Pods

[xssx]

When will the scrubber start to produce them?

[Ace25]

Once there is enough algae to hold them onto the screen (typically around 4 weeks from a new setup).. once you get a little green algae going and wait the week between cleanings, then put a paper towl down in your sink and hold the screen above it, use a cup of RO/DI water and slowly rinse it down the screen onto the paper towel, you will be amazed by the thousands of pods that fall off. They are so small it is almost impossible to see normally, but once you put something down to catch them you will be amazed by the sheer numbers (I know I was the first time I did it).

[xssx]

Without getting technical where do they come from? how do the get introduced to the system

[Ace25]

They come from your tank.. mostly live rock. At night with your tank in a dark room, shine a little blue LED keychain type light onto the glass of the aquarium, you will see tons of things on the glass and crawling all over the tank that you never see during the day, usually trying to hide once you shine a light on them. The ATS just makes a perfect breeding ground for pods to multiply in so you will see a huge explosion in the population of pods.

[Floyd R Turbo]

I have to do this next time I clean the screen. Haven't ever done that before!!

[kerry]

LOL, me too. Sounded interesting. I see them when I clean but, only a few to a dozen or so, this will make a fun experiment to show my kids the bugs from the tank.

[whites]

yeah so simple! i always try n bash them off... my mandarin is gonna be a budda!!

[akando]

could you feed the pods you catch on the towel somehow? wonder if you can take pictures of the pods on the towel??

[Floyd R Turbo]

FW kills the pods though. I was thinking that I could dip the screen into a container of SW and swish it really good first and see what live buddies I get.

[kerry]

I have put my screens into my 10G with my Mandarin before I scrapped them but, it blocked the light so I could only see a few. I was thinking of something like Floyd has suggested, good idea!!!
I am not sure how the camera would capture the opaque color of pods unless it was a camera with a macro lens on it. I doubt the pods would eat on the paper towel. They feed off small bits of food, phytoplankton (algae), and waste matter in the tank.

[Ace25]

Question I have is "does FW kill pods on contact?". If not, it seems to best way to maximize pods release from the ATS is to use FW (small amount, 1-2 cups) and rinse it down the screen over a 5G bucket that contains saltwater. Maybe the short exposure to FW will just stun them to release and they will survive once they hit the SW below. I have no idea if that is possible, just tossing out the idea to discuss.

In the case of small tanks/mandarins, you could do the same thing directly over the tank, just be like topping off but with lots of pods to go with it.

[Floyd R Turbo]

From what I've seen, yes it pretty much kills them instantly due to osmotic shock

[xssx]

I thought it was ok to gently shake the screen in the sump before cleaning, is that no longer recommended

[akando]

What I meant by "feeding" the pods was to release them into the tank for the fish.

[kerry]

No reason not to if you would like to. I would just be sure to get any algae that might fall into the tank. I rinse mine in my 10G for my Mandarin and never have a problem even if a couple/few tiny pieces fall off however, I will net out big pieces.

[kerry]

What I meant by "feeding" the pods was to release them into the tank for the fish.

OH, got ya, yes I do that every cleaning.

[srusso]

From what I've seen, yes it pretty much kills them instantly due to osmotic shock

+1 they basically pop... Instant death

[joelespinoza]

I thought it was ok to gently shake the screen in the sump before cleaning, is that no longer recommended

I dip my screens in the display tank and shake them around before I clean them. I dont see any problem with it as long as your algae growing well enough to stay attached to the screen.