How do I do water changes on pod culture tank without sucking out all the pods?

[Karen00]

Hello fellow saltines,

This might be a stupid question (or at least a newbie question) but how do people do water changes on their pod culture tanks? I know a lot of people keep pods in their sumps/fuges so maybe this problem isn't applicable but for people maintaining separate culture tanks how is this done without sucking up all the pods? I don't have a sump/fuge on my tank but I do have an extra 5g tank I want to culture either tiggers or apex pods but I have no idea how to do a water change without sucking them up. Is there a filter I can put over the siphon that will allow water to pass but leave behind the pods no matter their size or where they are in their cycle (adult, nauplii, etc.)? Or is there another way to do this like lure them all to one side of the tank so I can siphon from the other side?

 

[Isopod80]

Just rubber band a filter sock over the siphon tube.

 

[Saltyreef]

Heres some useful info.

Culturing Tigger-Pods®

How to culture Reef Nutrition Tigger-Pods® - Live, large, red Tigriopus californicus copepods Materials Culture container We recommend at least 2 culture vessels in case one has issues. The vessels can be a 5 or 10 gallon aquarium, Tupperware container, etc. that holds water. Deep containers...

reefnutrition.com

 

[Karen00]

Just rubber band a filter sock over the siphon tube.

Thank you! I haven't used/purchased filter socks before so I appreciate this!

 

[Reef Nutrition]

Hello fellow saltines,

This might be a stupid question (or at least a newbie question) but how do people do water changes on their pod culture tanks? I know a lot of people keep pods in their sumps/fuges so maybe this problem isn't applicable but for people maintaining separate culture tanks how is this done without sucking up all the pods? I don't have a sump/fuge on my tank but I do have an extra 5g tank I want to culture either tiggers or apex pods but I have no idea how to do a water change without sucking them up. Is there a filter I can put over the siphon that will allow water to pass but leave behind the pods no matter their size or where they are in their cycle (adult, nauplii, etc.)? Or is there another way to do this like lure them all to one side of the tank so I can siphon from the other side?

I start a gravity siphon over a screen that fits in a 5 gallon bucket. The screen captures all the pods. After the tank is mostly drained (I avoid siphoning the mulm), I stop the siphon and transfer the pods to another clean culture. They are very hardy and can tolerate this kind of handling.

 

[Karen00]

Heres some useful info.

Culturing Tigger-Pods®

How to culture Reef Nutrition Tigger-Pods® - Live, large, red Tigriopus californicus copepods Materials Culture container We recommend at least 2 culture vessels in case one has issues. The vessels can be a 5 or 10 gallon aquarium, Tupperware container, etc. that holds water. Deep containers...

reefnutrition.com

Thanks! I had skimmed this and saw the part about returning the nauplii to the tank but not the adults. If I look further down to harvesting then I assume if I stick a 90 micron filter over the siphon that will allow the water through but leave the pods behind?

 

[Isopod80]

Thank you! I haven't used/purchased filter socks before so I appreciate this!

An old scrap of silk, pantyhose, or similar fine textured fabric will also work.

 

[Karen00]

I start a gravity siphon over a screen that fits in a 5 gallon bucket. The screen captures all the pods. After the tank is mostly drained (I avoid siphoning the mulm), I stop the siphon and transfer the pods to another clean culture. They are very hardy and can tolerate this kind of handling.

Nice! Thanks! I was concerned that siphoning them might kill them so my thinking was I had to prevent them from going up the siphon in the first place. Are you returning them back to the same container with the mulm just with clean water added back to it?

 

[Karen00]

An old scrap of silk, pantyhose, or similar fine textured fabric will also work.

Thank you!!

 

[Reef Nutrition]

Nice! Thanks! I was concerned that siphoning them might kill them so my thinking was I had to prevent them from going up the siphon in the first place. Are you returning them back to the same container with the mulm just with clean water added back to it?

I put my Apocyclops in a clean tank with no mulm after siphoning them. The Tigger-Pods, however, do get some of the mulm transferred from the harvested tank to the new tank.

 

[Karen00]

I put my Apocyclops in a clean tank with no mulm after siphoning them. The Tigger-Pods, however, do get some of the mulm transferred from the harvested tank to the new tank.

Thank you!

 

[G Santana]

I saw a video on YouTube where a guy tied a cotton ball on the end of a length of air hose and began a syphon with the cotton ball in the pod tank. He was able to keep all the pods in his tank while the water filtered out.

 

[Karen00]

I saw a video on YouTube where a guy tied a cotton ball on the end of a length of air hose and began a syphon with the cotton ball in the pod tank. He was able to keep all the pods in his tank while the water filtered out.

Nice!!! Thanks! I will have to look that up. I like the simplicity of it.

 

[G Santana]

Nice!!! Thanks! I will have to look that up. I like the simplicity of it.

I forgot, I have these that you could use to strain the pods

 

[Karen00]

I forgot, I have these that you could use to strain the pods

OMG, I came across these about six months ago. I can't remember why I was searching for fine netting but it would've been for my freshwater tanks. I might have actually added them to my wish list. Thanks for sharing these (and reminding me about them).

 

[Upinthinair]

Thank you!!

Not sure why this popped in my head…lol