Chromis Poop and SPS Propagation?

[Rainfords]

Dose anybody use chromis in there sps prop. systems to help feed the coral. I have always wondered if this would help the growth and health of SPS corals in my propagation system. Any experiences or thoughts would be great. Thanks

 

[redox]

i was trying to answer your post and clicked the wrong button But yes they seem to work great in my sps growout vat

 

[Rainfords]

How many do you have in what size vat. Anything different or any tips for keeping chromis in a propogation system compared to a reef tank.
Thanks

 

[redox]

100's

100's

there are literaly 100's in a 240 gallon vat. no special requirements other than you have to feed them daily or they fight. they seem to do well in there. and.... so do the acros, dont know that the fish help but its cool to see them school

 

[Rainfords]

I bet that is very cool to see, with that many in one tank! I think I will try some in a 150 vat. Thanks for the info.

 

[ReefWreak]

With that many chromis, would I be correct in assuming that you skim the heck out of that vat?

 

[redox]

yea 2 big rk2 mothers

 

[Rainfords]

NICE!!!

 

[hawaiian_boi]

pics?

 

[miatawnt2b]

I was thinking about freshwater mollies acclimated to saltwater in mine... much cheaper than chromis.

-J

 

[Ken668]

The only potential problem I see with it is, the quantity and type of food being introduced. Certain levels of nitrates and phosphates can cause some SPS to lose color or turn brown. It might be good for growth, but then you might need a "cleaner" system to color them back up.

 

[ReefWreak]

Some people have suggested using the mollies only because they breed very often, and as such create their own zooplankton that would be eaten by the SPS. The reason they didn't want to have them though, is that they looked too much like freshwater fish.. Kind of out of place in an SPS tank.

 

[miatawnt2b]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9141602#post9141602 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefWreak
Some people have suggested using the mollies only because they breed very often, and as such create their own zooplankton that would be eaten by the SPS. The reason they didn't want to have them though, is that they looked too much like freshwater fish.. Kind of out of place in an SPS tank.

And since we're talking prop systems and not displays, I think this alternative is a good one... We aren't staring at fish in our prop systems.

-J

 

[Ken668]

Along the same line, just get 2-3 dozen peppermint shrimp. It will be a shrimp orgy.....feeding the corals every night.

 

[lgoins]

can we see pics of the 240g vat?

 

[redox]

there are a couple in my gallery

 

[RCS]

Some people have suggested using the mollies only because they breed very often, and as such create their own zooplankton that would be eaten by the SPS.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but don't most SPS (I'm assuming Acropora and Montipora spp.) feed on bacteria? I would think that molly fry would be way too large to be of benefit in the tank, other than to create some additional waste.

 

[MiddletonMark]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9141659#post9141659 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by miatawnt2b
And since we're talking prop systems and not displays, I think this alternative is a good one... We aren't staring at fish in our prop systems.

Which is why I would generally skip fish. Why the additional bioload when trying to grow/color SPS which probably would prefer cleaner conditions.

IMO, you can target food to the coral + feed less if you skip the fish.

 

[highquality]

So what type of food do acroporaa and montipora eat? what products are there?

 

[PolypHead]

i use cyclop-eeze exclusively. Lasts forever in the freezer, and much cheaper than live solutions. Works like acharm, great pigment, clean(not oily), and 65% pure protein. Perfect polyp-bite-size too.