pod farm

so i am going to start a pod farm using the 5 gal bucket. do i just get pods to start it from the bottle at the lfs.

 

There was a thread not to long ago on this and it was really pretty good. It would be worth the time to find it.

 

i just ran into right after i wrought this i seen a few things on it on here. that is how i got the idea then i found a way good thread on it thanks you

 

i did an experiment with jars all filled to the same height with the same amount of pods. (to get the same amount of pods i took 10ml of water out of a separate culture i had going three different times, one for each jar). I fed one jar just phyto.. one just aqueon flakes.. and the other a combo of both. I topped off the water with rodi every week. I used freshly made rodi saltwater to start the process so the experiment wouldn't be contaminated. I jammed one of those colored plastic sponges in each jar. I placed the jars on the floor next to my sump so they would get light. Leave the lids off of the jars. I fed the jars a few drops of phyto and one to three flakes about once a week. You will start to see growth after a period of two weeks. After about a month it seems that the jar that was fed just flakes had an overall higher concentration of pods compared to the other two jars. So I wouldnt go out and waste your money on phyto that expires in 2 months like I did. If you are using a bucket fill it up about a third of the way with newly made saltwater. Don't fill it up all the way as the pods like more surface area preferred to the water volume. Add the pods either from your own tank, or culture you buy at your LFS or online. I origionally used tiggerpods bought from my LFS. Then mark a line with a sharpie on the outside of the bucket to the approx. water level so you can top it off as you dont want the salinity to increase too much. Then throw in some flakes about once or twice a week. Don't overfeed because you dont want the water to become stagnant to the point where it reeks because you arent going to be using a lid on this bucket. The bucket also needs light source so you can put it near a window or near your tank. I don't think it needs strong direct lighting as my jars were just on the floor in the shade next to my sump. You can buy a few of those plastic sponges to throw in there, as it will be easier to transfer your pods from the bucket to your tank.Then just sit back and wait a few weeks and your jar will be crawling with pods. Then just shake off your sponges in your tank, i would do about one sponge every week or maybe more frequent depending on the amount of sponges. Make sure you get the colored ones so you can remember which one you did last. Make sure they are the plastic mesh sponges, there is no chemicals in those ones.

I got the jars at the dollar store. The sponges at Wegmens, and I already had the flakes. So is was a very low cost experiment.

Edit: forgot, i also used some pellets in conjunction with the flakes. Any pellet food will do. Let me know how it works out for you.
Also the warmer the water in the bucket the faster they will grow so you could use a heater as well... i obviously didnt as i did this in jars at room temperature.

 

thank you very much. if you have not read my other thread the whole reason i am doing this is because like a idiot. i got a scooter blenny with out reading and he wont eat preparred food so now i am doing this. and thank you again.

 

Yea no problem. .. I can take some pictures of my cultures later so you can get a better idea if that would help too

 

Peredhil has a really good thread on how to make and maintane one. just go to his profile and look under threads started and youl find it

 

http://www.3reef.com/forums/fish-food/going-start-pod-farm-65860.html

 

so i got my pad farm all set up and was wondering are the tigger pods good to do this with it is all the fish store had.

 

thanks bbrian just read your comment on here again and that is what you used