Help stocking pods

[mng777777]

I could use some more help. I am planning to keep a dragonet down the road. I am probably about 3 months away from that purchase. I read that it takes about 45 days from eggs to egglaying with pods and I would like to be well stocked prior to getting the mandarin. I went to the LFS yesterday to buy a bottle of tigger's to kick start my fuge as I read that those are the mandarins favorite pod. The guy there said that most pods are cold water from northern cal/pacific and they will not live or spawn at reef temps. He said that they simply survive long enough for the dragonet to eat them. He said that he normally carries "reef" pods but was out, so I left empty handed. I decided to do more research before I made the drive to a different LFS. I would like to know what type of pods and/or shrimp I can successfully breed in my fuge at +/- 79 degrees. Thanks,
Justin

 

[Bifferwine]

Pods will come into your tank as hitch hikers on the rocks. Without a predator, they will start to breed and their population will grow. Basically, there isn't anything you can do except wait. They breed really quickly.

It's usually not recommended to keep a mandarin dragonet unless you have a refugium, because the refugium provides a breeding ground for the pods absent a predator. Even without a fuge, you can encourage pod breeding in your tank by making a pile of small rocks. The crevices need to be small enough so that fish can't get in and eat the pods.

 

[yote]

To help the pods produce,you may want to think about using some live phytoplankton.A lot of the smaller pods realy on the smaller live phyto for food.

 

[sen5241b]

I built a "pod pile" of many small pieces of LR that fish can't get into. The pods can breed in there in numbers. About a month after setting it up the pods went nuts. My tank glass is covered with them! Occasionally I have to take the mag-float and scrape them off the glass. Mofib has a thread on breeding pods.

I had aqua-cultured LR from Tampabay-salt-water (shipped in water to keep it live) and it had many pods on it. They are pricey but maybe you could call or email them about pods on their LR and buying a small piece to get you started.

 

[dustyboy316]

On ebay there are some auctions for some. You can buy up to 1000 I beleive (I have no idea if that is a lot).