I’ve had a few comments to say these pods look like flatworms, but don’t worry, they’re not. Flatworms are about 4 times the size of these pods - the reason these look big is because I’ve zoomed in so closely. They are sphaeromatid isopods. People are thinking they’re flatworms because of the crescent shape, but what they’re seeing is their legs. At this magnification and on shaky-cam (😁) video, it’s impossible to see the detail of the legs and the back end of the body, so they appear to be the crescent shape that flatworms have. But they aren’t flat to the glass, they move very quickly when they do move, and I can see their eyes on the sides of their heads. Looking down the glass at their profile, they are bumps and not compressed like flatworms. When I zoom out, the tiny size is very apparent - they are around 2mm long. I started researching all his because I was concerned that if I already had a few “bad” pods, I might be feeding them unknowingly! That’s how I learned what they are. I should note that these did not come with my zooplankton blend, but they certainly are enjoying the phyto feast! I’ve had flatworms in this tank (came in on an early frag) so I know what they look like. At the time, I did three separate treatments with Flatworm Exit, 10 days apart, and I haven’t seen any for months. My practice has always been to treat immediately if I see even ONE, so you can relax, I’m confident they’re pods even if they don’t look like it in this footage. 😁
Those isopods look identical to either red planaria or acoel flatworms which are tiny flatworms 2mm in length. I looked up the isopod you referred to. It is amazing how hard it is to identify these things. Either way - I had red planaria in my reef before - wrasses eat them all (pods and flatworms) without prejudice...At least mine did.
Yep, I added 3 top-up bottles late last night, 2 in the display and 1 into the chaeto in the sump. Last night was also a phyto dose night. This afternoon the glass in the display was LOADED with pods and I could see them moving around on the rocks. Very cool. Thanks again for the ideas, feedback, and support! 👍🏻👍🏻
This is such a great idea! Like others have said I wasted a bottle of this stuff, it got pushed behind some things in the fridge. By the time I remembered it was to late and I had to throw it away. Your innovative idea's are by far the best I've seen, I am lucky that I get to follow along and learn new tips and tricks!
Thanks Pelphrey! Hopefully now you have an option that’ll work for you. I’m seeing great results in my tank. It’s yet another thing in reefing that will get done better if it’s easier. The ideas thing....I think it’s genetic - my dad was an inventor. His day job was steel fabrication but he was a refugee and if it wasn’t for the war he would have been an engineer of some type. He came up with amazing stuff, and I still have and use things he came up with and made. I’ve got a thing for problem-solving, drives my husband nuts sometimes. He says “now you’re channeling Alex....” and I usually back it off a bit because there were times when my dad was just plain crazy. 😬
Awesome video ! I like the ice cube trays. Great idea. I'm receiving my pods and plankton tomorrow. You answered my feeding the pods before I even knew there was one. Thanks and keep on teaching guys like me. Noel
Update on adding my pods. This has been a fantastic addition to my tank. They are reproducing and you can see them everywhere. My colors have really popped. I have only one downside. The Aptasias seem to have exploded in size and number. Not really a bad thing. I'm going to use this opportunity to purchase a file fish to take care of this problem. Noel
It's nice to see someone else using phytoplankton too, and a very ingenious was of dosing by freezing it in ice trays. I'm culturing my own phytoplankton again but in a different way to how it's normally done, I like to think outside of the box and try things my way, but technically this time I'm thinking inside the box literally by having my phytoplankton culture chamber inbuilt into the sump.
Lol, time lapse is such a great way to avoid long boring processes when you have stuff to say. Or when you’re trying to watch a starfish crawl along the glass..... Thanks for checking the video out!
Thanks for watching DarthSynth! The stuff I use isn’t technically “live” though it is farmed, it’s non-viable. You sure can use the live stuff, you just have to be careful not to overdose it or it reproduces like crazy in your tank. And freezing also kills it.....😁
#gotpods Great video! I'm from Canada and I didn't know about Canada pods. I've been wanting to seed my tanks but only knew of algea barn in the u.s. Can't wait to make an order. Love how informative all your videos are. Always look forward to your new videos.
Thanks Cody! I’m very impressed with Canada Copepods, both the quality of their product and their service. I started out with just two bottles of their zooplankton blend and a bottle of the medium concentration of the phyto. That was shortly after my tank finished cycling and though it was less than the recommended amount to seed my tank, I wasn’t sure I wanted to invest a lot of money at that time without knowing how the product would work. When I started seeing results, I decided to go ahead and spend the money and seed the tank properly. I haven’t regretted it! Thanks for your comment and for watching!
That’s great to hear Phil, thanks for the comment! My green wrasse is always picking at the rocks, and she is FAT so I know she’s finding pods to eat even if I only ever see them on the glass, or after dark. And I’ve seen the pods in the sump cleaning up the algae so that must also be happening in the display. I think it was money well spent.
Hi Cesar, I’m working on getting a viewing box made, to float on the water with my cell phone in it, to get some top-down views of the coral growth (I can’t get very good video from just the front of the tank). I did put the second 2.5 lbs in, and I have 9 more lbs on hand. I will say that I have not seen any further improvement in polyp extension beyond what I had in the first 24 hours, that I showed in the video. Maybe it takes more than a few weeks for that to happen, or there might be something else with my water chemistry that’s inhibiting it (I’m currently trying to get phosphates reduced, they’re about three times what they should be). But one thing I have noticed is how clear the water is, still! I’ve been feeding heavily lately (the reason will be revealed in an upcoming video) and the additional nutrients are not causing algae anywhere. So, is this because of the MM? I don’t know. But I plan to do some rearranging in my sump to add another 3 lbs, so I guess time will tell. It might be several weeks before I publish a video update, please stay tuned! 😊
Thanks for this insightful video! Ordered some phytoplankton from algae barn. Hoping it helps with the filter feeders in my tank. Cant wait to see the results!
