DIY Pods trap

[Young Frankenstein]

I want to make a trap that just traps pods, so I can catch them in the refugium and transfer them in the main tan. Any ideas ?

 

[wysiwyg]

i use a small brine shrimp sieve

 

[Young Frankenstein]

Anything........... else ?

 

[Aquaph8]

Not really a DIY thing but I make a pile of rock rubble and you can move a piece at a time. They really collect on rock work when theres nothing eating them.

 

[revhtree]

Following along!

 

[ritter6788]

I used to put plastic scrub pads like the ones for scrubbing dishes (unscented of course) in the sump and shake them out into a tank I wanted to seed. I'm not sure how many pods came out at a time but there was always a bunch in there. It worked well enough to seed a tank I was setting up but I don't know if it will work for what you're trying to do. It was basically like fake Chaeto.

 

[secretreefer]

i have a med rock covered with macro algae (hairy/furry looking) that the copes love to hang out on. when i take it out and shake in a small white bucket with water they're falling out!

 

[Tank2379]

I used these to get pods to populate in my fuge they love it...

AquaClear 30 Filter Foam Insert - AquaClear Foam Only $0.99

 

[Young Frankenstein]

This great information, thanks for the many replies, keep em coming.
I am leaning toward Tank2379 a filter insert inside a plastic clear container with some 1/4" holes on top. Any suggestions ?

 

[uall8up]

+1 on the filter. I just had some pods delivered to me and they sent a filter pad in the bag with them. I then put 1 covered in pods into my seahorse tank.

 

[Young Frankenstein]

What should I use for bait ?

 

[Young Frankenstein]

Ok.........ok here we go LETS GO FISHING................. a glass container from coffee 1 cube of fish food and some phyto plankton.

 

[Tank2379]

Thanks Perfect Young, That a great way to get pods going and captured...

 

[Reef Breeders]

Planning a mandarin are we I simply shake my chaeto to release the pods, a small filter sponge in your fuge would do. I would not bait any kind of pod trap, or you will be making a bristle worm trap more than anything, lol. I would like to see what happens though.

 

[Young Frankenstein]

I have 2 separate refugiums 1 for chaeto and 1 (coral scraper) algae scruber. In the chaeto is a pain to get them ...........i just like the trap thingie lol.

 

[VB68]

This is what I found earlier--- I have a Mandarin Dragonet and I was building some pod piles of live-rock rubble when I was thinking. It would be nice if these piles were easier to move (for cleaning maintenance, etc). Then I decided to make mobile Pod Condos - You can move them around your tank, easily and still provide a sanctuary for pod population to reproduce within. It also allows you to make a couple and rotate them between your display tank, and another pod-rich environment such as a refugium to increase the number of little pod tenants.

They are very simple and cheap to make:

Materials

• Gutter Guard - Sold at Menards/Lowes/HD in about 20' rolls for a few bucks
• 10 or so zip-ties (smaller are better IMO)
• Some live rock rubble

Step 1 - Make the body
Cut about 1 foot of gutter guard and roll it into a cylinder. You could actually make them any size you like but this size worked well in my tank - adjust as you like. Overlap about 3 squares on the end. Use zip ties and secure the overlapped layers every couple squares using the middle row of full squares for best strength.

Step 2 - Put on the bottom
Next cut a smaller piece of gutter guard that is large enough to cover the end of the tube with a couple squares of over hang. Position the bottom on the body so that you get good matching of the full squares of the body edge with the top. It's hard to see in the pics, but you want to zip tie anchor using full, uncut squares. Again, zip tie every couple squares

Step 3 - Trim the bottom
Trim the bottom to fit the tube body with a scissors - being careful not to cut the anchor squares so that it compromises the bottom's structural integrity. Here it is pre and post trimmed:

Step 4 - Fill'er Up with rubble
Now you're ready to fill it up with LR rubble, etc. This is the habitat for your pods, so I tried to fill mine up nice and dense so they have more space to run around, hide, lay eggs, etc. You may have to do some puzzle work to maximize the fill, but do it to your liking. Don't fill it completely to the top only go about 80% full - leaving about 1 1/2 inch or so unfilled. This will allow you to pinch the two sides together an close the top to keep the rubble from falling out.

Step 5 - Close the top
Now pinch the top together and use a couple zip ties to close it. I found it best to put the body seam perpendicular to the top pinch line so it looks nice and isn't as hard on the side seam.

That's all there is. As I said, now you have mobile Pod breeding grounds. You could also loan them out to others to plop in their sump/fuge for a couple weeks to cross-populate your tank with pod species from their system, etc.

 

[Pumbooris]

would this last idea work by just having something similar in a sumpless tank? maybe behind some rocks out of the way??

 

[Young Frankenstein]

Great info, my idea did not work, I am going for the rock basket next !!!! thanks

 

[Grimey]

Great thread.

I like VB68's Idea. Is there a reason not to make the top like you did the bottom?

ether way I think I am going to run home and make myself a rock basket.