I am thinking about setting up a refugium for my 75 gal tank. I was reading somewhere that a refugium is a good place to have copepods reproducing to feed the main tank. I was planning on a small pump to push the water from the main tank to the refugium and then gravity feeding from the refugium to my sump and letting the main pump push all the water back into the main tank. The question then is, will copepods survive the trip through a 600 GPH submerged pump? Or do I have to find a way to put the 10 gal above the main tank and gravity feed directly into the tank (which is going to be a pain). Also, what macroalgae does anyone suggest for the refugium?
Refugium?(s)
- Thread starter jcaulley
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chaetomorpha,graccilara, and ulva are good i have them in my fuge along with caulerpa with the lights on 24/7 and the growth is crazy. some say caulerpa is not good but i have great results with it. i have to trim my caulerpa twice a week.since i added my refugium my tank has exploded with life. my spelling for the macro is off im sure.
HTH
HTH
O.K., today I went out a bought a 25 gal aquarium to use as my refugium. I'm going to build my own stand so that it sits about 4 inches taller than the main tank. I'm going to have two holes cut in the side of the glass about an inch down from the top and install bulkhead pipe fitting so I can extend 2 pipes over to the main tank and gravity feed it. So the question now is should I just let the water skim off the top or should I put plumming inside the 25 on the return lines so that I take the water from lower in the tank? I plan on getting the amphipod breeding kit from IPSF. Will skimming from the top get the pods into the main tank or do I need to get the water from near the bottom? The tank is 20" tall so it is not a short one. Also, how far down or up should I put the feed water? And lastly, how much flow should I be using?
Thanks in advance
Thanks in advance
I have the flow form my fuge skimming off the top. Plenty of pods, plus spaghetti worms, seem to make their way out. If you watch amphipods, they are always exploring, so my theory is that they find their way to the outflow no matter how it's set up.
Although they are on very different branches of the crustacean family tree, for most aquarium purposes, the difference is size.
The amphipods in most tanks are about 1/4", and look like little shrimp.
Copepods are usually much smaller, looking like little pinheads.
They both reproduce readily if given enough places to hide.
The amphipods in most tanks are about 1/4", and look like little shrimp.
Copepods are usually much smaller, looking like little pinheads.
They both reproduce readily if given enough places to hide.
What else should be in my refugium? I am going to move a few pieces of my rock to the 25. Stock some algaes and breed pods. What cleaners should I have in the refugium and what ones should I stay away from? Any sugestions on how big a pump I should use and should I be using a power head for additional water movement? Sorry for asking so many questions but I'd like to make sure I do this right.
I like the collection in the Inland Aquatics detritivore kits. The combination will provide pods, worms, stars etc, as food for the tank and will keep the fuge healthy and clean.
You can also put together a good collection with the 9 for $99 kit from IPSF. Their little strombus snails have been reproducing like crazy and seem to be good for cleaning the macros. The stomatella from Inland Aquatics will probably do the same job.
In my opinion, you need a lot less water movement in the fuge than the main tank. On my little 2.5, I have about 100 gph running through it from my closed loop, but less is fine. Some current, but not enough to blow the chaetomorpha into the main tank. Internal powerheads will probably just catch pods and macroalgae and make a mess.
Since it's a "refuge," it will be a lot more productive if you avoid anybody who has a tendency to eat small crustaceans and worms. That includes most crabs (including hermits) and shrimp (with the exception of mysis).
You can also put together a good collection with the 9 for $99 kit from IPSF. Their little strombus snails have been reproducing like crazy and seem to be good for cleaning the macros. The stomatella from Inland Aquatics will probably do the same job.
In my opinion, you need a lot less water movement in the fuge than the main tank. On my little 2.5, I have about 100 gph running through it from my closed loop, but less is fine. Some current, but not enough to blow the chaetomorpha into the main tank. Internal powerheads will probably just catch pods and macroalgae and make a mess.
Since it's a "refuge," it will be a lot more productive if you avoid anybody who has a tendency to eat small crustaceans and worms. That includes most crabs (including hermits) and shrimp (with the exception of mysis).