It’s one of those things that at first doesn’t seem to make a significant difference, but the effects are definitely cumulative over a relatively short time. Good luck!
i know its an older video but i just found it now. thank you for uploading this, Im glad to see my suspicions confirmed - I had this idea recently that phyto ice cubes should be just as good for pods as live, and WAY more convenient than trying to culture live phyto constantly. fyi if you havent already tried it - you can also mix spirulina powder with water and feed them that too =). its super cheap and convenient, (food grade spirulina is easy to find at health supplment stores)
I was told by the vendor, about the freezing when I asked about the shelf life of the concentrated phyto and it really works well. And I have a product called Phyto Plan from Two Little Fishies, that I used to feed molly fry. Mixed with new salt water and some Hikari First Bites, it was perfect. I’ve never thought of looking into a spirulina supplement powder though...🤔
@@Reefgrrl definitey look into spirulina and give it a try. theres some older forum posts out there talking about it. Ive noticed my corals really like it too.
Nice thing about it is it keeps your population of pods reproducing, so they can still be food for your tank, yet be able to sustain their own population. I see how you did that with the hashtag.....nice.
I dose according to their directions, 1ml every other day for my system, which is roughly 100G total system volume. The stuff is extremely concentrated. And yeah, I’ve thrown out so much of this stuff in past years, it’s ridiculous!
I’d say yes, because it’s a food source. My phyto bottle says overdosing can result in Algae growth. That’s too bad you can’t freeze it. I wonder if they have a type that can be frozen? 🤔
Hi Reef girl, just watched your great video and going to do the same in my 170max E, as I live in Canada I have easy access to Canada Copepods. My only question is are they ok at tank temperature.
I see what you did there - clever.... 😉 I feel like it was money well spent, especially now that I have a way to avoid throwing away expired phyto! Thanks for your comment, and for stopping by!
I know eh? And it’s not just the fact of freezing it, you also have to be able to get a reasonably accurate dose, so it has to be frozen in pretty small portions. I’m pumped about not wasting any more phyto, ever! 😁 Thanks for watching!
I didn’t know either. I was thinking I’d have to throw away a nearly full bottle of this expensive turbo-charged phyto. Now it’s so easy to maintain the phyto feeding, it’s ridiculous! Thanks for watching!
Fantastic video!! Never thought to freeze them... I ended up throwing away a years worth of expired Plyto smh!! Keep it up your on a roll wit the information 👍🏾 #gotpods 🤫
Lol, thanks CJ! I hated throwing that stuff away - now I won’t be so reluctant to invest in it because I know it won’t be wasted. Next up is either bubble scrubbing adventures Part Two, or dosing, haven’t decided yet. 🤔 Thanks for the comment!
Seriously, these trays are perfect and it’s because of the silicone combined with the rigid plastic. The all-silicone ones are too flexible. Thanks for stopping by!
Another great video! What type of pods were those ones that look like flatworms? I have those and was told they were brown flatworms but if they are just a type of pod then I'm home free!
Flatworms are about 4 times the size of these pods - the reason these look big is because I’ve zoomed in so closely. They are sphaeromatid isopods. People are thinking they’re flatworms because of the crescent shape, but what they’re seeing is their legs. At this magnification and on shaky-cam (😁) video, it’s impossible to see the detail of the legs and the back end of the body, so they appear to be the crescent shape that flatworms have. But they aren’t flat to the glass, they move very quickly when they do move, and I can see their eyes on the sides of their heads. Looking down the glass at their profile, they are bumps and not compressed like flatworms. When I zoom out, the tiny size is very apparent - they are not quite 2mm long. You might still have flatworms, I can’t say. But maybe the above will help. 🤷♀️
Reefgrrl Oh right, I didn’t take the zoom into consideration 🤓. Yep sounds like I still have flatworms lol. I just added a dragonet (which I love!) and a wrasse so I’m hoping they will help. Thanks for your reply :)
Lol, thanks Jamey! I’m very glad I decided to go ahead and seed the tank. And now I know I won’t be wasting phyto because of expiry, I know my investment is protected. Thanks for your comment, and for watching!
You can fill a freezer bag and seal it, make it flat like paper, freeze it and freak up tiny pieces. I use the method for my frozen herb blends for cooking. 👍🏼😊 #gotpods
I use that when I make soup, though I don’t break it up. 😁 Only thing is, you’d need to find a way to get an accurate dose. If you overdose this stuff, you end up with a ton of algae on the glass. I speak from experience! Thanks for your comment! 👍🏻
Do you think pods would help in some way with cyano, Dinos and diatoms ? Other than feeding some fish whats the advantage of having them ? Great video by the way 👍
Thanks for watching Steve! From what I’ve learned - Cyano is bacteria that propagates because of high phosphate combined with low flow, and pods will eat certain types if there’s no other food source available. Dinos are single-celled colonial organisms of various types (generally classed as algae) that propagate based on the presence of predatory organisms in either high- or low-nutrient environments (if the predatory organisms are starved out, or perish because of overly high nutrient levels feeding the next level up the food chain, the corresponding type of dinoflagellate will flourish). Diatoms are a type of single-celled algae that need silica to form their shells. That’s why in a closed system like a reef tank, they appear and grow for a while, then when the available silica decreases to a point where there isn’t enough for them to form their shells, they disappear. Copepods of certain species will eat both dinos and diatoms. But dinos of certain types give off toxins that kill pods (among other microfauna and even some larger creatures if the population of dinos is high enough), then the dinos feed off the decaying matter. IMO, this is why the best time to add pods is early, so they can form a sustainable, flourishing population. If dinos or diatoms are then introduced, the pods can more likely control them. I’m not a scientist though, so it’s probably best for you to look into it more deeply. I can only go on my own experience. I’ve always added pods. I’ve always had diatoms of very short duration (mollies also eat diatoms). I’ve only had dinos once, years ago, in a very early tank. I’ve never had cyano. Not sure if this helps....🤷♀️
@@Reefgrrl information like this is always helpful. I did use pods in the first month's of starting my tank from another Canadian company but I don't see them on the glass anymore. I can give this a try and if it doesn't help with my problem, at least I have pods and it won't hurt anything
I never saw pods in the Red Sea tank during daylight, but after dark, holy smokes - they were everywhere and many times the water was cloudy with rotifer hatches. I always had them in the sump but only at the beginning were they out on the glass; once they got into the matrix biomedia and the chaeto, that’s where they mostly lived. Do you look in your tank after lights out? I love shining a flashlight down into the water from above - that’s when you can see the plankton swirling through the water. And if you leave a bit of an algae film on the glass, that’s where you’ll see rotifer hatches, like tiny specks of dust. If you have any wrasses, they’ll eat whatever they can get, which reduces what you might see but trust me - they’re there....lol. 😁👍🏻
Great video as always Reefgrrl. I always end up throwing out phytoplankton because I don’t use it all within a few months, then I don’t start dosing again for a few months until I restock. #gotpods great way to keep dosing simple
Since I started dosing phyto consistently, my pod population has exploded and my green wrasse is very fat. I’m sure the other fish eat pods periodically, but that one is always picking at the rocks and sand. So it’s been very beneficial to be able to feel like I’m not wasting my money on something I’ll never use up before it goes bad. Win-win!
