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Advice on adding Pods to nano tank


Lognor

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I'm looking at adding pods to my tank for biodiversity and would like some advice on where to get them from, process to add them, etc.  

 

Any recommended vendors?  Looking at Aquarium Depot and Algae Barn, they're so different in number, price, and type.  AD sells 500 copepods for $20 and AB has three kinds of pods 5000+ for like $40.  I see posts about people adding pods, but not sure if there is a recommended kind, quantity, etc for a 29g nano.

 

As far as introducing them, it looks like I should do a drip acclimate then add them after lights out with the pumps off for an hour.  Is that the best practice others have found?  I use an intank media tower with filter floss, phosphate pad, and chemipure blue for filtration.  Do I need to remove that for a while?  Does it matter?

 

Thanks

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I used Algae Barn, and they just emailed me yesterday about a buy one get one free pod special. I didn't drip. I just floated and added. I did use a long feeding tube to pour them into to make sure they got to the bottom of the tank to give them the best chance of survival. That was 2 months ago, and they are still in the tank and reproducing. 

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My LFS sell small 100ml pouches for £1.50

I usually pick up a pouch a week to add to the Pico, add them to the HOB Filter and occasionally pipette some into the main display

Drip Acclimate? I cut the pouch and pour it all in after floating the bag to match temp

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I feel like acclimating pods is almost certainly not necessary. They are generally super tough, and if conditions are right in your tank they will just take off all on their own. The only thing you need to be concerned about is making sure the pumps are off when the pods are first introduced, because otherwise they will be swept into your filter media before they have a chance to hide themselves away in the nooks and crannies of the tank. I'd pour them in, leave the pumps off for fifteen minutes or so, and then just resume business as usual.

 

One other thing to have on your radar with pods is that they will usually not last very long in your system unless they have a sheltered place to reproduce where they are protected from predation. That's why many people prefer to add pods to their refugium or to a "pod condo" (basically a removable plastic box filled with live rock rubble) hidden away in the back chambers of their tank. Once the pods have established themselves in this protected space, they will begin to spread throughout your system and will eventually populate your display tank as well.

 

If you're not concerned about the size or species of the pods you get you can just pick up a mix of small pods from Reef Cleaners for $10. A lot of people also passively introduce pods to their system when they set up a refugium. Popular refugium algae such as Ulva or Chaetomorpha often come already seeded with pods, and if this is the case there is usually no need to purchase the pods themselves.

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^^ Agree about needing a sheltered place so they aren't all wiped out. Algae Reactors are becoming more popular nowadays, or I've seen DIY tutorials on how to convert a HOB into a mini-refugium.

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@billygoat I don't have a refugium, but I do have the space for another insert in chamber 2.  I have small pieces of rubble I could add put in a second media tower.  Something to consider and look into, thanks.

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If you Google "DIY pod condo" you can find a lot of cool ideas for cheap ways to make a safe space for your pods. 😊 The ones made out of eggcrate are pretty cool because you can pull them out of your back chamber and move them into your display to "reseed" it every once in awhile.

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8 hours ago, Belikin said:

I used Algae Barn, and they just emailed me yesterday about a buy one get one free pod special. I didn't drip. I just floated and added. I did use a long feeding tube to pour them into to make sure they got to the bottom of the tank to give them the best chance of survival. That was 2 months ago, and they are still in the tank and reproducing. 

I placed an order for 5280 pods yesterday and then saw the BOGO offer like a few hours later.  I should've reached out to see if they would've hooked me up with the free jar but I got busy with work and forgot to do it.  Le Sigh. 

 

Anyway, despite the 2-3 day free shipping, I actually got the pods today (so 1 day turnaround).  Pretty fast.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

I added macro from reef cleaners to my QT and my pico and both tanks have a pod explosion atm 🙂

 

Pods pretty much find a way into the tank and no matter how many or little you add the numbers will always stablize to what your tank can support.

 

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