Talk to me about pods

d2mini

Reef enthusiast
I've been in this hobby for years and I have no freakin idea if I have pods, what they looks like, how to find them, how to make more, etc. I want to know if I have enough to support something that survives on them, like a Mandarin. Who else eats them? What else are they good for? Do they taste good in butter and lemon?
 
Amphipods are slightly larger and you could probably see them with the naked eye, copepods are smaller and many require a magnifying glass to see. The best way i could describe their looks is tiny little bugs. Some pods live in the water column while benthic species of pods will live in your LR and plants. Many other fish eat pods, my neon dottyback and clown eat pods off the rock/sand/glass all the time. Pods are also good for cleaning since many are detrivores. As far as how to know if you have enough to support a Mandarin I'm not sure of a reliable way to accurately measure the density of pod populations in your tank, though from the research I did before I ruled out a Mandarin for my tiny tank I gathered that the safest bet is to seed your refugium with some pods and allow time for them to build a steady population. I would guess in your 200 gal seeding pods would be useless because you probably already have a much larger population than you could typically buy. I guess if you really wanted to see some pods you could take a sample of water from your fuge and look at it under a magnifying glass (reefcleaners.org suggests 25x magnification or larger to see most pods). I'd be willing to bet if you took a magnifying glass and just looked at the glass/acrylic of your tank you would see pods on the glass. Hopefully somebody with more knowledge will chime in.
 
You should have pods everywhere in your tank and substain a mandarin easily especially if you have a refugium in your sump. I would still try to find one that will eat frozen foods such as brine or mysis.
 
Dennis, you should be good in your tank as far as pods go. IF you wanted to try and see them, while your lights are on, look under rock over hangs near the sand bed and you should be able to see little critters running around in the shade. Or, if you come back at night with a red lens flashlight and start searching your rock. You'll see them.
 
How many wrasses do you have? With your size tank and refugium you should have plenty, but you could always seed your refugium with more and wait a few months, especially if you have wrasses (which also love to hunt for pods!)
 
I see the majority of my pods in the sump, rarely in the dt because the fish pick them off before I see them. With those rocks you got, I have no doubt you got pods.
 
A good way to boost your pod population is to use a phytoplankton coral food. The smaller types of pods actively feed on phyto and the added food source usually encourages them to reproduce.
 
I was wondering about my pods a month ago so I went looking with a flashlight at night...My tank was crawling with them. I got a mandarin a week ago....he hunts all day all the time. My sump is still crawling with them but he has put a big dent into them in the dt. To me they look like little clear shrimp...I seeded tiger pods twice in my old tank years ago. When I moved the rock to the new tank they all came over. Think smaller then a grain of rice. Most of the time you just see movement unless they are right up against the glass.
 
I always have loads of them in my skimmer and if you stare at a shady part of a rock and concentrate you will usually see them running around. I have had a mandarin for a few months now and I still buy the macro algae packs from reefcleaners once in a while to get fresh plants and it comes with 500 pods which you can certainly see in the bag.
 
See d2 your mother was right it did make you lose your sight....When I wasnt sleeping at 4am this morning I was watching the pods in the refugium...They are actually kind cool to watch.
 
Well looky what I found on my dead birdsnest (yeah, i'm pretty pissed about that, but...).

8406431997_f08942d7f3_o.jpg
 
What?!?! Is it my fault I've never seen a pod until now? Some of us just develop later than others. :razz:

At least my girl Erin doesn't judge me. :mrgreen:
 
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