It’s the feeding that matters. I was always really inconsistent with it until I spent the $$ and got the seed pack. Then I figured I’d be wasting my investment if I didn’t take good care of it. 🤷♀️ Thanks for watching!
I’ve been wanting to try phytoplankton for a while and wondered about how to dose. I make my own frozen food and use silicone ice cube trays for the frozen food. I’ve never thought of using them for freezing phyto. Great idea!!! Now maybe I can get to feeding corals and say that I too #gotpods
Yet another clever incorporation of the hashtag, nice! I’ve been into the frozen phyto for a couple of weeks now and it’s working great! (Had to use up the rest of the bottle first.) I’ve been considering making my own frozen food. What do you use to mince it?
I use a small, cheap food chopper from Walmart/Target/etc. I think the one I have is like this: www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-1-5-Cup-Food-Chopper-Black-FPMEMC3002-BLK/54779027
Thanks Richard! I just ordered one and had it sent to my US shipping address! Can’t beat that price! I checked Walmart in Canada and the cheapest mini food processor they have is $49‼️ 😱 ‼️
Glad I was able to help! Some quick advice based upon mistakes I've learned from... I normally divide my foods into small, equal quantities. Then I make multiple, small batches to freeze. I found this helps to keep each batch very similar in consistency. If you run into issues or need help, let me know.
Thanks Arrick. I waited for a while to capture a large crowd of them on video - they come and go in waves, and every so often there’s a huge hatch. The phyto Feeding makes a huge difference in keeping the population reproducing itself. Thanks for watching!
Live phyto should never be dosed to a reef tank - it can grow out of control. It gets used to culture zooplankton. The stuff used for pods and filter feeders in a reef tank is non-viable, so it has nutritional value but will not reproduce. So the skimmer and UV will remove what’s in the water column, which is why they should be off for about 30 minutes after dosing phyto - gives it a chance to settle on surfaces. HTH
I have pods in the display as well as the sump, so those ones will be fine. And my UV setup doesn’t process 100% of the water each time, so I’m not concerned about it affecting the pod population. It has its own pump, and thing to do, is put a pre-filter on the UV pump so pods can’t be drawn into it. I haven’t noticed any negative effect on the pod population.
No, they’re definitely pods, this angle only shows the part facing the glass, and I can’t zoom in any further. With a magnifying glass you can see their eyes, and that the tail end is not a crescent, it has appendages. Thanks for watching!
Wow.. you guys are so lucky, i dose seachem phyto that i dose every 10days, as these fresh bottles are not available in india. Thats why i got a whole bag of aquarium suff from usa last year..lol..
great video once again and good timing too as i just set up my first pod breeding tank (outside of main system and with ultimate intentions of putting baby fireshrimp and /or baby clownfish in there if i ever get the clowns to breed) lol... #gotpods
Hi Reef girl I recently ordered from Canadian cocoapods or cocoapods CA anyhow I ordered on a Thursday morning 8 no confirmation no delivery date nothing but a receipt saying they took my money here it is Monday morning waiting for response has anyone else had this problem wondering if you were somebody else could chime in thanks hope you have a great day
Hi David - did you contact them to ask about it? It’s been a while since I ordered from them so I don’t remember what the online form is like, whether there’s somewhere you are meant to tell them your delivery preference. If you got your receipt, that means it wasn’t an issue to do with your email address. If it were me, I’d call or email them to follow up. 🤷♀️
Great video Reefgrrl. I got some from Feed Me Algae at RAP NY/NJ. It smelled horrible so I never used it. Would have been great info. But all in all I'm lucky because I've always #gotpods
Clever...I see what you did there....😁 Yeah, that smell always bothered me but there’s no info anywhere on the packaging or website about it. So I finally looked into it and learned it’s normal. Thanks for watching!
I love it! I feel like it absolutely makes my intro/outro. It’s something no one else has. 😊 I might move the permission section after my description blurb, but I don’t mind leaving the links to your channel and video as long as you’re okay with it. Also, I expect to send you a package in a couple of weeks.....😁
Thanks King Rob! I always wondered about the smell but when it started with this high-concentrate stuff and the bottle was almost full, I did some research and learned it was normal. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I’d think that the manufacturers don’t say anything about it on their bottles/packaging for this very reason - people throw it away and then buy more. 😈 I don’t really think this is the case, but it does make me wonder how many people waste a lot of it for this reason. 🤔 Thanks for your comment!
