankton dosing though!

 

[Macropharyngodon]

Hey everyone! So as the title states, My tank is just over 2 years old, I do not culture my own pods or phyto, and am not interested in doing so. I have been adding 2 jars from Algae Barn monthly along with some of their phyto, ever since the beginning. As one can imagine, this gets rather pricy! I don't mind at all continuing to do this if it is deemed necessary, or even just a really good thing todo! By my question from all you long time reefers here is, is this necessary in a 2 + year old system? I am good either way, but I don't mind saving that money if it's not at all necessary at this point.

Unless you have Macropharyngodon species or mandarins I would probably reduce the amount

 

[Lavey29]

Unless you have Macropharyngodon species or mandarins I would probably reduce the amount

I agree, the fish she described are not really pod eaters as I have a 6 line in my tank as well. However, when I had my mandarin now that was a voracious pod eater. He would hop slowly around the sand and rocks and snap up a pod every 5 seconds. I never saw any other fish in my tank do this. The Mandy had great eye sight and would focus for a second or two then snap the pod up.

OP im sure you know pods are very beneficial in multiple ways to your tank which is why you want to sustain a healthy population. Certain types of pods breed much better then others in the tank prolonging their numbers. I would think you are fine with a jar or 2 every 3 or 4 months but try to add phytoplankton multiple times a week in small amounts make sure its the live concentrated version not dead phytoplankton.

 

[slingfox]

Dosing pods as well as doing phyto is completely unnecessary. Save that money and use it to buy livestock or equipment or just to save. I have a 2.5 year old tank with toe mandarins. They are fat and happy and I don’t dose pods or phyto but have done so in the past.