Mantis in a Refugium?
- Thread starter Tylt33
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Pea-brain
In Memoriam
A P. ciliata is not a predator of anything that would reproduce in the refugium, and a refugium doesn't have to be a place safe from predation so pods can grow to be a refugium. If it has macroalgae and no pods it is still a refugium. Besides, you really think that a refugium could possibly be predator less? It would likely be that you'd have at least one predator in there anyways, maybe really small one but there'd still be one. So would that make the a refugium inherently flawed?
Dan
Dan
spike78
New member
From my understanding, a staple in the diet of Pseudosquilla ciliata includes small crustaceans. This would include mysid, amphipods and copeopods that aquarists generally try to cultivate in refugiums. This says it better than I can. From Borneman's "Mything the Point" http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/eb/index.php
"To restate yet again, a refugium is a place provided to allow certain organisms to grow while freed of predation or herbivory. If one incorporates predators such as shrimp, fish, and corals into a refugium, the very reason for its existence is lost. Given the small size of most refugia, a handful of zoanthids and a couple shrimp will likely decimate any populations of small organisms that were originally supposed to breed and feed the main display tank. If one desires to keep an area for breeding or propagating organisms, it might be a tank that replicates a habitat and that may look like a refugium - but it is not a refugium. If one desires to have a display tank filtered by natural processes, it should be ideally (significantly) larger in scale than the display to be effective. Otherwise, any natural filtration is probably largely supplemental to what is already occurring in average reef aquaria, although I imagine with careful consideration it might become quite significant. The natural filtration of the display was already initially addressed with live rock and sand beds (Berlin, ATS, and Jaubert methods). Protein skimmers provide more than enough additional filtration in most other systems (Berlin method). A refugium design should incorporate food sources and habitats that are conducive to the growth and reproduction of organisms that would otherwise become food for the mouths present in a reef aquarium display. In all likelihood, these same elements will also provide additional benefits such as nutrient uptake and regeneration."
"To restate yet again, a refugium is a place provided to allow certain organisms to grow while freed of predation or herbivory. If one incorporates predators such as shrimp, fish, and corals into a refugium, the very reason for its existence is lost. Given the small size of most refugia, a handful of zoanthids and a couple shrimp will likely decimate any populations of small organisms that were originally supposed to breed and feed the main display tank. If one desires to keep an area for breeding or propagating organisms, it might be a tank that replicates a habitat and that may look like a refugium - but it is not a refugium. If one desires to have a display tank filtered by natural processes, it should be ideally (significantly) larger in scale than the display to be effective. Otherwise, any natural filtration is probably largely supplemental to what is already occurring in average reef aquaria, although I imagine with careful consideration it might become quite significant. The natural filtration of the display was already initially addressed with live rock and sand beds (Berlin, ATS, and Jaubert methods). Protein skimmers provide more than enough additional filtration in most other systems (Berlin method). A refugium design should incorporate food sources and habitats that are conducive to the growth and reproduction of organisms that would otherwise become food for the mouths present in a reef aquarium display. In all likelihood, these same elements will also provide additional benefits such as nutrient uptake and regeneration."
alright, now we're just arguing about what we call a refugium which is beside the point. the bottom line is that the mantis will be alright in the "separated compartment formerly known as refugium" (aka separated compartment still known as refugium)
fwiw, I dont think the mantis would predate on most things reproducing in the fuge like copepods, but i do believe animals on the same scale (or bigger) as amphipods are big enough to warrant a small mantis' attention. theres also the fact that many people use fuges as nutrient export/filtration. this would obviously be negated by the addition of a not-very-clean predator.
fwiw, I dont think the mantis would predate on most things reproducing in the fuge like copepods, but i do believe animals on the same scale (or bigger) as amphipods are big enough to warrant a small mantis' attention. theres also the fact that many people use fuges as nutrient export/filtration. this would obviously be negated by the addition of a not-very-clean predator.