Thanks RG...So.... that leads to the all important question......... How do we know when Phyto has "gone off" ? ....... I think the freezing Idea is great, it of course kills the Phyto by busting the cells when they freeze, so they can't multiply, but they are still eaten by pods etc so all good. I feed my tank frozen mysis, but always de-thaw and rinse it well first..... maybe I should make my own frozen feeding cubes by rinsing all my mysis, adding RODI water and Phtyo and re-freezing in small cube portion sizes... no more defrosting each day and the Pods get dinner too :)
The stuff to look for in this case, is non-viable, which means it’s already dead. But like spinach after it’s picked, this non-viable phyto goes through organic processes until it has decomposed. I don’t really know if it ever reaches a point where it’s “rotten” - I think it’s more that it becomes ineffective as a food source. I’ll have to look into that. The stuff to avoid here is the type of phyto that’s in starter cultures - it would be very easy to end up giving your tank a huge bloom of phyto if it started reproducing out of control. All it needs is light....
Lol, thanks DC! And while you’re doing that, I’ll be doing the Billy Pipes Reefroids Feeding Method! Isn’t it great how we can all help each other? I love it! 😁
It would go straight into the tank after lights out. The main thing is to give the pods a good chance to settle before they get noticed by predators. Thanks for watching!
Not my favourite reactor .I run seacheam matrix carbon, phosgard & pollyfill packed in my old Kent marine reactors. Water is returned to sump just below sump water level via 1/2" tube. No water fall or splashing .happy reefing.
Awesome video RG...I had the opportunity to meet David multiple times from Canadacopepods.ca and even brought some frags off of him in the past....This video also brought back my memory of when I use to farm phytoplankton...There is a video on my channel I made back when I farmed them #gotpods
I’ve had a few comments to say these pods look like flatworms, but don’t worry, they’re not. Flatworms are about 4 times the size of these pods - the reason these look big is because I’ve zoomed in so closely. They are sphaeromatid isopods. People are thinking they’re flatworms because of the crescent shape, but what they’re seeing is their legs. At this magnification and on shaky-cam (😁) video, it’s impossible to see the detail of the legs and the back end of the body, so they appear to be the crescent shape that flatworms have. But they aren’t flat to the glass, they move very quickly when they do move, and I can see their eyes on the sides of their heads. Looking down the glass at their profile, they are bumps and not compressed like flatworms. When I zoom out, the tiny size is very apparent - they are around 2mm long. I started researching all his because I was concerned that if I already had a few “bad” pods, I might be feeding them unknowingly! That’s how I learned what they are. I should note that these did not come with my zooplankton blend, but they certainly are enjoying the phyto feast!
I’ve had flatworms in this tank (came in on an early frag) so I know what they look like. At the time, I did three separate treatments with Flatworm Exit, 10 days apart, and I haven’t seen any for months. My practice has always been to treat immediately if I see even ONE, so you can relax, I’m confident they’re pods even if they don’t look like it in this footage. 😁
If gorgeous George has a family I call dibs! That coral is outstanding!
Isn’t he something else? I didn’t know they could get so big!
Those isopods look identical to either red planaria or acoel flatworms which are tiny flatworms 2mm in length. I looked up the isopod you referred to. It is amazing how hard it is to identify these things.
Either way - I had red planaria in my reef before - wrasses eat them all (pods and flatworms) without prejudice...At least mine did.
Thanks Reefgrrl, we're super flattered that you made a video with our products. I know our copepods have a great home in your tank! :)
Yep, I added 3 top-up bottles late last night, 2 in the display and 1 into the chaeto in the sump. Last night was also a phyto dose night. This afternoon the glass in the display was LOADED with pods and I could see them moving around on the rocks. Very cool. Thanks again for the ideas, feedback, and support! 👍🏻👍🏻
This is such a great idea! Like others have said I wasted a bottle of this stuff, it got pushed behind some things in the fridge. By the time I remembered it was to late and I had to throw it away. Your innovative idea's are by far the best I've seen, I am lucky that I get to follow along and learn new tips and tricks!
Thanks Pelphrey! Hopefully now you have an option that’ll work for you. I’m seeing great results in my tank. It’s yet another thing in reefing that will get done better if it’s easier.
The ideas thing....I think it’s genetic - my dad was an inventor. His day job was steel fabrication but he was a refugee and if it wasn’t for the war he would have been an engineer of some type. He came up with amazing stuff, and I still have and use things he came up with and made. I’ve got a thing for problem-solving, drives my husband nuts sometimes. He says “now you’re channeling Alex....” and I usually back it off a bit because there were times when my dad was just plain crazy. 😬
Just bought the ice cube trays what a great idea!!!!! Thank you 😊
Awesome, thanks for the feedback!
Awesome video ! I like the ice cube trays. Great idea. I'm receiving my pods and plankton tomorrow. You answered my feeding the pods before I even knew there was one. Thanks and keep on teaching guys like me.
Noel
Thanks so much Noel, for the kind words! I’m glad this was helpful. My pod population continues to grow, it’s amazing. Good luck with yours! 👍🏻
Update on adding my pods. This has been a fantastic addition to my tank. They are reproducing and you can see them everywhere. My colors have really popped. I have only one downside. The Aptasias seem to have exploded in size and number. Not really a bad thing. I'm going to use this opportunity to purchase a file fish to take care of this problem.
Noel
You’re taking lemons and making lemonade! I think filefish are very cool!
Just picked up my new green filefish . Can't wait to acclimate him and put him in my tank. Aptasias beware the end is near! Thanks for your replies.
It's nice to see someone else using phytoplankton too, and a very ingenious was of dosing by freezing it in ice trays. I'm culturing my own phytoplankton again but in a different way to how it's normally done, I like to think outside of the box and try things my way, but technically this time I'm thinking inside the box literally by having my phytoplankton culture chamber inbuilt into the sump.
Awesome video; loved the time lapse of making the frozen doses!
