pods?

[mattseattle]

since adding the live sand that i picked up at this weekends frag swap my pod population has went 'crazy'. i guess that is what you call them. little white dots/etc. on the tank glass. i mean there are thousands of them on the walls and all now. i had hundreds before but now their are so many that it's making seeing into the tank a little difficult. my question is what is something to add to the tank to get them under control? right now i don't have any fish in the tank but figured a clown or something would eat them. what else loves to munch on these?

also, i picked up some frags from the trade. what type of food do i need to give to these guys?

 

[Arkman]

you may have answered your own question.

Give it some time and see what happens. I have noticed a "pod" cycle - there is predator/prey relationship in zooplankton that should find some balance. Keep you eyes out for a very cool criller on your glass that will "hood" over a small "flea" and eat it. I think its a type of (harmless) flatworm.

 

[mattseattle]

so the corals will eat the pods so to speak? if so that's a nice balance. no other food like plankton or anything i need to add?

 

[Montanarocknreefer]

No worry on your pods! They will go in cycle and die down and soon another explosion! As you get fish in the tank the population will stablize due to predation!

I feed my tank a home made "mush" which consists of raw shrimp, scallops, clams, raw fish, nori , etc. which I grind up in a blender with some of my tank water and put it in a freezer bag and spread it out and freeze it and break off a chunk about three times a week and that feeds my whole tank which include corals which love it!

 

[mattseattle]

hey would you mind sharing your whole recipe? and the portions you use of each?

 

[Gordo]

This article has some good information of coral feeding and also includes a recipe inspired by Eric Borneman in part 4

http://saltaquarium.about.com/library/weekly/aa020803.htm

 

[mattseattle]

thanx for the url. now i just need to collect those ingredients and make up a batch.

 

[mojoreef]

Hey MAtt by the sounds of your discription it doesnt sound like pods, sounds more like Hydroid Jellyfish. They will go through blooms but quickly either get eated or die off on their own. I will post a pick of a pod and one of the jelly for you to look at.
Corals dont eat pods (well maybe some torch/hammer/bubble corals will) but as per stonies not really just to big.
On the blender mush, I have feed that to my tank for years. Here are a couple of hints for ya.
>It is very concentrated so do over feed.
>try to stay away from oily stuff like certain shellfish (oyster/some types of clams
>Customized the food for the fish not the corals. When the fish poops the corals will get it no problem.
>make sure to add selcon vitamins to help the fish.
>When blending the mush make sure to leave it with alot of different size peices. This way it will help feed the whole tank. DONT blend it to much.

Hydroid Jellyfish. This is magnified they are about the size of a tip of a pencil

This is a copapod, its about a 1/4 inch in length

 

[mattseattle]

yeah i went through the jellyfish stage already. i had hundreds of them for a few weeks but then they all disappeared. now it looks more like the 2nd picture. some are larger than others. some are almost just little white dots and other are a little longer and move much quicker.

currently i don't have any fish in my tank. it's just my cleaner shrimp, sally lightfoot, few hermits, 10 or so snails, xenia, yellow colony polyps, a few hard corals.

so do you recommend the 'mush' for just corals or do i need a fish in order to convert it to waste for the corals to get?

the recipe calls for 6 mussels, 6 clams, 6 oysters and 3 shrimp....is that what you are using in your mush or you using different stuff?

also where do you find the frozen sea urchins, frozen fish roe and the Artemia nauplii (decapsulated)? should Aquarium Concepts or somewhere else around here carry it? and what about the liquid vitamins? what should i use there?

thanks for all the help. guess it's good we are building a foundation of 'newbie' knowledge for everyone.

 

[jesseb]

Matt

Try www.brineshrimpdirect.com for decapsulated artemia (or you can decapsulate brine shrimp eggs yourself).

You might try an oriental grocery for urchin or fish roe.

 

[aquariumdebacle]

fresh seafood

The ingredients your looking for can be found at an Asian grocery. I reccomend Uwajimaya. Just make sure you get unflavored uncooked items. If you add a little Knox unflavored geletin it will stay clumped and not dissolve. This should be served to the fish. Large predators will gain the most from this. Decapsulation of brine shrimp is relatively easy to make yourself using bleach. I think Below Sea Level will sell you some.
If you have hydroids they can be a menace to sensitive animals such as seahorses. Prevention is the key here. Empirical evidence suggests that they can come from brine shrimp eggs that have not been decapsulated. I know of no cure or predator short of sterilization, they are extremely hardy. Good Luck!

