Dosing PODS?

[paddyob]

Originally Posted by Rotifer

Tigger-Pods will NOT grow well in your main display tank. They are too large to hide so they get eaten quickly, and they starve because there is not enough microalgae for them to feed on.

They are NOT cold water species. We've been culturing them at 75-90 F for many years.

They are absolutely NOT carnivorous - they feed on microalgae, 1-20 microns in size. When you do the math it's obvious they can't feed on other copepods:

1) Tigger-Pods do not have teeth so they must consume their food whole.
2) The smallest copepod I know is about 90 microns, about 1/10 the size of a Tigger-Pod.
3) That would be the equivalent to a 150 lbs person trying to swallow whole something that weighs 15 lbs.

.....

Tigriopus californicus don't live in the ocean - they live in the warm splash zone pools up above the ocean. These pools are shallow and get quite warm during the day, some much warmer than reef systems. The following published scientific study shows that they live in temperatures ranging from 42 to 92 F:
(http://journals.cambridge.org/action...line&aid=70713).

In the tide pools where Tigger-Pods live there are no predators so they don't have the instincts to hide in the rocks when fish come by. Since they don't hide they get eaten pretty quickly in display tanks. We recommend they be cultured in a sump or refugium where there are no predators. They can also be easily cultured in a separate system like a 9x13 cake pan.

The population of copepods in a reef system is often food limited by the amount of natural microalgae that the reef system produces each day. If you supplement with microalgae you increase the amount of available food, and hence the population that can be supported. When additional pods are added the amount of food required immediately goes up, especially when feeding very large copepods like Tigger-Pods. Unfortunately many people don't add additional microalgae so both the Tigger-Pods and the existing copepod population end up with a food shortage and quickly starve.

So your recommendation?

[abcha0s]

Originally Posted by paddyob

So your recommendation?

Paddyob,

That's Randy Reed setting the record straight. His company owns the tigger-pod trade mark. Take a look at his signatue.

We've had this debate before. For what it's worth, I think his summary is spot on.

Take a look here:

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=60578

- Brad