Lol, time lapse is such a great way to avoid long boring processes when you have stuff to say. Or when you’re trying to watch a starfish crawl along the glass..... Thanks for checking the video out!
Great video reef grrl. Tank is looking awesome. Thanks for the opportunity to win. #GOTPODS
glad you did this video. I always wondered how dosing live phyto worked.
Thanks for watching DarthSynth! The stuff I use isn’t technically “live” though it is farmed, it’s non-viable. You sure can use the live stuff, you just have to be careful not to overdose it or it reproduces like crazy in your tank. And freezing also kills it.....😁
#gotpods
Great video! I'm from Canada and I didn't know about Canada pods. I've been wanting to seed my tanks but only knew of algea barn in the u.s. Can't wait to make an order. Love how informative all your videos are. Always look forward to your new videos.
Thanks Cody! I’m very impressed with Canada Copepods, both the quality of their product and their service. I started out with just two bottles of their zooplankton blend and a bottle of the medium concentration of the phyto. That was shortly after my tank finished cycling and though it was less than the recommended amount to seed my tank, I wasn’t sure I wanted to invest a lot of money at that time without knowing how the product would work. When I started seeing results, I decided to go ahead and spend the money and seed the tank properly. I haven’t regretted it! Thanks for your comment and for watching!
Reefgrrl. theres the King of DIY, then there is you... The Queen of Reefs !
🤣🤣🤣 Thats funny!
I learned a lot feom this video. Thanks a lot for the upload
Thanks for the feedback! 👍🏻
Freezing in ice cubes is an excellent idea. Much more convenient than dosing with capfuls!
You know what - it’s amazingly convenient! No danger of spills, no rinsing or drying required. It perfectly suits the lazy part of me!
Really great video and very high quality. Love the tank!
Great video for beginning reefers. I wonder if they would ship their product in bulk here to the USA for my feeding clients... We use AlgaGen.
It wouldn’t hurt to contact them - they are still in business as far as I know. 🤷♀️
Looking good! Glad to see it all coming together for you! #gotpods
I've been thinking about seeding my tank with pods and dosing Phyto. Thanks for this video. Cleared up a lot of questions I had. #gotpods
That’s great to hear Phil, thanks for the comment! My green wrasse is always picking at the rocks, and she is FAT so I know she’s finding pods to eat even if I only ever see them on the glass, or after dark. And I’ve seen the pods in the sump cleaning up the algae so that must also be happening in the display. I think it was money well spent.
Nice video the reef is looking lovely :)
super video lots of great information that i will put to good uses thanks
Hi can we get an update on the miracle mud, please 👍🏼
Hi Cesar, I’m working on getting a viewing box made, to float on the water with my cell phone in it, to get some top-down views of the coral growth (I can’t get very good video from just the front of the tank). I did put the second 2.5 lbs in, and I have 9 more lbs on hand. I will say that I have not seen any further improvement in polyp extension beyond what I had in the first 24 hours, that I showed in the video. Maybe it takes more than a few weeks for that to happen, or there might be something else with my water chemistry that’s inhibiting it (I’m currently trying to get phosphates reduced, they’re about three times what they should be). But one thing I have noticed is how clear the water is, still! I’ve been feeding heavily lately (the reason will be revealed in an upcoming video) and the additional nutrients are not causing algae anywhere. So, is this because of the MM? I don’t know. But I plan to do some rearranging in my sump to add another 3 lbs, so I guess time will tell. It might be several weeks before I publish a video update, please stay tuned! 😊
Another awesome video
Thanks for this insightful video! Ordered some phytoplankton from algae barn. Hoping it helps with the filter feeders in my tank. Cant wait to see the results!
It’s one of those things that at first doesn’t seem to make a significant difference, but the effects are definitely cumulative over a relatively short time. Good luck!
i know its an older video but i just found it now. thank you for uploading this, Im glad to see my suspicions confirmed - I had this idea recently that phyto ice cubes should be just as good for pods as live, and WAY more convenient than trying to culture live phyto constantly.
fyi if you havent already tried it - you can also mix spirulina powder with water and feed them that too =). its super cheap and convenient, (food grade spirulina is easy to find at health supplment stores)
I was told by the vendor, about the freezing when I asked about the shelf life of the concentrated phyto and it really works well. And I have a product called Phyto Plan from Two Little Fishies, that I used to feed molly fry. Mixed with new salt water and some Hikari First Bites, it was perfect. I’ve never thought of looking into a spirulina supplement powder though...🤔
@@Reefgrrl definitey look into spirulina and give it a try. theres some older forum posts out there talking about it. Ive noticed my corals really like it too.
I enjoy your videos very much. The tank is looking great #gotpods 👍
Great video good tips 👍❤
Great video! Now I have to find the UK version of the kit.
It’s becoming pretty popular!
Very nice video. I too thought that those could have been flat worms but your explanation fits. Great job. #gotpods
I have been looking at phytoplankton dosing. I #gotpods like crazy in my seahorse tank.
Nice thing about it is it keeps your population of pods reproducing, so they can still be food for your tank, yet be able to sustain their own population. I see how you did that with the hashtag.....nice.
Great tip!!! I hate to throw mine out...I'll look for some trays so I can freeze...yippee! How much do you dose and how often for your tank?
I dose according to their directions, 1ml every other day for my system, which is roughly 100G total system volume. The stuff is extremely concentrated. And yeah, I’ve thrown out so much of this stuff in past years, it’s ridiculous!
Unfortunately the brand I use, (Algae Barn), says you can't freeze. Question tho...when adding phyto to ur tank, are you adding nutrients?
I’d say yes, because it’s a food source. My phyto bottle says overdosing can result in Algae growth. That’s too bad you can’t freeze it. I wonder if they have a type that can be frozen? 🤔
I'll have to check into that...thanks Reefgrrl
Great vid. Now I have to find the US version of this kit.
