How to populate your tank with pods

[Twitterbait]

I have seen some discussion about how to increase you pod population so i figured it would be nice to offer some advice i got a while back.

take LR rubble and make tight 6" mounds of LR in different places around the tank. every few days use a needle or baster and inject flake food into the inside of the mounds.

the mounds provide room for the pods to hide and breed without getting eaten. they will set up colonies around these mounds and depending on the fish you have feeding they should be able to keep their populations up.

[Spanky]

[tabwyo]

I put strawberry boxes upside down on the sadn with rubble under them. Then stacked rock around, over and in fron to hide them. Not special feeding though. But I still have a very noticeable increase in population. i also notice that if a shine a flashlight into the tank they boogie back to the two hideouts even from 1/2 the tank away.

[nelson]

how ca u get pods in your tank i dont got any so far

[bigtex52]

Originally Posted by nelson

how can u get pods in your tank i dont got any so far

I'll bet you do. When I was getting started, I didn't think I had any either. I had put about 3 or 4 3" pieces of live rock in with 120# of dead rock. About 6 weeks later, I decided to rearrange some of my rock and when I took them apart, amphipods and copepods swarmed out of the rockwork. The best way to enhance your pod population is a.) get some chaetomorphia cuttings from one of your reefing buddies to put in your 'fuge (almost guaranteed to contain pods) and b.) add a bit of phyto (green water) to kick start them.

[mielikkishunt]

where can I get LR rubble?

[tellycoleman]

most site that sell live rock also sell the rubble. also if you ever ordered live rock online
whats left in the bottom of the box is rubble

[scootman]

I've been reading various forums and websites studying the idea of culturing pods. My tank has been up and running for approx 15 months now. I'd guess that I have about 60-75 pounds of live rock in my 75g tank. I recently purchased a mandarin goby and I just want to make sure my system maintains an adequate supply of food for the mandarin. Due to severe space limitations, I do not have a fuge.

I'm toying with the idea of raising/culturing pods in a seperate tank (probably in my garage) to periodically add to my tank. I've looked into those tigger pods which the LFS sells, but I feel I can raise them more economically. Any advice or ideas???