Biocube 32 Chamber 2 refugium

[Tritone]

Dear all, I need some advice.

 

I have the inTank refugium in chamber 2 of my Biocube and I’m about to put it to use. 
As the refugium sides are open I was thinking of putting them in a stocking. I’m going to attach a light to the glass. I’m going to put a bag of ceramic media at the bottom, then a ball of Chaeto. 
Is this so far any good?

The idea is then to add live Copepods in it to harvest any now and then and put it into main display for fish to feast on. I’m aware that however Copepods need to feed themselves and thought I’d add Phytoplankton into the mix. 
Would I need to top up the phytoplankton or would they be able to reproduce in the water column somehow?

 

Many thanks in advance for any suggestion 

 

[Tired]

If you give pods a safe place to reproduce, the ones already in your aquarium will reproduce of their own accord. They can feed themselves pretty well. Dosing phyto (and yes, you'll need to dose it regularly, phyto lives in reef tanks but only in a tiny amount) will help them breed faster. 

 

Don't put in much of the media. It's good for pod hiding places, but the extra space for bacteria isn't needed in a reef tank, since we have live rock, and the media can wind up collecting gunk. 

[Tritone]

19 minutes ago, Tired said:

If you give pods a safe place to reproduce, the ones already in your aquarium will reproduce of their own accord. They can feed themselves pretty well. Dosing phyto (and yes, you'll need to dose it regularly, phyto lives in reef tanks but only in a tiny amount) will help them breed faster. 

 

Don't put in much of the media. It's good for pod hiding places, but the extra space for bacteria isn't needed in a reef tank, since we have live rock, and the media can wind up collecting gunk. 

Ah ok. Thank you. I thought in main tank they get devoured mercilessly with no chance to reproduce. 
How much should I release in refuge and in main? 
They’re sold (over here) in 100ml pouches for example..

 

T

[Tired]

Right, that's why I said to give them a safe place to reproduce. Copepods will breed in your rockwork, and shouldn't be wiped out unless you have a ton of pod-eating fish, but their population will stay low if you don't give them a refugium. The second compartment of your filter could work for that. 

 

I don't know much about pod numbers. I do know that, if you pick a species that does well in reef aquariums, you shouldn't need to add more than one or two doses of them to get them to start breeding. 

 

Don't close them in with a stocking, you want them to be able to get out. Some will stay in the safe refugium, and some will go out and get eaten. That's the goal. 

[Tritone]

16 hours ago, Tired said:

Right, that's why I said to give them a safe place to reproduce. Copepods will breed in your rockwork, and shouldn't be wiped out unless you have a ton of pod-eating fish, but their population will stay low if you don't give them a refugium. The second compartment of your filter could work for that. 

 

I don't know much about pod numbers. I do know that, if you pick a species that does well in reef aquariums, you shouldn't need to add more than one or two doses of them to get them to start breeding. 

 

Don't close them in with a stocking, you want them to be able to get out. Some will stay in the safe refugium, and some will go out and get eaten. That's the goal. 

Thanks, in order to get to tank from refugium, they need to go via the return pump! Lol

Would they survive that? Honest question, I have no idea.

 

 

 

[CWLEE1982]

22 minutes ago, Tritone said:

Thanks, in order to get to tank from refugium, they need to go via the return pump! Lol

Would they survive that? Honest question, I have no idea.

 

 

 

I wondered the same thing,    although they have to do the same from a refugium that is underneath the tank

[Tired]

Copepods are small enough that a majority of them will survive the return pump, yes. Amphipods won't. No return pump is preferable, but a pump is entirely workable. 

[Tritone]

12 minutes ago, Tired said:

Copepods are small enough that a majority of them will survive the return pump, yes. Amphipods won't. No return pump is preferable, but a pump is entirely workable. 

Excellent, thank you.