separate cryptic fuge contents?

[chimmike]

Thinking of running a 5g bucket as a cryptic fuge. Any suggestions as to what I should put in it other than possibly live rock?

 

[chrissu]

Depends what your goal is. If you want to lower nitrates about 10 times faster than cheato or live rock, then you could make an algae scrubber out of it. It's fast, cheap and easy to do too with lots of benefits for you. Just do a keyword search on "algae scubber 5 gallon bucket" and you will find lots of links with plans on how to make one DIY style.

 

[chimmike]

I've seen the algae scrubbers. I don't really need insane nitrate removal right now. I have a typical fuge which will get some macro, but I wanted to try out a cryptic fuge.

Maybe I'll just fill it with live rock, put the cover on, and let water cycle through it. Be a good way to add additional volume too.

Guess I'll have to order some uniseals

 

[Mustang Boy]

crypic fuges usually have filter feeders in them like sponges and clams and things like that


another option although a rarely use one would be an aptasia fuge, just seed the rock in the bucket with a few aptasia and put a UV sterilizer on the exit side of the fuge to kill any aptasia babies and you will have another source of nutrient export because i understand if that aptasia are great nutrient exporters

 

[chimmike]

ugh, aiptasia. I don't wanna risk any of those buggers getting in my tank, UV sterilizer or not! haha.

 

[sivert55]

if you're looking for sponges, i have quite a few varieties; green, branching blue, yellow, white, etc. PM me if interested. They're great for a cryptic zone

 

[stymee69]

Fortunately mike the sponges and critters that are good in a cryptic fuge will happen naturally as you may have found out the last time you pulled a rock and it had sponges under it hiding from the light. I say just put rock in bucket snap on the lid and forget about it. I must have read the same article as mustangboy with the aiptasia I think although sound in principle I'm with mike no aiptasia no matter what however some folks use Xenia for a similar type of filtration.

 

[mlivvy]

An old member of tbrc who moved on had a remote fuge with hundreds of aiptasia in it. He did the same thing with the uv light. I myself think its risky but he had none in his display.

 

[chimmike]

if you're looking for sponges, i have quite a few varieties; green, branching blue, yellow, white, etc. PM me if interested. They're great for a cryptic zone

Thanks Silver

I'm actually thinking of picking up 10 lbs of tampa bay saltwater rock and splitting it between my normal and a cryptic fuge. I might PM you later on for sponges.

 

[Mustang Boy]

i would put all of the rock in either your display or a spare tank to see what critters you get on it before sticking it in the bucket because it would suck to stick a bunch of cool hitch hikers into the bucket where you cant see them. like porcelain crabs when i ordered from TBSW i got a ton of porcelain crabs on one of the rocks, now i also got several bad crabs and a really cool mantis shrimp

 

[chimmike]

that's actually good to know. Yah, I was going to stick it all in my lit fuge at first (don't want to let out some gorilla crabs and a mantis into my DT, haha)

 

[Mustang Boy]

if you are lucky like me and get a rock with several porcelain crabs on it separate the rock from the rest to protect the procelains because i did not do this and ended up with a mantis in one of my other rocks and it munched on all the porcelains

 

[chimmike]

yah. If I get porcelains I'll be happy, I was planning on buying a couple of those guys.

 

[israel.kendall]

From the articles I read on cryptic filtration I picture them filled with all sorts of tunicates, sea squirts, sponges, fan worms, bivalves and the like. I also read a theory somewhere that claimed cryptic filtration worked best for people who constantly are shipping and receiving live rock from around the world as this is the best way to get the biodiversity needed for a cryptic zone.

If you're getting TBS rock then I'd bet a lot of the things you want in there will come on your rock. I would try to get some more biodiversity in there though, maybe dig through the rubble in the LFS for interesting things to put in there.

I personally think the things growing in it would be too cool looking to keep in a bucket though, I'd want a clear tank if it were me so I could look at the strangeness growing in there.

I have a small dark cave in my tank that I can't help but shine a flashlight into every now and then to see whats in there, here's a pic from last time I looked: