Pods... Everything You Need To Know.

ThePaliga

New Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2015
Location
Amherstburg
So basically, I've always had pods just magically appear in all my previous tanks. They show up, grow in mass numbers and I've never really worried about them. I just had them. Now, with the new 50, I can't seem to see any. Copepods or amiphipods. Any tips or tricks that I should know in cultivating them, or do I just need to wait and see what happens?
 

Sewerat

Super Active Member
Joined
May 22, 2014
Location
Brooksdale, Ontario
Well they don't fall from the sky, or get dropped off by a stork. You must had had to get some either from rock, frag, fish, or water in the past. So if you were stupidly careful on this tank it is possible to have next to none. If you started with dry rock, and killed it then cured it, dry sand, fresh water, stripped and dipped every frag, dripped and dumped every fish entered, and the list goes on.

Time or just go buy a $20 bottle of pods and be done with it.


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SamB

Super Active Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2015
Location
GTA
Perhaps Copepod breeder, forum member and expert; David Caplan will comment
 

ThePaliga

New Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2015
Location
Amherstburg
Wait, so the stork only drops off babies? Wouldn't they get bored doing just that? Lol

I get the fact that they came in through other sources, I'm just curious why the population hasn't exploded like my last several tanks. I know that the system is considered "nutrient rich" due to the fact of the insane populations of both bristle worms and micro feather dusters. I currently only have two clowns, 10 or so Nass snails, a hermit, a turbo and a couple corals ( thanks joshbrookkate :) ). Several pieces of LR came from established systems, and I'm skimming pretty dry right now. I'm just curious what else I can do to get some amiphipods and Copepods going in there.
 

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David Caplan

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Website Affiliate
Joined
Jan 30, 2015
Location
Toronto, Ontario
While feeding phytoplankton helps them breed, and will keep your population high, you need to have enough of them in the first place for them to breed. Many people who cycle their tanks using traditional methods (fishless 4-6 weeks), will experience large pod populations due to lack of predation. The sooner you add the fish, the smaller your breeding population is going to be. People also have a tendency of buying fish that eat only or mostly pods, and continue to buy them and feed frozen foods until the population depletes. Only then do you know that they required the nutrition of the pods to survive, and they start having problems with these fish. The diet of fish is commonly misunderstood, if they eat 99% zooplankton in the wild, they aren't suddenly going to be able to get all their nutrition from frozen food alternatives. If their natural food is in the aquarium, they will primarily eat that until it depletes. This means that even if your Wrasses, Gobies, Anthias, Clowns ect are eating frozen foods, they will still be primarily preying on the copepod population until it depletes. This leaves you with two options, either boost their natural food source, or feed processed alternatives multiple times a day and try to convert them from their typical diets. Some fish are particularly difficult to change diet, either because they require constant feeding through the day, because their mouths are too small for most foods, or because they are too slow to compete for foods during feeding.

The more you start with, the more you end up with. If the majority of the contents of your tank were transferred from a well-seeded tank, then your tank will start with a large population. The more dry materials went into the tank, the less you will have to start with.
 

ThePaliga

New Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2015
Location
Amherstburg
Thanks David! I really appreciate the information. So basically, in order to build my population, I'm going to need to seed it from this point forward? Until I can reach a sustainable rate?
 

David Caplan

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Website Affiliate
Joined
Jan 30, 2015
Location
Toronto, Ontario
Exactly, you want to seed to the point where their reproduction rate is either greater than or matching your tank's consumption. The longer you wait to add more fish, the easier that will be to achieve.
 
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