 

[Katchupoy]

Hi Matt,

By your description about white spots... is it also possible that those are coralline algae starting to grow?... which is very good sign of your tank status.

 

[mattseattle]

guess it could be but most of the dots move so wouldn't think that is algae. some do stay still so maybe it is coralline algae growing. since adding the metal halides it definitely has starting growing on my live rock. it's amazing how much growth has happened in the 2 - 3 weeks since adding the new lighting. everything in my tank is much more active as well.

 

[Arkman]

Hi Matt - sounds like things are really nice in your tank. Be sure not to over feed though (I think Mojo skipped the word "not"). Most of your corals are probabally photosynthetic - so in my opinion I'd prefer to keep the water quality high (clean and not breaking down excess nutrients) and not feed as directly. Feed enough for the crabs to eat in just a few minutes.

There are defineatly 2 schools of thought on feeding. Some people underfeed (me) others feed pretty heavily. In a natural environemnt most of these animals receive a steady source of food, rather than a feast once or twice a day. if you can feed small amounts mutiple times a day that would be much better.

I am not the most experienced on this board though, so if take my advice with a cup of salt

 

[mattseattle]

thanks for all the advice. i've read where most people feed twice a week. i'll try to get the mush ingredients together and make up a batch.

 

[GumHead]

I got some pics on my site too...

http://www.littlereef.com/photo_post/showgallery.php?cat=9&thumb=1

 

[mattseattle]

here is Eric's latest recipe

here is a recipe that I grabbed off Reef Central. Figured I'd share it over here. It's his full posting:
-------------------------
Eric's "famous" coral food recipe
As promised, here is my recipe for coral chow - with a bit of a preface.

I rarely have or use all of the ingredients listed, and I don't think it will make a difference over the long term. I also use this, or a variation of it, for my homemade fish food (I leave the fish food chunker and add various algae). Basically, I either use what is left over from the last round of food-making, or I go to a few stores and get whatever they might have at the time. I feed this to the tank at night, generally, and would add that for some of the ingredients, I have no idea if they have any specific role. Its just what I have done before. I have also changed a bit with some other foods now available (since I have written this last time)

I try to get a mix of particle sizes involved to accomodate not just all sizes of polyps, but also feed other inverts that filter feed.

Fresh seafood:

Some combination of the ingredients below and it makes up a relatively small percent of the total - maybe 10-20%?

shrimp (I squeeze the heads and usually use the "meat" in the fish food)
oysters - blend well and may have Vibriostatic properties
various other shellfish (mussels, clams, periwinkles, etc. - the bloodier, the better...live is great (shucking sucks but gives a good final product)
Fish roe (sometimes available at Asian markets)


Frozen foods

This makes up perhaps 20-30% of the mix - some are from an aquarium store, some from the grocer

Artemia - adult
Artemia nauplii (baby brine shrimp) (enriched, if possible)
Mysid shrimp
Sea urchin roe
Flying fish roe

Dried Aquarium Foods

this makes up the majority of my mix - probably 40%

Golden Pearls - all sizes available, but a majority of the smallest size
Cyclop-Eze
VibraGro
Powdered marine flake

Phytoplankton

makes up maybe 2% of mix or less?

Tahitian Blend (I use DT's seperately)

Supplements

makes up maybe 2-5% of mix?

Super Selco ( a big squeeze)
Sea Green Vitamin supplements - various brands, powdered, from Whole Foods market

I have also been known to add Echinacea capsules, the skins of colorful vegetables and fruits, various pigment complexes of carotenoids, etc. and/or antioxidants from Whole Foods market.

In terms of preparation, I puree the solid seaoods, mix in the frozen ingredients, soak the dry/powdered ingredients in the wet ingredients, combine them all together and let them sit for a few hours, and then freeze them into small flats in ziplocs in the freezer. I usually wind up with about 50.00 in foods per batch and make about a gallon or so of food that lasts a couple or more months.

 

[mattseattle]

thanx GumHead - some of those pictures really helped.

 

[GumHead]

Your welcome...