When do u have pods in your tank??

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

When does a tank develop pods and how can a novice aquarist tell he or she has them??

 

[fishman1069]

A tank should have pods from the begining, if you used quality live rock. You will see little shrimp like things floating in the water column which is actually the molts of the little critters. If you stare at your rock long enough you should see little bugs crawling in and out of the rock. You can also purchase live pods online but be careful and use a reputable vendor

 

[richardhmc]

yup, like fishman said, you should be able to see them going in and out of your rocks. pretty cool stuff. Also, when your lights are off, they are more adventurous and come out onto the sand. so when you flick em back on, you should see scurrying all over the place. If you have a mag float, or any algae scrubber that sticks on the inside of the tank, you can also see copepods in between the two parts.

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

I never noticed any of that stuff and my tank has been running since October and was interested in a mandarin but website says u need lots of pods to keep up with diet so this is why I'm asking thanks guys!

 

[fishman1069]

You should wait at least a year for a Mandarin and have pleanty of live rock. You can always buy the pod and feed too. Just dont fall into that ORA bs that they have tanked raised mandarins that eat frozen food. Most of em wind up dying in a couple of months from starvation. Ive heard of people getting them to eat frozen foods but it takes alot of time, dedication and experiance

 

[Kendall]

Pods are tiny shrimp and need to be added to the tank, then they multiply. They are usually added without your knowing. Most common way is when you add live rock or corals to the tank. They hide in the rock and the rock the corals are attached to. Best time to see them is at night.

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

Well I added rock a few months ago and it started a cycle

 

[richardhmc]

I think it depends on your rock... Did you start with dry rock? I bought live rock from another person's tank so it was already good to go which is probably why I saw copepods quickly

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

Nah I picKed it up at a local shop and I'm guessing it was not cured and the brown out began

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

But at first yes it was dry rock I only added 2 pieces from the shop the rest came from my bros tank

 

[richardhmc]

hmm. I'm not sure if copepods just come out of nowhere from dead rock. how about getting a rock that has copepods and then putting it into your tank to seed it?

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

Not sure i have to sit mat night and see what's crawling around

 

[pmoneyt]

your best bet is to buy some or buy some green stuff from someone's fuge' cant remember the name right now. then let them multiple for about a month.

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

I might have em cause I had a scooter blennynfor about 2 weeks and he was eating something off the rocks

 

[pmoneyt]

they mostly eat algee

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

Yeah well the snails ate that so he starved.

 

[basiab]

There are 2 kinds of pods. Amphipods are bigger and can be seen crawling around. copods are very tiny and the only way you can see them is when they are on the glass. All you see are little white dots moving around. sometimes you can see them in a clump of algae.
I can give you some but if you got live rock from anyones tank chances are you already have them and it is just a matter of time for them to turn into a bigger population. If you want a big population to start with then buy a pint of copods either from a store or on line.

 

[naples]

i have a total of 23 fish 5 of them being tangs in a 156 just get your self a good skimmer

sorry i posted this in the wrong thread

 

[dubs]

saltwaterinbk i am taking down my tank if u want come to the bx i can give u 1000 of pods free

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

That would rock but I can't navigate the Bronx for crap lol what part