I bought a bottle of live food to put in my tank. Trigger pods. They were pretty expensive and had a nice red color. I do have live rock in my tank and a thick sand bed. There were about 1500 of them and when they were in my molly was pretty active eating them and then all of a sudden they vanished! Did all of my pods get sucked into the filters and powerhead or did they hide in the sand and rocks. I'll be pretty upset if the food I bought for my blenny specifically is all gone and i'm out $30.
Trigger Pods
- Thread starter HotelSoap
- Start date
StirCrayzy
Well-Known Member
Ive used tigger pods to successfully begin supplemental colonies of pods in my tank.
except i started them off in a small 5g. They will hide most of the time. If you dont scrape your glass for a few days, you will see them crawling around on the algae.
except i started them off in a small 5g. They will hide most of the time. If you dont scrape your glass for a few days, you will see them crawling around on the algae.
so they are still in my tank? and my investment was worth it and my blenny will have his meal?
janaya
Member
It's hard to tell, I know they are in my tank cause my Green Dragonet is very fat. I was told to dump them into the sump and not the main tank cause the fish will eat them before they can breed. I would recommend investing in a refugium so the pods have a place to breed and can eventually make it into your tank.
StirCrayzy
Well-Known Member
There probably are still some in the tank. If you read the bottle there are specific instructions on seeding them into the LR.
The goal of adding pods is not to provide just a meal, but a consistent sustainable food source.
I would recommend against adding them to a sump because many get chopped up in the return pump.
With enough LR in the display, the pods will have plenty of hiding spots.
Not to say it doesnt work to cultivate pods in sump, many folks have that intent andwith some degree of success with chaeto ,fuge, and LR in sump.
Odds are some went into the filter but that may not be a bad thing either. Ideally I add them to my tank well after lights OUT and with all filters etc turned off. This way less are eaten immediately (although some fish will still get a good snack) and more are likely to reach the rock and sandbed where you want them.
If you're wanting this to be a long-term solution you will want a dedicated refugium (Refuge) for them to colonize in safely but also tied into your system to they are introduced occasionally as well.
If you're wanting this to be a long-term solution you will want a dedicated refugium (Refuge) for them to colonize in safely but also tied into your system to they are introduced occasionally as well.
Haaileybop
Member
I am sure they are around! Just be patient. I pretty much only add my pods to my sump and my mandarin is nice and fat 
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
ReefFrenzy
Member
I agree with what has been posted above, but I think most folks don't realize that a big mandarin can eat an entire bottle of those pods in a couple days. It really is beneficial to have a sheltered area for them to reproduce AND you need to provide nutrients for the pods. Our mandarin (which is on our product label) was looking thin several months ago so I added a 40 breeder detached refugium next to my 90 display. I dose live locally cultured phytoplankton which in turns boosts the rotifer population on which the pods feed.
I keep a DSB and rubble in the corners of the fugue with a ton of calerpa and a ball of chaeto in the center. It serves as a nitrate reducing vessel and also a pod factory. When my Mandarin starts to look a little thin I will drop him in the fuge for a week or two and then transfer him back to the display.
It isn't a perfect system, because I use a Maxijet pump to push water up to the 40 breeder and then gravity drains it back into my sump. I am pretty sure the Mag 9 return pump chews up quite a bit of pods, but its the best I can do unless my son would let me put the fugue upstairs in his room, where I can let gravity drain it back into the top of the Display..LOL
For what its worth...I have successfully trained my mandarin to eat frozen food (our blend) by spot feeding it in the 40 breeder with a turkey baster when there was no other competition. It can be done, but it takes daily diligence.
Larry
I keep a DSB and rubble in the corners of the fugue with a ton of calerpa and a ball of chaeto in the center. It serves as a nitrate reducing vessel and also a pod factory. When my Mandarin starts to look a little thin I will drop him in the fuge for a week or two and then transfer him back to the display.
It isn't a perfect system, because I use a Maxijet pump to push water up to the 40 breeder and then gravity drains it back into my sump. I am pretty sure the Mag 9 return pump chews up quite a bit of pods, but its the best I can do unless my son would let me put the fugue upstairs in his room, where I can let gravity drain it back into the top of the Display..LOL
For what its worth...I have successfully trained my mandarin to eat frozen food (our blend) by spot feeding it in the 40 breeder with a turkey baster when there was no other competition. It can be done, but it takes daily diligence.
Larry
You wont notice pods in your tank with the lights on. They hide in LR and display algae. They tend to come out more at night. I deliberately dont scrape the back glass of my 65, and when lidhts come on, its covered in pods, then the fish go to town.