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View Full Version : what to put in a fuge?


bkvreef
06/26/2008, 09:42 AM
I am about (hopefully!) ready to set up my fuge.

I had planned on putting rubble and macroalgea in it but I was wanting for any additional or different suggestions.

Thanks

gea0119
06/26/2008, 09:48 AM
cheato

gea0119
06/26/2008, 09:49 AM
pods

bkvreef
06/26/2008, 10:03 AM
Chaeto or culerpa?

Where to get pods?

chatyak
06/26/2008, 10:06 AM
chaeto..... caulpera can cause issues when it releases spores

search for "live copepods" on google

IFbettas
06/26/2008, 10:10 AM
You can also just buy some reef rubble to get pods in your refugium. It might take a little longer but it works.

abulgin
06/26/2008, 10:14 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12825932#post12825932 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chatyak
chaeto..... caulpera can cause issues when it releases spores

search for "live copepods" on google

Chaeto does not reproduce "sexually" (sometimes referred to as "going sexual"). Caulerpa does. When Caulerpa does, it basically disintegrates and releases all stored nutrients back into the water, which can foul your system. If you employ Caulerpa, you have to watch it vigilently and be ready to remove any pieces that go cellophane (i.e., turning clear)--a sign that it is about to go sexual. To reduce this risk, people light Caulerpa 24/7. Because Chaeto does not go sexual, you need to light it only 12/7, and this should be done on a reverse daylight cycle (i.e., when your tank lights go off) which will help keep pH stable.

More info here: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/nftt/index.php

abulgin
06/26/2008, 10:16 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12825949#post12825949 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by IFbettas
You can also just buy some reef rubble to get pods in your refugium. It might take a little longer but it works.

+1. If you buy some fully cured LR or rubble to put in your fuge, they will contain pods, mysis, etc. that will quickly reproduce and populate your fuge. You should feed the fuge, however, to maintain the culture. I throw 3 or 4 shrimp pellets in my fuge every week to 10 days (or when I think about it). Pods are expenisive. Why buy the cow when the milk comes free . . .

Dante_JoseCuerv
06/26/2008, 11:52 AM
I second this, just get some small pieces of LR and some chaeto in there, and then just wait. Nothing else, just wait.

kolosy
06/26/2008, 02:20 PM
i keep reading about how mysis shrimp are cannibalistic and as such won't propagate easily. are you guys referring to a specific type of mysis, or is that just not a concern?

shuguley
06/26/2008, 03:09 PM
Anybody ever bought copepods from here? It isn't really that expensive considering the cost of everything else in this hobby.

http://www.livecopepods.com/

moo0o
06/26/2008, 03:18 PM
i used to put caulerpa in my fuge but i have recently switched to cheato in fear that the caulerpa might go asexual. but even though i did see some of the strains go clear, it didnt really do anything...but then again maybe i just got lucky.

IslandCrow
06/26/2008, 03:20 PM
If you build it, they will come. I really don't see the need to buy pods in a bottle, unless you seriously don't think you have any in your tank. If you want to kick start it, place a small pile of rock rubble in your tank for a week and then transfer that to your fuge. In a month or two, you should have all sorts of pods. I've never fed my fuge either. Pods are filter feeders, and there's plenty of bacterioplankton in the waterstream to keep your population well fed. Adding phytoplankton will also usually help. As for large food like shrimp pellets, unless you're feeding something like bristleworms, they aren't going to do you any good. Except, of course, releasing nitrates and phosphates into the water stream, which your macro algae will love.

shuguley
06/26/2008, 03:28 PM
I guess for people new to the hobby, like myself, it's just hard to believe that if you have LR and LS you will automatically get pods in your fuge once you grow macro algae. That's probably why there is a market for selling pods in a bottle, their main business is probably noobs like me that are afraid they won't get pods without it.

REEF-n-Chicago
06/26/2008, 03:52 PM
Saltwaterfish.com sells pods in lots of 200 for 9.99 > never ordered though so it is tough to say if it would be worth it?
Would love to hear more opinions> I mean 9.99 is like pennies in this hobby if it would "jumpstart" the pod process...

Sk8r
06/26/2008, 04:14 PM
I use cheato: pretty strong flow for a fuge, but the cheato loves it extremely...
I also have a 3-4" sandbed, and rubble built up like a breakwater to force incoming water (off a 15 foot drop from upstairs) to slow down a bit before hitting the cheato and blasting all my pods upstairs at once. This works quite well.
The spare sandbed is a lifesaver if you have any crisis with the sandbed in your display: that second live rock/sand arrangement can carry the whole system through a crisis.
I stock all sorts of critters down there: spare crabs, shrimp, mysis, copepods, brittle stars, all hitchhikers that end up on the cheato. Some aren't reef-desirable but they hurt nothing down there and help keep debris eaten. I don't use a particulate filter at all, except the cheato ball, which fills that function AND feeds the critters as well.

Note: I've never yet seen healthy cheato that wasn't rife with pods. Just buy a big chunk and you should get pods.

Larah
06/26/2008, 05:47 PM
My Cheato came with some peices of a few differnt types of Calupera in it... Hope that's not an issue.. Thus far it does seem to be...

Larah
06/26/2008, 05:48 PM
I mean Doesn't seem to be....

Zestay
06/26/2008, 05:58 PM
i would also recommend a DSB ( 3 - 5 inchs ) some macro algea. maybe a few neat plants depending if your fuge is visable. i had my fuge set up as a secondary display tank. the pods grew on thier own. give it a few weeks they will be everywhere. the fuge fed itself with flake that made it into the over flow.

also you can use it as a hospital tank ( no treatments ! ) more like recovery tank for sick / injured fish.

jph
06/26/2008, 06:21 PM
a skimmer, heater and/or chiller, bubble trap, settling area, return pump

that makes it easy to siphon out all the crud that settles there. if you put LR there, it's only going to trap more dirt.


anyway... just my $0.02 :)

J.

Larah
06/26/2008, 06:42 PM
huh, I have lots of live rock rubble and a 3' sand bed as well as a couple of snails in addition to the cheato and calupera ball...
So far it seems to be working well...

Playa-1
06/26/2008, 06:45 PM
I'm sporting Liverock rubble and Cheato. If I need more nitrate and phosphate removal later I've planned it to easily add a DSB to the fuge later if necessary.

bkvreef
06/27/2008, 05:21 AM
Thanks for the ideas!!

2 questions:
1. do any of you use filter socks? I never did until just recently and really liked the amount of junk they got. If I recall all the important nutrients (not including the lighting) for the macroalgea still gets through.

2. What about what jph said as far as rubble just collecting dirt. Should I just go with about 3" of sand and cheato?

gea0119
06/27/2008, 07:03 AM
i think if the fuge is in the sump rocks are ok but if not i wouldnt.You can buy pods in a botttle by Reef Nutrition.They usually are kept in the fridge at the LFS.I use phtyo feast by them.I would add a couple of snails and a DSB 3-5" and chaeto.

Larah
06/27/2008, 11:11 AM
Just be CAREFUL with the phyto feast!
It can and will pollute the water...
I thik that may be part of what got me into trouble with the whole
cyano thing....