Want some amphipods? I'm your boy.

[Anonymous]

So I maintain some large fish only tanks with wet dry filters here in Davis. Turns out that the sponge of wet drys is a breeding ground for amphipods. Every time I clean the tank, I just rinse them out, and they die.

Well, it just occurred to me a couple weeks ago that maybe somebody wants them-- duh. It's very easy to pick out 60-100 every two weeks when I clean the tanks.

So, long story short, if you want a little "amphipod starter kit", for god's sake don't buy it online! I'll bring you a cup of 50 or so to the MARS meeting, or you can pick it up at my place if you go by Davis. I won't ship, period. All I ask is $5 for the trouble. Or just buy me a beer at the meeting.

PM me here if you're interested.


Andy the Amphipod sez "Don't eat me!"

 

[danmhippo]

Yeah, I used to keep a few sponges in my sump as pod farm. I take out one of the sponge weekly, and swish it around in the main display. Pods for the seahorses, and detritus for coral.

However, if I have to pick each and every pods up into dishes to bag up, I would say hell no. That would be one of the most time consuming thing, and time is what most of us lack of.

Kudos to you, Matt!

 

[Anonymous]

Well I've got to do something while the tank is draining, and I don't own a game boy

 

[mn95616]

Sorry if this is a newbie question, but I thought it was generally a bad idea to use sponge? I thought they collected junk.

 

[Anonymous]

They do collect junk, which I wash out periodically. I use it in a FO tank, over a wet dry filter. If it wasn't there the bioballs would just collect all that detritus.

FWIW lots of people use them in reef tanks intermittently after blowing detritus off the rocks, or in the first months/weeks of starting the tank, or even permanently. It's just very important to rinse them out very frequently.

 

[danmhippo]

I am not using sponge as filtration. I let it sit in the corner of my sump just as a pod farm. The porosity is just right for copepods and amphipods.

Of course, they do collect junks as Matt stated, but it's not as much as if I use them as filtration. So it's not that bad.

 

[supergiantrobot]

I've been looking for a way to transfer pods from my 'fuge to my display -- this sponge idea seems to be a great answer.

So, a few questions...

1/ Where is the sump in your system? Do you have a 'fuge? (I ask just because I don't think I have seen pods in my sump -- there are three pumps in it and I would think pods would get sucked up pretty readily there.)

2/ What sort of sponge are you using? And did you do anything to the sponge before putting it in your sump?

3/ How often do you rinse it out? I am guessing that you don't want to squeeze it out over the display and disperse all of the detritus back into the tank. So, do you do something else to get the pods?

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know about Jimmy's, but mine is simply sitting on top of a drip tray. I suppose it could be simply rolled up and wedged into a fuge as well.

I don't do anything special to the sponge. And any type of filter floss should do the trick. To get them out I just pick them by hand every two weeks/month from it, and then rinse it under hot tap water. 2 weeks/month later, it's been recolonized with new poddies...

 

[danmhippo]

I wedge sponge in the sump and fuge. Either place yields approximately same production. To "harvest", I swish the sponge in the main display, the more vigorous shaking, the more pods fall out. Placing the sponge right in front of the powerheads is the fastest way of flushing pods out.

Detritus that gets flushed out are served as food to my gorgonians and corals. I rinse the sponge under the faucet only when I no longer sees pods on the sponge.

Any sponge will do. whether it's the sponge from the old fluval canister, or from the RIO powerheads. I typically have 3-4 sponges in the sump, and harvest each pad once a week.

Of course, since this is Matt's thread, please buy some from Matt to boost your pods' production!

 

[Anonymous]

Location: NC

Sorry, I'm not shipping these anywhere, and I'm not trying to make $ off it. Just rather give them away at a low price than flush em down the drain.