Patiently waiting for pods...

Blinky

Blinky

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Jun 22, 2004
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I set up my little 14g reef tank last week with 1lb/g Kaelini & tonga LR that was fully cured. There was no appreciable cycle, just a tiny NO2 spike, and other than a little corraline, hair algae and some cyano I haven't observed anything coming out of the rock (not that I'm complaining, the last thing I wanted was something like a mantis!). I'm curious, should I see pods beginning to appear, or is it possible I may not ever see any? If none appear, would it be a good idea to try and obtain some so they have a chance to multiply for a while before I introduce any fish?
 
It only takes a few to get things started. I am amazed at how prolific they are in my nano, where the mantis prevents the addition of fish or other predators. The copepods seems to get bigger, too. Or maybe they just come out more.
 
my nano has 3x the pods of my 125 a lot more bristle worms too I can only attribute it to less fish and a lot of food I tend to over feed that tank just because It is hard to put in a small amount of food and have the fish and inverts ( 1 serpent star and a camel shrimp)find it all easily.
 
More food = more pods. I dont even want to think of how much food it would take for a 125 gallon filled with 200 lbs of LR to be crawling with pods... Smaller tanks have alot more food available, which is probably why so many people with smaller tanks have trouble getting algae under control... not that those with bigger tanks dont as well :-)

I think it took a bit for my main tank to really show much of anything. Took a while for pods to show up, but once I started to see a few they really took off. I would give it at least another week to see how it goes and see if you cant find a bigger population. Also try looking with a red lense over a flashlight. Many of the critters in the tanks dont see red light very well if at all, so they dont even know you are watching... otherwise they are quick to hide.

The best way to watch IME is to wait a good half hour after the lights are off. Lightly walk up to the tank and with the red lense slowly scan the rocks. I try to look on the outside of the ring of light because I can tell that some things still notice the red light when you shine it directly on them... could be because my flashlight is too strong or the red lense doesn't filter all the light or something... take your time and you will get good at it. Good luck and happy hunting :-)

Rick
 
Thanks for the tip Rick :)
My tank has a moon light, and there's quite a bit of 'spillover' from the fuge light - it doesn't seem to disturb the fish or inverts, they all seem to behave as though it's bedtime when the main lights go off, but maybe it's too bright for the teeny critters to feel comfy out in the open. I'll try turning the fuge light out for an hour or so, and take a very close look at the rocks. I have seen one pretty large little creepy-crawly, maybe an isopod? It's around this long -- and seems to scuttle about on the rocks. The copepods (two now, yay!) I've seen on the glass are about the size of the period at the end of this sentence, maybe a bit larger.
I've never been so fascinated with the hobby... I wish I'd set up a nano-reef years ago :D
 
Pod-splsion!

Holy cow, I looked into the tank tonight, using a flashlight with a red lens, and couldn't believe my eyes! Pods, at least I hope that's what they are, everywhere!
The critters are 1-2mm long, shaped a bit like an exclamation point, and their tails are divided into two halves at the end (like a mermaid's tail, for lack of a better way to describe it). There are thousands of them, on the glass and swimming free in the water. They curl up their bodies like inchworms to propel themselves.
I noticed that my fairy wrasse was picking at the rocks today for the first time since I brought her home - I'm guessing she was having a little pod feast :D
 
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