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sessile filter feeders


amphipod

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Well people do, people have them in their refugium and stuff quite often.

 

The only thing is some people don't like their looks, and avoid them.

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Well people do, people have them in their refugium and stuff quite often.

 

The only thing is some people don't like their looks, and avoid them.

what's displeasing about the animals that look like space blobs lol we need to start replacing our regular filter cartridges with various filter feeders and algaes
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Mine are similar, but are a yellowish drab greenish color, not the prettiest, but they do a good job filtering.

 

79 shouldn't be bad for them, mine were from an estuary, water was only a foot deep lol

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what's displeasing about the animals that look like space blobs lol we need to start replacing our regular filter cartridges with various filter feeders and algaes

 

I love them lol. I love all marine life, regardless.

 

Others don't though. @_@

 

Sometimes I laugh at this hobby, as it is one of the few that not just beauty, but everything else is also in the eye of the beholder. Mantis shrimp. Some people regard as pests, others don't. Nudibranchs eat corals, and so do angels. Some treat nudibranchs as pests, whilst angels never get that status.

 

Etc. etc. XD

 

Doesn't matter though. Everyone has their own opinions on things. Just gotta respect each other's views.

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Mine are similar, but are a yellowish drab greenish color, not the prettiest, but they do a good job filtering.

 

79 shouldn't be bad for them, mine were from an estuary, water was only a foot deep lol

How often do you feed yours?

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I've been using a tunicate and algae to keep my tank crystal clear, and its worked well so far, why don't we all start doing stuff like this?

 

I think we need pics to see how crystal clear your water is... How long is "so far"? What are the details of this tank that relies only on sessile filter feeders and algae for filtration?

 

These things are very common in almost everyone's tanks at some point... But I think there's a good reason people don't rely on them completely and in place of filters, skimmers, and the like. I don't think it's simply because they're undesireable to some people!

 

- They're slow. Recall that the water volume per inhabitant in an aquarium is a ridiculously small fraction of what's naturally available in the oceans. The same processes just can't operate on the same scale.

- Filter feeders and algae don't remove waste efficiently. We excrete most of the food we eat - we're not so efficient that 100% of our nutrition goes to growth or energy. Even tunicates poop. And algae absorbs the nutrients it needs for growth but it has to be broken down quite a bit before that can happen. Basically it comes down to export - once something is added to the tank it stays in the tank until it's exported. What would take my skimmer an hour to export would likely take days/weeks for the waste to be broken down further and further and ultimately exported ( at least partially) by removing the algae - but this would fuel undesireable (to most people) algae as well.

- Insufficient diversity. Many of these animals can be very selective in what they eat in the wild - in our tank they get to choose from what comes in on a few pieces of rock. Also it's a process - waste gets broken down further and further by many organisms, many of them we just don't have in our tanks. And don't assume they all do the same thing. For example tunicates feed on plankton I believe.

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Where do you procure the tunicate? are spontaneous or the purchases?hello
I picked them up on a vacation. They were hundreds of thousands piled on rocks piers sand, everywhere.

 

How often do you feed yours?
every couple days, I let them eat the crabs floating leftover food. Also I've fed them blood worms through the siphon lol.
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I think we need pics to see how crystal clear your water is... How long is "so far"? What are the details of this tank that relies only on sessile filter feeders and algae for filtration? These things are very common in almost everyone's tanks at some point... But I think there's a good reason people don't rely on them completely and in place of filters, skimmers, and the like. I don't think it's simply because they're undesireable to some people! - They're slow. Recall that the water volume per inhabitant in an aquarium is a ridiculously small fraction of what's naturally available in the oceans. The same processes just can't operate on the same scale.- Filter feeders and algae don't remove waste efficiently. We excrete most of the food we eat - we're not so efficient that 100% of our nutrition goes to growth or energy. Even tunicates poop. And algae absorbs the nutrients it needs for growth but it has to be broken down quite a bit before that can happen. Basically it comes down to export - once something is added to the tank it stays in the tank until it's exported. What would take my skimmer an hour to export would likely take days/weeks for the waste to be broken down further and further and ultimately exported ( at least partially) by removing the algae - but this would fuel undesireable (to most people) algae as well. - Insufficient diversity. Many of these animals can be very selective in what they eat in the wild - in our tank they get to choose from what comes in on a few pieces of rock. Also it's a process - waste gets broken down further and further by many organisms, many of them we just don't have in our tanks. And don't assume they all do the same thing. For example tunicates feed on plankton I believe.
I've had this tank functioning several weeks, and true they are slow, but think if we'd investigate more about the complex processes of ocean waste removal we could make potential bio filters. Also true the water can take a day to clear if I feed too much to the crabs also the tank is ½ a gallon former cascade container.

 

I love them lol. I love all marine life, regardless. Others don't though. @_@ Sometimes I laugh at this hobby, as it is one of the few that not just beauty, but everything else is also in the eye of the beholder. Mantis shrimp. Some people regard as pests, others don't. Nudibranchs eat corals, and so do angels. Some treat nudibranchs as pests, whilst angels never get that status. Etc. etc. XD Doesn't matter though. Everyone has their own opinions on things. Just gotta respect each other's views.
+ 100 lol
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I picked them up on a vacation. They were hundreds of thousands piled on rocks piers sand, everywhere.

 

 

So you collected them in nature , many I have said are very delicate and once detached difficult to take root .You can put a photo ?
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I think the biggest waste management issue in aquariums is nitrate levels. I don't think there are any filter feeders that can absorb nitrates. Algae does, but slowly. A lot of people are using macroalgae to consume some of the nitrates and lessen the need for water changes. But that doesn't eliminate water changes in the typical well-stocked tank. There are red sponges that are good looking and are filter feeders, so you aren't stuck with ugly things.

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I think the biggest waste management issue in aquariums is nitrate levels. I don't think there are any filter feeders that can absorb nitrates. Algae does, but slowly. A lot of people are using macroalgae to consume some of the nitrates and lessen the need for water changes. But that doesn't eliminate water changes in the typical well-stocked tank. There are red sponges that are good looking and are filter feeders, so you aren't stuck with ugly things.

In my opinion the best nitrate management is carbon dosing. All the other methods help but do not totally take care of the problem.

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I think the biggest waste management issue in aquariums is nitrate levels. I don't think there are any filter feeders that can absorb nitrates. Algae does, but slowly. A lot of people are using macroalgae to consume some of the nitrates and lessen the need for water changes. But that doesn't eliminate water changes in the typical well-stocked tank. There are red sponges that are good looking and are filter feeders, so you aren't stuck with ugly things.
I'm not trying to eliminate water changes, but the average boring cartridge filter.

 

post-84861-0-13524900-1422068493_thumb.jpg here's a pic

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So you collected them in nature , many I have said are very delicate and once detached difficult to take root .

You can put a photo ?

also I never detached them, I took the whole pebbles.
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Sessile feeder filters must be only functional away from the aggressive tank inhabitants. I'm starting to see why some are angry with gorilla crabs. They must need a special COWLR setup (crabs only with live rock)

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