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Garf
05-23-2012, 12:37 PM
I have an idea that I could make a canvas screen work as a dedicated copepod breeder. Just need a little fuzz to grow on it to feed pods and therefore mysids. I have roughed up a screen and attached it to the bottom of my waterfall screen. It gets a little circulation from the ATS and it's bubbles. For lighting, a single one sided 20watt CFL about 9 inches from the screen. If it works I will make a separate build so that it is not removed every time I clean my ATS. If I can get the algae to grow slightly faster than it is eaten I reckon it could be left in situ.

kerry
05-23-2012, 01:01 PM
My pods live on my screens once they get a little growth.

Garf
05-23-2012, 01:29 PM
Yes, and I thought that I would try to keep a habitat where the life cycle of pods would encourage mysid predation. Obviously this is not achieved on an ATS because the mysids cannot get to the pods and during the ATS cleaning procedure most, if not all of the pods are killed and washed away. I like cheap stuff, and if I can achieve a cheap supply of pods and mysids for my DT I'll be very happy. Any suggestions on improving this are very welcome.

kerry
05-23-2012, 01:55 PM
I see them in my waterfall box and they get washed down the drain if they get in the faster current. In my 10G pod tank I have a horizontal that has about an inch or so of the screen in the tank water and have tons of pods in this tank, there are hundreds on the glass alone.

Garf
05-23-2012, 02:06 PM
So although yours is a horizontal, and mine is a vertical, you think my logic is sound?

kerry
05-23-2012, 02:27 PM
I think in the water is fine. The one horizontal I have produces much more pods then the water fall unit does.

kodiak66
05-23-2012, 04:18 PM
Just a suggest, You could add this kind of filter with bath scrubs to create a pod haven using air pump for water circulation..
2395
Be sure to remove the foam and replace with bath scrubs like this.
2396

kerry
05-24-2012, 04:50 AM
In my pod tank I have porous live rock and a course crushed coral substrate that they can maneuver through plus the horizontal scrubber. I switch out chunks this live rock with my other tanks every week or two to keep them supplied with pods. This enables me to have a Mandarin in a 10G that is fat and happy. This pod tank also has an emerald crab and a peppermint shrimp in it. I feed this tank (and my other tanks) a homemade mix of blended up shrimp, carrots, and peas with a gelatin binder. This seems to keep the pods producing at a fast rate. If I think they are looking a little thin I just up the food for a week and then POD-PRESTO they are all over the glass again.

kotlec
05-24-2012, 10:12 AM
What kind of carrots, and peas are you using Kerry ? Can you show pictures of ingredients and possibly process. I would like to try that recipe.

kerry
05-24-2012, 10:50 AM
I have a 2 quart blender I mix it in. I get the bags of 1 pound frozen shrimp when they are on sale or sometimes as a treat for the tanks I buy fresh and peel them, I use one can(12oz) of the sliced carrots, one 12oz can of peas, and about 4 packets of gelatin (found in the cheesecake isle, I buy the big box with a couple dozen pack in it) and a bit of ro/di water to get it to mix up good. I thaw or peel the shrimp, I heat both the cans of peas and carrots in the microwave for a few minutes until they are good and HOT. While this is heating I am blending the shrimp on high, then I add the veggies while blending, I usually have to add a little water to get the mixture churning in a tornado fashion. Once this is a consistent color I slowly add a packets of gelatin one at a time and blend for a minute more. I pour this into shallow flat plastic seal-able containers, I put these in the fridge for a couple three hours to allow the gelatin to set. Once its set I store the extras in the freezer until needed.
The gelatin is adjustable to your desire.
I sometimes take a couple ounces of the mix before I add gelatin to use as a liquid treat for the corals at lights out.

kotlec
05-24-2012, 11:39 AM
These carrot and pea they are not raw ? Or are they ? They are boiled or salted I thing ?
Shrimp are raw frozen - that I got.
Dont you need to soak gelatin prior adding to mixer ? I see my wife does this before using gelatin .

kerry
05-24-2012, 11:41 AM
The peas and carrots are just heated in the microwave or you could boil them if you wanted to. They need to be hot is all. I dont soak the gelatin, I just add it as the blender mixes.

kotlec
05-24-2012, 11:44 AM
I mean when you buy. Raw or somehow prepared ?

Thanks for patience :)

kerry
05-24-2012, 11:47 AM
They are just the raw canned type peas and carrots. These come in the steel tin cans.

kotlec
05-24-2012, 12:01 PM
Can you link me to it?
I cant find any raw canned vegies :(
They all seems to be marinated, salted, souced etc
Can I just use fresh ones and boil ?

kerry
05-24-2012, 01:23 PM
Fresh is fine too, just boil. They are just regular canned veggies. I am sure they are the same there as here, there are things added to them to preserve them so they are not really RAW to say exactly. I try to get the low sodium if I can but sometimes I cant.
Here is some examples.
http://www.amazon.com/Libbys-Sweet-Peas-15-Ounce-Cans/dp/B0040PYHAA
http://www.amazon.com/Libbys-Sliced-Carrots-8-25-Ounces-Cans/dp/B0040PYZ34

kotlec
05-24-2012, 11:00 PM
Thanks Kerry, you helpful as always.
Now back to pods.

Garf
06-01-2012, 12:14 PM
10 days into pod screen attempt;

lower portion of the screen with very little flow and nearly zero bubbles 2482

top portion of screen with limited circulation and bubbles from the ATS screen 2483

As you can see, there is a bit of algae fuzz on screen. No sign of any mysid predation yet.

Garf
06-03-2012, 12:49 PM
Found a fatal flaw with this approach. The rediculously low light levels and even more rediculously low levels of flow have combined to form a screen that's great at growing calcareous red algae. Don't think pods eat this, and even if they do I'm sure they wouldn't with a green algae supply next door. I'm gonna leave it in situ though to see what happens. There are both copepods and amphipods visible on the screen, but I am sure they are only visitors.