Check out Algae Barn - they seem to have a good reputation. Thanks for watching!
Thanks. They market theirs as “live” phytoplankton. Do you think that can be frozen? #gotpods.
I can’t see why not, but you should probably check with them to be sure.
Great video as usual. You are so resourceful. Thanks for all the great content from another Canadian. #gotpods
Very informative "got pods"
Hi Reef girl, just watched your great video and going to do the same in my 170max E, as I live in Canada I have easy access to Canada Copepods. My only question is are they ok at tank temperature.
Thanks! They are fine at tank temperature. As long as it’s in an acceptable range for everything else, they’ll be fine.
I can’t believe it’s taken so long to learn about #gotpods! I’m all over this now. :-)
I see what you did there - clever.... 😉 I feel like it was money well spent, especially now that I have a way to avoid throwing away expired phyto! Thanks for your comment, and for stopping by!
wow so happy i seen this, ive been dosing phyto for a long time but always have to throw it away because it doesnt last long , thanks a bunch #gotpods
I know eh? And it’s not just the fact of freezing it, you also have to be able to get a reasonably accurate dose, so it has to be frozen in pretty small portions. I’m pumped about not wasting any more phyto, ever! 😁 Thanks for watching!
Cool, I like the freezer storage idea! #gotpods
Great video! Have a quetion do you let it thawed before or throw the cube in there?
I drop it in frozen, and it thaws and dissolves really quickly.
@@Reefgrrl Okay good lol. Thank you and good info!! Staring my tank soon :)
Nice video. I never knew they could be frozen. This opens up a whole new feeding option for me #gotpods
I didn’t know either. I was thinking I’d have to throw away a nearly full bottle of this expensive turbo-charged phyto. Now it’s so easy to maintain the phyto feeding, it’s ridiculous! Thanks for watching!
Your Display is amazing thank you for the tips and for sharing. #gotpods
Is that flatworms on the glass?
No, they’re very tiny, and under a magnifying glass you can see their eyes, and that they have legs. Very hard to focus that close on video.
Great video as always . #gotpods
Very informative, thanks for sharing
Great really informative
Thanks for watching!
Fantastic video!! Never thought to freeze them... I ended up throwing away a years worth of expired Plyto smh!! Keep it up your on a roll wit the information 👍🏾 #gotpods 🤫
Lol, thanks CJ! I hated throwing that stuff away - now I won’t be so reluctant to invest in it because I know it won’t be wasted.
Next up is either bubble scrubbing adventures Part Two, or dosing, haven’t decided yet. 🤔 Thanks for the comment!
Nice video, freezing the phytoplankton in the mini ice trays is a great idea. Looks like I will be heading to the dollar store for some trays #gotpods
Seriously, these trays are perfect and it’s because of the silicone combined with the rigid plastic. The all-silicone ones are too flexible. Thanks for stopping by!
Another great video! What type of pods were those ones that look like flatworms? I have those and was told they were brown flatworms but if they are just a type of pod then I'm home free!
Flatworms are about 4 times the size of these pods - the reason these look big is because I’ve zoomed in so closely. They are sphaeromatid isopods. People are thinking they’re flatworms because of the crescent shape, but what they’re seeing is their legs. At this magnification and on shaky-cam (😁) video, it’s impossible to see the detail of the legs and the back end of the body, so they appear to be the crescent shape that flatworms have. But they aren’t flat to the glass, they move very quickly when they do move, and I can see their eyes on the sides of their heads. Looking down the glass at their profile, they are bumps and not compressed like flatworms. When I zoom out, the tiny size is very apparent - they are not quite 2mm long.
You might still have flatworms, I can’t say. But maybe the above will help. 🤷♀️
Reefgrrl Oh right, I didn’t take the zoom into consideration 🤓. Yep sounds like I still have flatworms lol. I just added a dragonet (which I love!) and a wrasse so I’m hoping they will help. Thanks for your reply :)
#gotpods This is something I’ve been looking at doing for my reef. Thanks for the awesome video, you make it look easy
Lol, thanks Jamey! I’m very glad I decided to go ahead and seed the tank. And now I know I won’t be wasting phyto because of expiry, I know my investment is protected. Thanks for your comment, and for watching!
Love your fish
You can fill a freezer bag and seal it, make it flat like paper, freeze it and freak up tiny pieces. I use the method for my frozen herb blends for cooking. 👍🏼😊 #gotpods
I use that when I make soup, though I don’t break it up. 😁 Only thing is, you’d need to find a way to get an accurate dose. If you overdose this stuff, you end up with a ton of algae on the glass. I speak from experience! Thanks for your comment! 👍🏻
I gotcha, yeah don’t want that. Great video as usual.
Do you think pods would help in some way with cyano, Dinos and diatoms ? Other than feeding some fish whats the advantage of having them ? Great video by the way 👍
Thanks for watching Steve!
From what I’ve learned -
Cyano is bacteria that propagates because of high phosphate combined with low flow, and pods will eat certain types if there’s no other food source available.
Dinos are single-celled colonial organisms of various types (generally classed as algae) that propagate based on the presence of predatory organisms in either high- or low-nutrient environments (if the predatory organisms are starved out, or perish because of overly high nutrient levels feeding the next level up the food chain, the corresponding type of dinoflagellate will flourish).
Diatoms are a type of single-celled algae that need silica to form their shells. That’s why in a closed system like a reef tank, they appear and grow for a while, then when the available silica decreases to a point where there isn’t enough for them to form their shells, they disappear.
Copepods of certain species will eat both dinos and diatoms. But dinos of certain types give off toxins that kill pods (among other microfauna and even some larger creatures if the population of dinos is high enough), then the dinos feed off the decaying matter.
IMO, this is why the best time to add pods is early, so they can form a sustainable, flourishing population. If dinos or diatoms are then introduced, the pods can more likely control them.
