Bottled 'Pods, rip off or benefit?

[Oldsalt01]

Back in the day (the 70's, you know, before there was dirt) it was generally believed, at least by most of the saltwater keepers I knew, that 'pods were a scourge to be eradicated at the first sign of them. It was generally believed they carried diseases and/or would prey on fish (long before keeping live corals became a real possibility). Now days we know better and understand the more biodiversity in the tank the better. Here's my query: are bottled 'pods a good investment, or are they just throwing money into the tank with no appreciable return? I have a 14g Biocube that is finishing it's cycle. Went through the inevitable diatom bloom, but which seems to be over. I used dry rock and sand to avoid the hitchhiker nightmare, but obviously the rock and sand, being dry had no beneficial organisms aboard either. I don't have a 'fuge, am just beginning to see spots of green on the rock, and yesterday dropped in a snail shell covered with Coraline from my fav lfs to get some color going. Should I bother with the bottled 'pods to establish a breeding population in the rock/sand? There's nothing in there right now to predate them, but I'm not sure there's enough micro-algae to keep them fed.

 

[Sabellafella]

U wanna hear something crazy i acually started a 29 biocube with dry rock live sand for my girlfriend and i dumped a pack in the sump were i have marin pure and a lil bioballs mixed and every full moon the tank looks like its snowing at night ill post a video one day

 

[chefjpaul]

They will show up eventually when you start adding things.

Another way, What I do, is buy chaeto from someone. It's usually full of them.

I don't use chaeto, just put it in to seed long enough.

I have also bought them and worked just fine

 

[Squishie89]

I really like the AlgaGen pods and their Copepod Blend pod food. If you want to have a mandarin or other pod eating fish in the future it would be a good idea to add some.

 

[pup]

I think the commercial ones are a total waste. Reefcleaners.org pods on the other hand are a great starter.

 

[reef4beer]

I definitely believe its worth adding pods to the tank every often. Never hurts to add to the population, none the less they will reproduce as you introduce frags, rocks, etc.

I'm lucky enough to have a local that reproduces phytoplankton, and rotifers. He also reproduces clownfish so his sump is full of the buggers and also allows him to sell bottles filled with pods. I like to add a bottle of soup with all of them once a month.

 

[renato120]

I tried them so many times and no luck! Just a waste of money for me.

 

[shred5]

Personally pods are overrated period.. Pods eat detritus and algae so if you have lots of pods it means you need to clean your tank. Now there is a difference between pods, are we talking copepods or amphipods. Copepods can be a good source of food for certain fish like mandrins. I have never had to buy pods to add to my tank they get there some how. I have bought pods to culture to feed certain fish especially when I was breeding fish.

 

[Tyler Harrison]

Have bought the red pods twice in for my tank. I have a Refugium so they're not being eaten but I don't see them. The little white ones I got with my micro are thriving. You have to while them off the glass or it has a white translucent layer on it. Idk about the triggers or whatever they are but I don't think they survived. I look all the time for red ones... Maybe they only hang out on the rocks. They're much bigger then the white translucent ones.

 

[Paul B]

I don't know about bottled pods. I personally think they would die of boredom in the bottle, so, I go to the ocean, fill a five gallon bucket with them and dump them in my tank. I do that all the time because they are so cool and each one has a different personality and facial expression.



Here is a video of them taken by Stephen Speilburg.

 

[reef4beer]

I don't know about bottled pods. I personally think they would die of boredom in the bottle, so, I go to the ocean, fill a five gallon bucket with them and dump them in my tank. I do that all the time because they are so cool and each one has a different personality and facial expression.

I know a few guys that used to go to the coast of a park and open up the sargasm to pull out the amphipods, pretty sweet to see a bucket full of them.

 

[mnat]

Pods are easily cultured, we buy a bottle and then generally have a culture for about 6-9 months. All you need is a container, that's it. We pour the pods in and then every few days we take a batter full of water out and add a baster from our tank. No feeding, no airlines, no heater just water. We have mandarins, pipefish and anthias so the more pods the better.