Culturing Pods

[Mathew0]

I know there's a couple of threads here dealing with this topic, but I can't find a decent build/how-to thread that specifically walks thru the entire process.
I have phyto going, and it is progressing excessively well. I am making about a pint more per week than I am dosing into the tank, which means I now have a gallon extra in my fridge. I want to get going on a pod culture now with the ultimate goal of keeping 1-2 dragonettes. I thought that colleting from the bottom was the preferred strategy, but I've also seen that that is the 'mulm' that should be left alone. I have seen people say harvest every 3-4 weeks and reset the whole thing, and others say they just let it do it's thing and scoop out pods regularly. So, what is the actual preferred method?
I got this container for the pods due to the ease of emptying or tapping off:

You can see that the spout is not quite at the bottom, so the mulm will probably be left relatively undisturbed.
Another question, will pods kill each other? Algae Barn has a product with several species all together in a jar. If I buy one of those and culture it, will I end up with just 1 winning species in the end, or will they all multiply happily together?

 

[BanZI29]

@Reef By Steele

 

[tbrown]

I know there's a couple of threads here dealing with this topic, but I can't find a decent build/how-to thread that specifically walks thru the entire process.
I have phyto going, and it is progressing excessively well. I am making about a pint more per week than I am dosing into the tank, which means I now have a gallon extra in my fridge. I want to get going on a pod culture now with the ultimate goal of keeping 1-2 dragonettes. I thought that colleting from the bottom was the preferred strategy, but I've also seen that that is the 'mulm' that should be left alone. I have seen people say harvest every 3-4 weeks and reset the whole thing, and others say they just let it do it's thing and scoop out pods regularly. So, what is the actual preferred method?
I got this container for the pods due to the ease of emptying or tapping off:

You can see that the spout is not quite at the bottom, so the mulm will probably be left relatively undisturbed.
Another question, will pods kill each other? Algae Barn has a product with several species all together in a jar. If I buy one of those and culture it, will I end up with just 1 winning species in the end, or will they all multiply happily together?

Some species of pods will outcompete others for food and some species will eat other species - so yes, typically one or two species winning in the end.

 

[Ocean_Queenie]

I know there's a couple of threads here dealing with this topic, but I can't find a decent build/how-to thread that specifically walks thru the entire process.
I have phyto going, and it is progressing excessively well. I am making about a pint more per week than I am dosing into the tank, which means I now have a gallon extra in my fridge. I want to get going on a pod culture now with the ultimate goal of keeping 1-2 dragonettes. I thought that colleting from the bottom was the preferred strategy, but I've also seen that that is the 'mulm' that should be left alone. I have seen people say harvest every 3-4 weeks and reset the whole thing, and others say they just let it do it's thing and scoop out pods regularly. So, what is the actual preferred method?
I got this container for the pods due to the ease of emptying or tapping off:

You can see that the spout is not quite at the bottom, so the mulm will probably be left relatively undisturbed.
Another question, will pods kill each other? Algae Barn has a product with several species all together in a jar. If I buy one of those and culture it, will I end up with just 1 winning species in the end, or will they all multiply happily together?

Definitely 1 winner, the Tigriopus lol

 

[Reef By Steele]

I know there's a couple of threads here dealing with this topic, but I can't find a decent build/how-to thread that specifically walks thru the entire process.
I have phyto going, and it is progressing excessively well. I am making about a pint more per week than I am dosing into the tank, which means I now have a gallon extra in my fridge. I want to get going on a pod culture now with the ultimate goal of keeping 1-2 dragonettes. I thought that colleting from the bottom was the preferred strategy, but I've also seen that that is the 'mulm' that should be left alone. I have seen people say harvest every 3-4 weeks and reset the whole thing, and others say they just let it do it's thing and scoop out pods regularly. So, what is the actual preferred method?
I got this container for the pods due to the ease of emptying or tapping off:

You can see that the spout is not quite at the bottom, so the mulm will probably be left relatively undisturbed.
Another question, will pods kill each other? Algae Barn has a product with several species all together in a jar. If I buy one of those and culture it, will I end up with just 1 winning species in the end, or will they all multiply happily together?

That vessel will work ok, I was using something similar to start but have upgrade. Depending on how many gallons you want to run, you will need more than a pint of phytoplankton per week. I run through about 4 gallons per week per species.

As for multi pods you will most likely end up with one species or total crash. For your mandarins I would recommend Tisbe or Apocyclops. You can find ours here: https://reefbysteele.com/collections/copepods and I answer questions and assist my customers after the sale, especially customers who culture. Yes it means I probably won’t be selling you a lot of pods, but hopefully you will recommend me as I see @BanZI29 tagged me and he is a culturing customer of ours.
You should clean the entire vessel at a regular interval including the mulm. I reset our cultures every two weeks. I alternate between multiple cultures to not over harvest.

Tisbe’s live in the rock sand and the glass, Apocyclops spend the first potion of their lives there then become free swimming so they would be a better choice if you want to have a wrasse like a leopard or anthias. Both will work great for your mandarins.