freddyk Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 Recently I started up a new tank with dry rock. I love the way the dry rock helped me skip the devastating algae bloom during and after the cycle but I miss the random life that would pop up after the lights go out. Specifically I really miss what me and my wife call the Whos. We named them from Horton Hears a Who! and the Grinch That Stole Christmas because they reminded my wife of Whoville. More boringly they are called Amphipods. For my starter frag tank I purchased '50' of them online hoping they would populate my rock but they seem to have vanished or at least are playing hard to get. Not to be deterred I hatched a plan to bread my own in a controlled environment so that I can repeatedly add them to my tank. So I bought another 50 amphipods and an adorable beta tank for $20 bucks and the adventure in Whoville begins. I don't really know what I am doing but I have seen online videos that say they eat flake food and maybe phytoplankton. Besides rock and cheto I have put some twinwall material in the tank for them to bread in that lets me easily shake them out into my display. For all I know they are doomed but I hope that with regular water changes and some feeding I may end up with an endless supply. If this works I would like to try tiger pods next. If anyone has any advice on how to make this actually work I would love to hear it. I will post updates If I have any luck. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddyk Posted May 31, 2018 Author Share Posted May 31, 2018 (edited) After a few weeks I have come to the conclusion that nano amphipod tanks have a lot in common with other minimalist zen undertakings such as a small pot of gravel on a desk and a mini rake or a pet rock. Most of the time there simply is not much to see. With that said my master plan is working. I have more amphipods now than when I started. Due to their elusive nature they prove hard to count but I am confident that they are multiplying. Some of them are quite huge. Here is a picture of a large one we will call Okja. Overall the activity is picking up and I have been able to shake quite a few amphipods out into my display tank and a tub of rock I am prepping for a larger tank. Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Kva1FKcEnKgDSVlg1PbVRltywxjZ6QMN/view?usp=sharing Edited May 31, 2018 by freddyk 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
householdofpayne Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 This is awsome! how goes this project? How often did you have to do water changes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaylorW Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 Wow if this works I just might try it.. Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oasisreefling Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 Would love to hear an update about how this tank worked out for you. Particularly interested how the corrugated plastic did and if you had found any sort of harvesting method other than shaking the chaeto. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaylorW Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 Would love to hear an update about how this tank worked out for you. Particularly interested how the corrugated plastic did and if you had found any sort of harvesting method other than shaking the chaeto. Also curious...Sent from my moto g(7) using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techymechy Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 What a great idea! I was thinking of doing something like this, except I would have the amphipod tank be in the same fluid loop as my main tank. What I wanted to go is have an overflow that would occasionally float one of these guys over the edge and this would drain into my main tank. That way I'm not passing amphipods through my pump. I used to have gazillions of these guys in my sump when I had a 100 gallon tank with a refugium/sump. I grew macro algae in the sump and would snip some off and shake it off in the main tank and there was always some amphipods attached to the alge. The fish loved the fresh food, but usually some of the little guys got to the rock before the fish could get to them too. neat idea...keep this thread alive and let us know how this is progressing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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