Still debating stocking IM 40Long AIO! Advice on pods reqs?

[JoJosReef]

TL;DR: Will a Poseidon pod culture bottle be able to provide generous amounts of pods to feed a [1] ruby dragonet (Synchiropus sycorax), [2] blue star leopard wrasse (Macropharyngodon bipartitus), or [3] ruby longfin fairy wrasse (Cirrhilabrus rubeus)? Key word "generous". I want fat fish.

The long read (with pictures!):
3ft tank. Latest FTS:

Currently has:
TSB

Exquisite firefish

This week moving over 2 occelaris clowns during my Evo tank transfer:

Of course, I have plenty of time after introducing the clowns and moving all those corals up top to the 40L. I want to make sure everyone is happy together before adding anything else. But I'm continually working on the great plan, the inefable plan! And part of that plan might include copepod-eating fish, so I am trying to decide on whether to start my own phyto/pod cultures.

Here are the other fish being considered (thinking 2-3 add'l, possibly 4 if I go pair of cardinals). Pics are from Google:

Yasha goby to pair with my Randall's pistol shrimp (definitely getting this)

Pair of banggai cardinals

Ruby red dragonet

Midas blenny

Blue star leopard wrasse

Ruby longfin fairy wrasse

If I go Yasha/Cardinals/Midas, then no problem. I have the feeding system already set up for them. The wrasses and the ruby dragonet are heavy pod-eaters, though. So, my question is, how much pod culture do I need for each of these fish?

NOTE: my current feeding program is on an automated system. Reef Nutition slurry is 1:1:1:1:1:1 ratio of oyster feast, ROE, roti feast, arcti pods, pac pods, phyto feast (dead)--soon to be adding mysis feast. TDO small pellets are dispensed as 2 turns of an Eheim autofeeder, which drops about 10-15 small pellets.
10am - 0.75mL RN slurry + TDO pellets
1pm - 0.75mL RN slurry + TDO pellets
4pm - 0.75mL RN slurry + TDO pellets
10pm - 0.75mL RN slurry
If I add any wrasses, the program will go up to 5 feedings during the daytime, and one at night for the night feeding corals.


Considering getting the Poseidon pod culture system from a local reefer. That's 1 bottle for phyto and 1 bottle for pods. I don't know how much that produces, and I don't know how much or how often I need to add the pods to the tank. There is no refugium, as this is an AIO, but there is plenty of display macro (if that helps any). I read somewhere that a dragonet can eat over 3K pods in a day. Will a poseidon culture tank be able to keep up with that?

Thanks! And thanks for reading!!

 

[blaxsun]

Temporarily, yes. The problem is not so much the size of the tank - but the volume of rock. Dragonets can hunt an entire system of copepods in short order - so larger tanks not only have more rock to host larger copepod populations - but it makes it more daunting for the fish to completely deplete one particular area.

Your best bet is to try to get them eating frozen. I've had good success starting them out on calanus and graduating to brine and even mysis.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

a bottle of pods will feed a mandarin for a weekend, you can't rely on bottled pods, your tank has be well populated with ability to continuously regenerate the pod population.

From the pic, I see not much rock in your system, so not many hiding/breeding place for pods (unless you have a sump)

If you want to culture phyto and pods, its easy and its an interesting learning experience, but can take a few tries to get the hang of it. Try it out for a while, see if its something you want to keep up long term.

I'll add, from my own experience, its not fun when the hobby becomes all about feeding one difficult fish, worrying every day if its eating or not. You're planning to feed 5 times a day, this will have an effect on your water parameters which will affect your other fish and your corals, for the sake of one fish. Think about it.

 

[JoJosReef]

Temporarily, yes. Dragonets can hunt an entire system of copepods in short order

a bottle of pods will feed a mandarin for a weekend, you can't rely on bottled pods, your tank has be well populated with ability to continuously regenerate the pod population.

Thanks, I think this really answers the question for me. If a Poseidon pod culture system can't produce enough for one dragonet (I don't know how many bottles it makes per week), then it doesn't make sense. I don't want 2+ Poseidon systems running in parallel to produce enough, and also need to consider what happens in the event of a population crash.

I'll scratch the dragonet from the list for this tank. Guess it's time to start thinking of the next upgrade!!