Adding pods question

[boboyo]

I just got a Mandarin. I KNOW I have a healthy population of pods but I bought some at my LFS just in case (the Mandarin is trained to eat shrim also) but I take every precaution I can to keep them alive as long as I can.

Is the green stuff normal? Or should I not add the bottom stuff in my tank? Looks more like algae and I’m not sure if it poses any risky to introduce it.

I’m asking here because I forgot to ask my LFS, I bombarded the owner with a million questions as usual and forgot to double check with them.

Also, should I turn off my skimmer when I introduce these? I also got a snail shell with coraline which I will be scraping off so I plan on doing both at the same time if turning the skimmer off is recommended for either of these

 

[boboyo]

Sorry for the bad pics, I did the best I can :/

 

[ReeferWarrant]

Likely algae that they were feeding the pods.

How old is the tank? Sounds fairly new if youre trying to seed coraline algae.

 

[boboyo]

Likely algae that they were feeding the pods.

How old is the tank? Sounds fairly new if youre trying to seed coraline algae.

Yes pretty new, a little over 1 month in. I super speeded the cycle very safely, 0 ammonia after day 8 and 0 nitrite after 13 days. Been at 0 ever since. I feel like the pods were initially introduced with my cuc and I already have some green coraline on my glass slowly growing (I was told it was green coraline because the tiny green spots are almost impossible to take off). I got some beautiful purple coraline that I’m trying to introduce now

 

[ReeferWarrant]

Nice, yeah the green will turn purple over time more than likely. Seeding pods yourself is a good idea though, and as long as the mandarin eats other things you should be fine. The pods could tide it over between meals, I do this for my Wrasse. I'd just make sure it's eating and you should be good.

 

[boboyo]

Nice, yeah the green will turn purple over time more than likely. Seeding pods yourself is a good idea though, and as long as the mandarin eats other things you should be fine. The pods could tide it over between meals, I do this for my Wrasse. I'd just make sure it's eating and you should be good.

Does a skimmer kill pods? And should I turn off the skimmer and wait for the pods to establish? I’m not too worried as my population is huge but I take every single precaution I can

 

[ReeferWarrant]

I feel like if they went into it, it will. Just turn it off for an hour or so and they should settle into there locations.

 

[boboyo]

I feel like if they went into it, it will. Just turn it off for an hour or so and they should settle into there locations.

Thank you!!! I assume the algae in the jar is also ok to put so I’ll be doing just that!

Thanks for all the answers everyone

 

[Rubberfrog]

I wouldn't purposely add algae.

 

[Uncle99]

Turn off skimmer and flow while adding PODS.
Give them a few hours to find a home.
Bottom stuff is just a pollutant now so don’t add, but, not a problem if you do.
Turn all back on in an hour or so.

 

[LacViet]

Those are algae to feed the pod. You should mix the bottle, then feed to the tank. I turn off skimmer for 10-15min.

 

[boboyo]

Those are algae to feed the pod. You should mix the bottle, then feed to the tank. I turn off skimmer for 10-15min.

Thanks! I pretty much added the whole thing and rinsed it with aquarium water in case there was some pods left in the jar. My LFS said people do this about once a month, is that true or are they just salespeople?

also I don’t see how pods don’t die in my filter (I use a sponge I rinse every week) and carbon) or skimmer they’re both HOB.

 

[attiland]

Thanks! I pretty much added the whole thing and rinsed it with aquarium water in case there was some pods left in the jar. My LFS said people do this about once a month, is that true or are they just salespeople?

also I don’t see how pods don’t die in my filter (I use a sponge I rinse every week) and carbon) or skimmer they’re both HOB.

I do it once a week. I have a dragonet.

 

[boboyo]

I do it once a week. I have a dragonet.

Awesome! I also plan on doing it often even tho I feel like I have a safe pod population for now. I don’t have a sump or anything so I was thinking growing my own pods in a jar with an air pump. It doesn’t look too hard to do

 

[Alchameth]

My 140 was fallow for 3 months, day or night I could see pods running around over the rocks, sand, glass, everywhere... Within 48 hours of putting a black neon dottyback, nigh not a pod hardly seen. That's why I now cultivate phyto and pods...

 

[boboyo]

My 140 was fallow for 3 months, day or night I could see pods running around over the rocks, sand, glass, everywhere... Within 48 hours of putting a black neon dottyback, nigh not a pod hardly seen. That's why I now cultivate phyto and pods...

I’m looking into phyto cultivation. I assume the seachem reef phyto they sell at LFS or Amazon is no good? There’s not a ton of info on what kind of phyto to feed pods online

 

[Alchameth]

The Live Marine Phyto kit on Amazon is ok (that's what I started my Phyto on) but most of the other bottles of phyto won't cultivate. In the end when I realized I needed to seed pods and not wanting to spend tons on those tiny bottles I went with the Poseidon PhytoTank Pod tank kit. Wasn't cheap but I didn't want to mess around with lids and tops and lights and tubes buying from here and everywhere. Once it arrived and I got over the price, I was glad I went that way. It really is a nice looking setup, and as I like to keep an eye on it, it's sitting on my counters so I don't mind as much vs if I had Frankensteined something myself.