I’m not a scientist though, so it’s probably best for you to look into it more deeply. I can only go on my own experience. I’ve always added pods. I’ve always had diatoms of very short duration (mollies also eat diatoms). I’ve only had dinos once, years ago, in a very early tank. I’ve never had cyano.
Not sure if this helps....🤷♀️
@@Reefgrrl information like this is always helpful. I did use pods in the first month's of starting my tank from another Canadian company but I don't see them on the glass anymore. I can give this a try and if it doesn't help with my problem, at least I have pods and it won't hurt anything
I never saw pods in the Red Sea tank during daylight, but after dark, holy smokes - they were everywhere and many times the water was cloudy with rotifer hatches. I always had them in the sump but only at the beginning were they out on the glass; once they got into the matrix biomedia and the chaeto, that’s where they mostly lived. Do you look in your tank after lights out? I love shining a flashlight down into the water from above - that’s when you can see the plankton swirling through the water. And if you leave a bit of an algae film on the glass, that’s where you’ll see rotifer hatches, like tiny specks of dust. If you have any wrasses, they’ll eat whatever they can get, which reduces what you might see but trust me - they’re there....lol. 😁👍🏻
Great video as always Reefgrrl. I always end up throwing out phytoplankton because I don’t use it all within a few months, then I don’t start dosing again for a few months until I restock. #gotpods great way to keep dosing simple
Since I started dosing phyto consistently, my pod population has exploded and my green wrasse is very fat. I’m sure the other fish eat pods periodically, but that one is always picking at the rocks and sand. So it’s been very beneficial to be able to feel like I’m not wasting my money on something I’ll never use up before it goes bad. Win-win!
Reefgrrl very good information
I have seeded a few times with pods from my LFS. Not sure I #gotpods like you, though
It’s the feeding that matters. I was always really inconsistent with it until I spent the $$ and got the seed pack. Then I figured I’d be wasting my investment if I didn’t take good care of it. 🤷♀️ Thanks for watching!
You're videos are crazy good! Thank you!
#gotpods
Thanks so much for saying that! It’s very motivating!
Great video! I havent been dosing with their phyto, but did buy a seed pack a while back, gonna give this method a try! #gotpods
That’s awesome - the high concentration version of the phyto is almost black, it’s so dense. It’s good stuff.
I’ve been wanting to try phytoplankton for a while and wondered about how to dose. I make my own frozen food and use silicone ice cube trays for the frozen food. I’ve never thought of using them for freezing phyto. Great idea!!! Now maybe I can get to feeding corals and say that I too #gotpods
Yet another clever incorporation of the hashtag, nice! I’ve been into the frozen phyto for a couple of weeks now and it’s working great! (Had to use up the rest of the bottle first.) I’ve been considering making my own frozen food. What do you use to mince it?
I use a small, cheap food chopper from Walmart/Target/etc. I think the one I have is like this: www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-1-5-Cup-Food-Chopper-Black-FPMEMC3002-BLK/54779027
Thanks Richard! I just ordered one and had it sent to my US shipping address! Can’t beat that price! I checked Walmart in Canada and the cheapest mini food processor they have is $49‼️ 😱 ‼️
Glad I was able to help! Some quick advice based upon mistakes I've learned from... I normally divide my foods into small, equal quantities. Then I make multiple, small batches to freeze. I found this helps to keep each batch very similar in consistency. If you run into issues or need help, let me know.
That’s a great tip, thank you! Do you add any supplements, such as Selcon for example?
Ice cubes are great ideas
#gotpods
I just #gotpods just the other day to start my refugium back up. Good idea on the phyto!
#gotpods I just got a new pair of green mandarins and am trying to keep my pod population up but my sump doesn't look nearly as good as yours.
Thanks Arrick. I waited for a while to capture a large crowd of them on video - they come and go in waves, and every so often there’s a huge hatch. The phyto Feeding makes a huge difference in keeping the population reproducing itself. Thanks for watching!
Great info, I really like this ice tray idea.#gotpods
What you thing to dosing that?
I start dosing 3 times week looks great 👍🏼
Over a year after that video, and I’m still dosing 1ml every other day. My pod population is huge!
That is such a great idea I was just looking at some in my fridge wondering if it was still good lol #gotpods
Love the phtyo cube idea. #gotpods
#gotpods now i want some of this stuff for my tank! should work great with my copepod farming
You’ve got a head start! Thanks for stopping by!
Once you turn back on the Skimmer and UV wont it just kill the phyto?
Live phyto should never be dosed to a reef tank - it can grow out of control. It gets used to culture zooplankton. The stuff used for pods and filter feeders in a reef tank is non-viable, so it has nutritional value but will not reproduce. So the skimmer and UV will remove what’s in the water column, which is why they should be off for about 30 minutes after dosing phyto - gives it a chance to settle on surfaces. HTH
How long did it take to start seeing the pods like that in the sump
If I remember right, it was within a week that there were visible numbers. Still are!
Thank you i just added some in my tank last week cant wait to see them :)
Nice! Make sure to turn off the skimmer for at least 20 minutes or so after feeding the phytoplankton - I leave mine off for about an hour. Good luck!
Great info. I was looking at a place called Algae Barn here in the US. CoralFish12g did a video about them a while back. #gotpods
Yup, Algae Barn is a great example of an online source. 👍🏻 Thanks for watching!
Another great video as usual. #gotpods
#gotpods
Does the UV system you run have any effect on the pods? Heard it would kill them off.
I have pods in the display as well as the sump, so those ones will be fine. And my UV setup doesn’t process 100% of the water each time, so I’m not concerned about it affecting the pod population. It has its own pump, and thing to do, is put a pre-filter on the UV pump so pods can’t be drawn into it. I haven’t noticed any negative effect on the pod population.
