How many pods are enough pods?

[tactical error]

Apologies if this is not where this goes. Probably about three months ago, I bought a tiny Biota Mandarin Goby. I was told he was eating frozen baby brine shrimp from the extremely reputable LFS, so I started feeding them along with the normal frozen for everyone else. Then I started wondering - I don’t actually see him eat, so is he eating? Nothing like spending $100 on one fish to get you in your head about it…. So I ordered the 5250 pods and Ocean Magic combo from Algae Barn. And about 40 days later when the Ocean Magic ran out, I ordered again. Now the Ocean Magic has run out, and my LFS will refill my jar with phyto for half the price. But I’m wondering, I’ve dumped 10,500 pods in there - is that enough? I’m wondering if I should order their ecopods four pack, or save the $100? I do see some on the glass when the lights are on, but how do I know the mandarin has enough to sustain it? I also leave on a 10-day vacation four weeks from today, so I want to make sure nobody is going to starve while we’re gone. Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

 

[Fish Fan]

Hello from down near Canandaigua!

What size tank is your Mandarin in? Do you have any kind of refugium for the 'pods to grow? Does the Mandarin seem thin at all?

I believe dosing the Phyto is a solid choice as it feeds your 'pods along with other filter feeders. The question would be, are your fish eating the 'pods faster than they can naturally populate.

Good luck!

 

[Macropharyngodon]

Never enough pods

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

IMO they can go through a bottle in a weekend, they eat thousands per day. The best method is to culture them yourself or set up a pod breeding space in your tank somewhere.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I added pods to my tank, then took up daily
Phyto additions to feed the pods which have been growing nicely.

 

[Biokabe]

Generally speaking - if you can see pods on your glass, you're producing enough pods for a mandarin, especially if the mandarin is already in the tank and you're seeing the pods during the day. That comes with the caveat that your tank needs to be large enough to have enough volume for that many pods to grow and thrive. So I'll echo the request - how big is your tank? How much rock do you have in there?

 

[tactical error]

Hello from down near Canandaigua!

What size tank is your Mandarin in? Do you have any kind of refugium for the 'pods to grow? Does the Mandarin seem thin at all?

I believe dosing the Phyto is a solid choice as it feeds your 'pods along with other filter feeders. The question would be, are your fish eating the 'pods faster than they can naturally populate.

Good luck!

Hey neighbor! I’m actually in Geneseo, but haunt your area on the regular when my dog goes to daycare in Bloomfield! We should start a reefing club - LOLOLOLOL!!!

 

[Pseudodiego]

If your tank is big enough just don't bother adding more after the initial ones, pods breed. Phyto for pods is another waste of money, add silicates, those will produce diatoms to feed pods and adding silicates is way easier/cheaper than phyto.

My Mandarin lived in a 20 gallon(10 gallon sump) for a year without adding phyto or extra pods.

 

[tactical error]

Tank is the Fluval Flex 32.5 - and I have no interest in going bigger - after keeping freshwater for decades, this has been a steep learning curve! I would say I’ve got about 20 lbs of rock in there. I scored when another LFS closed and probably half of it came from their display tanks, so it was well seasoned with a ton of critters already in it. The mandarin has gotten bigger since I got him, so I’m assuming he’s got enough to eat between pods and frozen, but, you know how it is…

 

[Fish Fan]

Hey neighbor! I’m actually in Geneseo, but haunt your area on the regular when my dog goes to daycare in Bloomfield! We should start a reefing club - LOLOLOLOL!!!

We use them for boarders