Advice? How do I establish an amphipod and copepod population?

Yep just make a fuge areia in sump and get some chaeto.

 

http://ipsf.com/podbreedingkit.html

 

I have been putting off trimming my chaeto if u need some pm me

 

There are Web sites that sell pods but your better off having a refugium area in your sump and getting some cheato from a local there will be some pods in it and that should get you started.

 

My pod population went off the charts after a possible ich issue. Had almost all my fish(4) pretty much die overnight. Water tested fine and corals were fine. So I waited the 6 weeks before getting any new fish. In that time you could see pods day and night. They started eating corals and I saw a colony of about 20-30 zoas slowly go to about 4. Watched them at various times and conditions and only saw pods crawling all over them. So I cut the wait short and got a mandarin. After a few days I only saw them at night. Then I didnt see them at all. Been almost a year and goby is big and fat. Ive only put pods in twice. First time I ordered from one place that claimed they were copo only. Those were super small, almost needed magnification to see them. Ordered from another place that was a copo and amphi mix. Those were huge, some probably half inch long. I didnt think a goby could eat ones that big. Id like to move or give them somewhere to grow but I need to make more room in my sump first.

 

i got mine from reefs2go awhile back its a mix of copeopods and amphipods you get from them, population is going strong with 1 mandrin and 4 anthias in a 75 gal mixed reef

i do use a small aquafuge on the back of the tank full of rubble rock to provide a stable predatory free area

 

I BELIEVE CAPTIANS CORALS SELLS BY THE BOTTLE.

 

I am assuming you have a sump? Do you have a chamber you can add a lot of rubble rock? Easiest way is to get some from fellow reefers.

Some of the pods you order online are swimming pods, and will not survive in your system. They are a great quick snack for your fish, but once they are gone, they are gone. You want the crawling pods that live on the glass and rock.

 

Ive done both, or from 2 different places. Ive recently noticed something at night swimming all over looks like they have a tail and their eye is reflective but they dont seem to ever stop like the other visible pods. Didnt know if these are brine shrimp or just a different pod. The other pods I almost always see several that are 2, a large one with a smaller one underneath it, are these mating or something else?