Wait what, are those not flatworms?! Great tip on the cubes and #gotpods :)
No, they’re definitely pods, this angle only shows the part facing the glass, and I can’t zoom in any further. With a magnifying glass you can see their eyes, and that the tail end is not a crescent, it has appendages. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the info, i have to take a closer look at the ones I got now
Great video and very informative 🙌🏽💪🏾keep up the great work #gotpods
Wow.. you guys are so lucky, i dose seachem phyto that i dose every 10days, as these fresh bottles are not available in india. Thats why i got a whole bag of aquarium suff from usa last year..lol..
#gotpods
Great video, great idea frezzing phyto.
So do you feed your tank with this like every two days
Yes - Every other day I put it into the tank after lights out, and turn the skimmer off for about an hour.
great video once again and good timing too as i just set up my first pod breeding tank (outside of main system and with ultimate intentions of putting baby fireshrimp and /or baby clownfish in there if i ever get the clowns to breed) lol... #gotpods
Nice one! It’s something that has crossed my mind - breeding pods and rotifers etc. But I’m trying to keep things simp,e.... Thanks for watching!
Nice job as always!!! #gotpods
👍 loving the video! Great job. This would be great for a mandarin in the tank. #gotpods
Hi Reef girl I recently ordered from Canadian cocoapods or cocoapods CA anyhow I ordered on a Thursday morning 8 no confirmation no delivery date nothing but a receipt saying they took my money here it is Monday morning waiting for response has anyone else had this problem wondering if you were somebody else could chime in thanks hope you have a great day
Hi David - did you contact them to ask about it? It’s been a while since I ordered from them so I don’t remember what the online form is like, whether there’s somewhere you are meant to tell them your delivery preference.
If you got your receipt, that means it wasn’t an issue to do with your email address.
If it were me, I’d call or email them to follow up. 🤷♀️
Great video Reefgrrl. I got some from Feed Me Algae at RAP NY/NJ. It smelled horrible so I never used it. Would have been great info. But all in all I'm lucky because I've always #gotpods
Feel free to shorten the "permission" section in your video description. I see it is the first item in there. Glad you like it and still use it
Clever...I see what you did there....😁 Yeah, that smell always bothered me but there’s no info anywhere on the packaging or website about it. So I finally looked into it and learned it’s normal. Thanks for watching!
I love it! I feel like it absolutely makes my intro/outro. It’s something no one else has. 😊 I might move the permission section after my description blurb, but I don’t mind leaving the links to your channel and video as long as you’re okay with it.
Also, I expect to send you a package in a couple of weeks.....😁
I took a poll in the live stream and decided to not risk it. It was a sample of the highly concentrated stuff. Oh well. Clever? I'll take clever
Do whatever you like. Just don't feel obligated. I love packages
great video reefgrrl !!! #gotpods
Great Video. Thanks for sharing. #gotpods
Great Vid as usual RG !.... I've used Phyto before, but when it starts to smell after a few days I would throw it away :Doh ! #gotpods
Thanks King Rob! I always wondered about the smell but when it started with this high-concentrate stuff and the bottle was almost full, I did some research and learned it was normal. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I’d think that the manufacturers don’t say anything about it on their bottles/packaging for this very reason - people throw it away and then buy more. 😈 I don’t really think this is the case, but it does make me wonder how many people waste a lot of it for this reason. 🤔 Thanks for your comment!
Thanks RG...So.... that leads to the all important question.........
How do we know when Phyto has "gone off" ? .......
I think the freezing Idea is great, it of course kills the Phyto by busting the cells when they freeze, so they can't multiply, but they are still eaten by pods etc so all good. I feed my tank frozen mysis, but always de-thaw and rinse it well first..... maybe I should make my own frozen feeding cubes by rinsing all my mysis, adding RODI water and Phtyo and re-freezing in small cube portion sizes... no more defrosting each day and the Pods get dinner too :)
The stuff to look for in this case, is non-viable, which means it’s already dead. But like spinach after it’s picked, this non-viable phyto goes through organic processes until it has decomposed. I don’t really know if it ever reaches a point where it’s “rotten” - I think it’s more that it becomes ineffective as a food source. I’ll have to look into that.
The stuff to avoid here is the type of phyto that’s in starter cultures - it would be very easy to end up giving your tank a huge bloom of phyto if it started reproducing out of control. All it needs is light....
awesome info !! Always looking for Canadian sites for reef gear and supplies #gotpods
Wonderful video i love this idea. I will be doing the reefgrrl method in my next purchase of phytoplankton #gotpods
Lol, thanks DC! And while you’re doing that, I’ll be doing the Billy Pipes Reefroids Feeding Method! Isn’t it great how we can all help each other? I love it! 😁
What if there is no sump...how would you handle that? #gotpods
It would go straight into the tank after lights out. The main thing is to give the pods a good chance to settle before they get noticed by predators. Thanks for watching!
Informative as always!#gotpods
Great video very interesting ;o)
very much enjoyed the video #gotpods
Thanks for the video, #gotpods
Great video 👍👍👍 #gotpods
#gotpods I need to get some pods in my tank some time soon
that is so awesome. #gotpods
#gotpods seems like an amazing product. Hope I get to try it out soon!
#gotpods thanks for the information I need to do this as well
Awsome video! Very informative! #gotpods
Very informative video! #gotpods
Your channel is great #gotpods
I love your videos! #gotpods
#gotpods. Thanks!
Not my favourite reactor .I run seacheam matrix carbon, phosgard & pollyfill packed in my old Kent marine reactors. Water is returned to sump just below sump water level via 1/2" tube. No water fall or splashing .happy reefing.
#gotpods and nice tank!
Thanks Kyle!
Awesome video RG...I had the opportunity to meet David multiple times from Canadacopepods.ca and even brought some frags off of him in the past....This video also brought back my memory of when I use to farm phytoplankton...There is a video on my channel I made back when I farmed them #gotpods
How cool Ash! I’ll go and check it out. Thanks for watching!
Hi Ash, thanks for the kind words, you can find our products at www.copepods.ca