Pod Planning

[Psychedelic Fins]

To convince Mrs TampaMark to agree to the new tank, I promised we would get a mandarin. We talked about the need to wait to establish a nice pod population before bringing one home, and she is in full agreement. The tank has had water in it for two months now and I want to begin establishing my pod population. I have the main 180 gallon display that is plumbed to a 40 gallon breeder sump. The drains from the display go into an area that has two filter socks that then dump the water into my protein skimmer chamber. There is a return pump chamber and one extra chamber that is currently empty. It is roughly 9x17 inches in size. That is where I want to cultivate my pods.

My goal is to establish a healthy pod population that can be easily exported to the display. My original plan was to use this chamber for a refugium. I know I could put some chaeto in there that would provide a nice environment for pod growth, but I'm having second thoughts on whether I need a refugium (I know it is early, but my nitrate and phosphate levels are low, and we are not wanting a lot of fish), and I'm not sure how easy it would be to transfer pods to the display. I made some DIY pod hotels outs of corrugated plastic that would be easy to transport back and forth to the display, and am wondering if putting some live rock or sand and the hotels would be a better option. I could alternate the hotels back and forth between the sump and the display every couple of days.

I am looking for thoughts on the best way to encourage pod growth without running a refugium. My ultimate goal would be to create an environment where the pod production keeps pace with the appetites of my fish. Is this possible? What should I be thinking about that I am not? I am always impressed with the knowledge of R2R members and don't want to reinvent something that has probably been done many times before. Thanks for any advice/ideas/suggestions you can offer.

 

[Spare time]

Feed phyto to the tank. Pods eat that stuff like crazy

 

[Psychedelic Fins]

How much and how often do you feed the phyto? I haven't seen much in direction on phyto feeding.

 

[tehmadreefer]

Feeding your fish will provide plenty of food for pods in a 180, nothing more needs to be done, not even buying pods which is one of the biggest shams in the reef hobby.

 

[Woodneers]

I grow phyto and if you want some let me know but anyway I am preparing to start a pod culture as I am in the exact situation as you with your wife! She likes flowing corals and mandarins! She tolerates the rest! Either way I have a ton of phyto and soon will be full up on pods!

 

[Psychedelic Fins]

Feeding your fish will provide plenty of food for pods in a 180, nothing more needs to be done, not even buying pods which is one of the biggest shams in the reef hobby.

How do the pods get established if I don't seed the tank? Hitchhike in with tank additions? I was thinking of buying some pods to seed the tank. Necessary or not?

 

[tehmadreefer]

How do the pods get established if I don't seed the tank? Hitchhike in with tank additions? I was thinking of buying some pods to seed the tank. Necessary or not?

They come in on basically anything you put in your tank that came from another system and proliferate very fast. I’ve always kept a mandarin since 2007 when I got in this hobby and never bought pods... most ppl didn’t until just a few years ago, when it became more mainstream due to the heavy influx of noobies

 

[Spare time]

How much and how often do you feed the phyto? I haven't seen much in direction on phyto feeding.

Honestly I really don't know the recommended amount. @AlgaeBarn may have an answer

 

[wonroc]

Feeding your fish will provide plenty of food for pods in a 180, nothing more needs to be done, not even buying pods which is one of the biggest shams in the reef hobby.

Words of wisdom. Agree. Pods will eventually hitchhike into your tank even if you dip. They will mate and populate over time. Dont sweat it

 

[Psychedelic Fins]

Thanks everyone. Going to keep it simple and wait for them to arrive on their own.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

A friend recommended getting chaeto and just shaking it to seed the pods. Phyto and chaeto for the pods can help the population and when I want to replenish my display I just shake and chaeto ball in the display. I agree that buying pods can be a silly excess cost but being able to introduce multiple varieties all at once is nice.

 

[Josh@BVA]

I would suggest checking out the discussion in here on culturing pods. I see people making small batches with 2 liter soda bottles. i guess it all depends on your level of dedication to making more pods. I personally am looking into doing a larger scale pod/phyto setup just so i never have to worry about live food

 

[Psychedelic Fins]

So my conclusions from this thread are:
1. Buy it (anything from another system) and they will come (pods)
2. Phyto will feed the buggers and keep them really happy and multiplying.
3. In my 180 gallon tank, I shouldn't need to supplement pods to keep enough for a mandarin
4. Seeding initially could jump start my pod population (and introduce species variety)
5. My DIY pod hotels could be used in place of chaeto to transport from sump to display (if that is even needed)
6. Woodneer's wife and mine have similar reef tank desires

 

[ThePurple12]

How much and how often do you feed the phyto? I haven't seen much in direction on phyto feeding.

I use Spirulina powder. I don't know of any exact measurement, I just tap the bag over a bowl, add water and mix, and dump in the tank. A large cloud forms, then dissipates.

If you want a mandarin and a large pod population, obviously stay away from other big pod eaters like wrasses and pipefish.

 

[ThePurple12]

Ditching the filter socks would also help, as they can trap pods and pod food.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Ditching the filter socks would also help, as they can trap pods and pod food.

This makes sense. Typically I dose my phyto with my return pump off and my chaeto reactor running from the drain side to refugium for a good 10 minutes before turning the return pump off. Are socks a huge issue when it comes to pod population or something I can continue to mitigate by turning off pumps when I move them to the display?

 

[Psychedelic Fins]

Good call on the filter socks. I use mesh socks now and they pull out the small amount of uneaten seaweed and food that my fish don't get to. This could help me to be more disciplined with filter sock cleaning if I did it 2-3 times a week when pod hotels get moved. Leave them out for 10-15 minutes to let the pods settle before re-inserting them.

 

[ThePurple12]

This makes sense. Typically I dose my phyto with my return pump off and my chaeto reactor running from the drain side to refugium for a good 10 minutes before turning the return pump off. Are socks a huge issue when it comes to pod population or something I can continue to mitigate by turning off pumps when I move them to the display?

Good call on the filter socks. I use mesh socks now and they pull out the small amount of uneaten seaweed and food that my fish don't get to. This could help me to be more disciplined with filter sock cleaning if I did it 2-3 times a week when pod hotels get moved. Leave them out for 10-15 minutes to let the pods settle before re-inserting them.

Yup, turning off the return should help the adults settle.

The thing is pod larvae are pelagic (free swimming) I believe, meaning that when they reproduce, the larvae have a chance of getting sucked into the filter sock. This could slow the population growth. I just don’t run filter socks at all for this reason.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

I don't think that would be an option for me as I am skimmerless. A good thought and maybe I can pull them out when I am not feeding but that seems like a hassle. Atleast I know about it now!

 

[Psychedelic Fins]

Yup, turning off the return should help the adults settle.

The thing is pod larvae are pelagic (free swimming) I believe, meaning that when they reproduce, the larvae have a chance of getting sucked into the filter sock. This could slow the population growth. I just don’t run filter socks at all for this reason.

I guess, like a lot of things in this hobby, it is a balance. I run the socks to help with algae control, but they are going to be bad for the pods. How bad? Probably depends on strength of pod population vs. number of predators vs. tank size vs...... And how much are the filter socks helping my algae control??? Sometimes my head hurts!