critters in sump/fuge?
- Thread starter jacksonpt
- Start date
Initialy I added 2 peppermint shrimp to the DT but after having them constantly harrass and steal food from lps ,I put them in the sump.The sump has a decent size fuge,few types of marine algae and ssb.Like alot of other reefers mine is on reverse daylight.
It wasn't long before I noticed the shrimp would breed and with the reverse daylight it seamed perfect in that I was getting a natural live plankton source during the daylight hrs for my fish.So,I decided to add a few more,went with 6 total.They did seam to do well at first but for whatever reason I would always end up with 2.They were added as small juvi's and they maybe why it appeared to work initially.
I dont know weather it was from lacking or limited food source or if one becomes "alpha dominant and kills off others.Or perhaps they are canabalistic or become that way. I dont know.It would be interested to hear if someone else tried this and what the outcome was.
Currently I have only 1 shrimp in the sump/fuge.The fuge tends to collect detritus quicker at times than I can keep up with, the reason for the ssb ,my thought on this is that detritus with or without sediments are known incubation sites for parasitic worms and I think the shrimp maybe helpful in that regard.Though after reading that recent quarantine thread maybe the shrimp just picks at something else.I really dont know just some thoughts.
It wasn't long before I noticed the shrimp would breed and with the reverse daylight it seamed perfect in that I was getting a natural live plankton source during the daylight hrs for my fish.So,I decided to add a few more,went with 6 total.They did seam to do well at first but for whatever reason I would always end up with 2.They were added as small juvi's and they maybe why it appeared to work initially.
I dont know weather it was from lacking or limited food source or if one becomes "alpha dominant and kills off others.Or perhaps they are canabalistic or become that way. I dont know.It would be interested to hear if someone else tried this and what the outcome was.
Currently I have only 1 shrimp in the sump/fuge.The fuge tends to collect detritus quicker at times than I can keep up with, the reason for the ssb ,my thought on this is that detritus with or without sediments are known incubation sites for parasitic worms and I think the shrimp maybe helpful in that regard.Though after reading that recent quarantine thread maybe the shrimp just picks at something else.I really dont know just some thoughts.
mr.maroonsalty
New member
I think it all depends on what you have going on. A refugium should stand without fish, crabs, shrimp... if your goal for it is to supply the mt with a source of pods and the like. Sumps and fuges can get real nasty and need regular syphoning of detritus. I find a small dedicated shop vac very useful for sump cleaning. I'm on the fence about keeping a fuge bare bottom or dsb, I don't think a shallow sandbed is that good of an idea. Right now I have a dsb in my fuge; I still vacuum it monthly. It is full of spaghetti worms, the small reproducing nassarius snails might be a good critter too. Having a bb fuge is a sure way your cleanings are getting rid of all the detritus, but I'm not sure if its the best in the way of adding diversity to the system. But solely from a nutrient control point of view a bb fuge/sump is the way to go. I would never buy anything for a mechanical sump, but if something required exile there, I don't see any reason why it couldn't go in there.
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