Pod tank? Anyone have any luck?

[carey]

Putting together a pod tank for feedings of a dragonet and was wondering if anyone has had any luck in setting up and growing pods? I had a thread awhile back on how to make one but don't know if anyone has actually done it.

thanks so much guys!

 

[austinsdad]

How are you planning to feed them? What are you planning to do with this tank? Feed a mandarin in a 20g tank??

Seriously. Curious. What's the purpose for this pod tank?

 

[carey]

I made a mistake and got a scooter blenny. I'm trying to rehome it today but I doubt anyone will take him. He may be eating some prepared foods but I wanna be ready just in case.

I was gonna breed a few bags of pods and dole them out into the 29 cube the scooter is in.

I know it's not the solution really, but I have to do something. I have never lost a fish yet and I don't plan on having one starve because I'm a dumb a.

My problem just escalated on the pod tank cause the tank is broken. :-(

What say you austinsdad?

Total crapshoot or a possibility?

 

[Bige]

You can buy then from reef2go.com. I dont think you would be able to keep a tank full of pods to equal the eating of the fish. All the mandarin does is search and eat. They will clean the 29 in a day. Then you would have to get all the pods you could in the tank for next day. Doesnt seem sustainable. My friend bought 2000 pods from reef2go and put them in his 29 biocube and his scooter blenny made all disappear in about a day and half.

 

[carey]

I was figuring 3 bags into the pod tank, one into the cube and one on hand while the pod tank matures. I know the mandarins can eat through thousands a day, hopefully the scooter isn't as bad. I still have pods in the cube for now, he hasnt made his way to the front glass yet but I expect them to dwindle in a few days.

I appreciate the input and trust me this would not be my first choice but I dont want him to starve.

 

[austinsdad]

Here's a good article I think. Might help you with feeding ideas. Have you tried live brine yet? Even then, I think you will be losing your first fish soon.

Best of luck to you.

Scooter Blenny - Care Of The Scooter Dragonet

 

[carey]

I will be trying to get some live brine today, I tried the frozen baby brine last night and he didnt seem to see it.
I had some luck with a frozen brine cube, I think he ate a few pieces but not enought to make me happy.

Would introducing more live rock help? I know the lr from my 55g is crawling with pods.

And one more question, would he have a better shot in the cube with me trying to feed him or in my 55g with 80lbs of lr? The only issue I see there is my goby and gramma both eat pods too. Not as their staple but they do eat them.

 

[Bige]

He would do better in larger tank with more rock. But the competition might be a problem. Although the two fish you have probably eat prepared foods so you could keep them fat that way.

 

[carey]

That's what I'm afraid of. I know the goby and gramma eat other foods so I don't think they have depleted my pod population. I also just had a pod explosion in the 55g, I literally had thousands on the glass, might be why the fish were eating them.

Anyone else think maybe the 55g would be a better place? Not sure if he would get along with the current goby and blenny though. But I could move one of them to the cube I suppose....

 

[Jereli]

Have my scooter blenny eating pellets..he really chows down on them

 

[Jereli]

have been giving him pellets for almost a year now... Maybe you can try that if you havent already...just make sure they get to the bottom on the sand..

 

[Smitty]

Just another thought if you are going to set up a separate tank/area for pods is to fill it with pot scrubbers. They will multiply in there and it is a handy way to move them to your tank (just take the pot scrubber and shake it over your tank-well, several of them at least).

Another idea is to take several pot scrubbers and put them in your tank somewhere under some rubble and just change them out every day or so (put like 3-5 under some rubble to keep them in one spot).

 

[carey]

Thanks smitty, I had forgotten about the pot scrubber thing.
I got a 10g tank and the lfs gave me a bag of pods and a bag of bigger pods from their sump with live sand too. I'm gonna start setting up the pod tank now. I got some regular sand and will add some out of my 29g and the sand given by the lfs. i may put a piece of lr in there too. not sure yet.

 

[Ibrahim]

Lol thts the exact sand and tank I have but the sand gets dirty really fast

 

[carey]

So I have had it up and running for a week now. I added about 20lbs of LR maybe 10lbs of base rock, a jar and a bag of pods. theres also some macro algae i got that you usually put in the sump in there too. Its heated to 78 degrees and I am using an air pump for aeration. I keep the lights on the same schedule as my other tanks.

What am I missing? i shouldn't run a filter on it since that defeats the purpose of growing tiny pods right? I have some on the glass but nothing special yet. the tank is also cycling due to the lr die off. I think ammonia has spike waiting for trites now.

Any comments? I'm open to any improvement