Cryptic Zone Questions

[scribble]

I recently set up a second sump just for live rock. It's pretty big, 60 gallons and about 150 pounds of rock. I have some questions about running a dark (or lighted) rock sump.

How much flow should I have through the rock sump? Right now I have around 300 gph. If I get a lot of sponges and other stuff growing in there should I have less flow so they can take up particles better, or more?

Should I raise the rock off the bottom of the tank? I was thinking of making a platform of egg crate to get it up about an inch or two off the bottom for better flow underneath. Or, is it fine to just have the rock sitting on the glass bottom?

Should I have any light at all? Right now the only light I have is any that gets in from the room. Should I cover it so it is completely dark, or should I even have some actinics or something for part of the day.

I currently have a big circulation pump in the sump that I kick on every once in a while to blow the dust off the rocks. Is this a bad idea? My acros seem to really like the particles/snow that blows off when I run the pump. But I'm wondering if I should just leave it alone, if this will prevent things from developing as they would if I wasn't stirring things up all the time.

I also have a peppermint shrimp that hitch hiked in on a piece of rock. Should I make sure I get him out? It seems to me he's going to eat some of the stuff I'm trying grow in there.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[chieuxuan]

you have all my questions that i wanted to ask :lol:

 

[Ninong]

Steve Tyree has written on this topic extensively for the past 15 years or more. Google: "Steve Tyree" + cryptic.

 

[chieuxuan]

thanks Ninong

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I think you'll find that sponges will settle and grow in places where they are best suited to the local flow. In a jumble of rock there will be high and lower flow places, and I do not think you need huge flow through it.

The shrimp won't do anything bad, IMO.

I have no light on mine. I cover it to reduce heat and evaporative water loss in my basement. My rock sits on the tank bottom and fills the container to the top.

I do dose silicate.

At the end of the day, I'm not sure if the whole thing does anything useful.

 

[chieuxuan]

well, my system does not have a sump yet but I have some yellow sponges grow on my rock where its in a low flow area

 

[scribble]

What about kicking on a big pump to blow off the rocks? Will this be too disruptive? Will all the particles clog up the sponges? I'm probably going to buy Tyree's book since I'm going this route. I hadn't really intended to do the cryptic zone thing. I have a pretty big growout system and I just wanted to move all the rock out so I would have more room for corals, better flow, and stuff like that. So, I got a 60 gallon tank and cut a hole so it would overflow into my sump and T'd off my return pump to divert some of the return through it. It's working out great so far, I just wanted to make the best of it.

There's another cool thread about a sump setup similar to this. I was just looking to get more specific answers about my setup. I fugure I'm going to treat it like a refugium and try to encourage as much stuff as I can to grow in there. I thought about trying KZ Sponge Power to encourage things.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If you are feeding organic matter to the sponges, then I'm not certain they will be serving any "useful" purpose, aside from looking cool (if you can even see them).