Ideal water movement for copepod culture

[GoBigOrGoHome]

So, I'm thinking of putting in a 33-long to gravity feed back to my 75-display in which I'm hoping to keep a pipefish or two, and/or a pair of mandarins. By the time this project is over, the system should have somewhere between 175-300 gallons. I'm looking for suggestions on culturing medium and flow rate.
Right now, my plan is to just use a huge ball of chaetomorpha as a medium, and maybe 600-800 gallons of flow. Is this too little flow? I'd appreciate any input you've got to offer, as Ideally I would love to have a pair of each, dragon-faced pipefish, and psychadelic mandarin, and I know that they are going to require a lot of microfauna (and hopefully some supplemental frozen) to be sustained. This tank already has a 40-fuge with a ton of chaeto, but I doubt many copepods are making it to the main tank, as that has a pump return. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[GoBigOrGoHome]

No one has suggestions for water movement through a chaeto refugium/ copepod culture? Should this be in a different forum?

 

[pledosophy]

Just to be clear, keeping the pipes in the display, not the refugium right.

600 to 900 gph is cool IME. You just wanna keep movement through the cheato.

I like to add a bunch of rubble rock to the refugium to seems to help pod production, but I don't have much to compare it to.

HTH

 

[GoBigOrGoHome]

Thanks for your input. Yeah, the pipes will be in the display tank. the 600-800 gph (maybe more) will be moving from one end of the tank to the other, as that is, conveniently, how the tank is drilled. This way, that water volume will be moving constantly down a 4 foot long, 1'wx1'h corridor, through chaetomorpha, and yes, some live rock rubble. I've already got a fuge, and this will only be one of 3 33-longs that I add to the system, plus perhaps a large rubbermaid tub sump, so this is only supplementary, but pipes and mandarins love to eat lots, so I figure I should be producing as much as I possibly can to sustain that many micro-predators in a relatively small (200 gallon or so) system.

 

[GoBigOrGoHome]

Bump. Anyone? Culturing medium? Flow rate? Lighting spectrum? Any suggestions at all?

 

[Ralph ATL]

I'll tell you what works for me. I've had a pair of Dragonface Pipefish for over 2 years now in a 55 full blown sps tank w 2 Tunzes and also with a few other fish. I have a fuge in my sump of course that I dose with iron 2 times a week (low nutrient tank), and I have a small crp hangon fuge stuffed with cheato, sand, rubble, & any nasty algae that wants to grow in there. I feed that one a few drops of live phyto daily & iron 2 times a week. The pods do not have to go through a pump to get into tank. Once a month, I'll shake a ball of cheato into my tank, too.

 

[GoBigOrGoHome]

Thanks a lot. what's the flow rate through what volume of refugium?

 

[Ralph ATL]

fuge/sump/skimmer is about 20 gallons maybe more? I use a mag 3 return. I did have a mag 7.5 before that. The hangon fuge uses the pump that comes with it, and then I put a small maxijet in their as well.

 

[mollymonticello]

I remember a part of a talk I saw at IMAC (can't even remember what it was about) that said copepods prefer little to no flow. They always seem to build up in areas of my fuge with the lowest flow.

 

[GoBigOrGoHome]

That thought crossed my mind. However, will they ever get flushed into the main tank if there's little flow going through? Should I just remove the chaeto from time to time and shake it out in the display?

 

[Ralph ATL]

yup