What else should I put in my refugium?

[Anonymous]

I bought a fauna and flora kit from Inland Aquatics. I have 60 pound of live sand. I also added 3 mangroves. It's pretty cool, but I'd like to add some life in there. I tried adding a half dozen or so glass shrimp, but they all died within a couple of hours (i acclimated them slowly.)

What can I add to make the fug a little more interesting? Preferably something that will reproduce!

How about blood shrimp? Peppermint shrimp? a cuke? Any ideas that wont hurt the fuana/flora (to badly, anyway). I need something to help keep the sanbed cleaned also.

BTW, it's a 20H connected to my 75G reef.

Louey

 

[danmhippo]

"glass shrimps"? What kind of glass shrimp? Is is the ghostshrimps commonly sold in LFS for feeders? Those are Freshwater variety of ghost shrimp and most will only survive hours in saltwater.

I'd suggest you grow macro algae (caulerpa) in your refugium. When they grows thick, trim them out for nutrient export and take the cuttings to your LFS for extra credit. The densly grown caulerpa is also an excellent nursery for self reproducing micro fauna such as copepods and amphipods. These should already be present in the detrivore kits comes in IA's package. All they need is places to call home and flourish.

 

[Anonymous]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

Those are Freshwater variety of ghost shrimp and most will only survive hours in saltwater.

Dough! That explains that. I thought I read somewhere that ghost/glass shrimp would mutilply in the refugium, creating a constant food supply for the main tank. I'm sure I read that somewhere. hmm!

I have caulerpa (though not growing very fast) and plenty of pods in my refugium. I thought it would be nice to add something bigger, like a shrimp or something.

Any other ideas? And what can I do to make the caulerpa grow faster? Or should I just be glad that is not growing like a weed?

hmm....things to think of when you don't have any real problems to deal with!

Louey

 

[kipreefer]

If you alresy have plenty of light on your aquarium KENTs Iron supplement helps teh macros out.

 

[danmhippo]

Here is the link for the saltwater ghost shrimps, scroll down to "saltwater invertbrate" section, look for "common shore shrimps" Palaemonetes vulgaris

 

[Anonymous]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

If you alresy have plenty of light on your aquarium KENTs Iron supplement helps teh macros out.

I have 65W smart light. That should be plenty of light for a 20G. Do you have to test for iron? If so, who makes the best test kit?

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

Here is the link for the saltwater ghost shrimps, scroll down to "saltwater invertbrate" section, look for "common shore shrimps" Palaemonetes vulgaris

Cool site! Dan, what have you purchased from them. I dont know if I really want to add 50 ghost shrimps. That seems like too much at one time. Maybe I can find someone locally that would like to pool an order! I wonder if live shrimp that are sold in bait and tackle shops would be the same? I could just go buy a dozen.

Thanks

Louey

 

[Mouse]

Mysid shrimps do well in refugia. Also Bunny Snails from ISPF would be good.

 

[DEADFISH1]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Louey:
<strong>

Dough! That explains that. I thought I read somewhere that ghost/glass shrimp would mutilply in the refugium, creating a constant food supply for the main tank. I'm sure I read that somewhere. hmm!

Louey</strong><hr></blockquote>

Peppermint Shrimp will hatch fry easily, I had a pair at one time that did. the fish loved them for it.

 

[Anonymous]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr> Peppermint Shrimp will hatch fry easily, I had a pair at one time that did. the fish loved them for it.
<hr></blockquote>

Are peppermint shrimp harmful to any of the beneficial critters, fauna, flora, etc.?

 

[DEADFISH1]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Louey:
<strong>

Are peppermint shrimp harmful to any of the beneficial critters, fauna, flora, etc.?</strong><hr></blockquote>

I believe they sometimes can eat your button polyps and such, but their supposed to be reef safe, at least I don't remember reading about them harming anything else, but the Camel shrimp, I've read that they are not reef safe.

 

[MediaOne]

If you choose to add Iron to your refugium do so very slowly and with caution! That stuff can cause massive algae blooms if you don't know what you are doing.

You mentioned that your Caulerpa is not growing very fast, I found the same thing when I first started my refugium. For me the fix was to go to an LFS and get a whole bunch (like 4 big clumps) of Caulerpa and throw it in the refugium. Now the refugium is hauling ass, and my tank looks the better for it. Mind you my refugium is half the size of the main tank.

Cheers!

 

[SPC]

Posted by Louey:
Are peppermint shrimp harmful to any of the beneficial critters, fauna, flora, etc.?

-Well yes and no. They definitely will eat anything they can get their claws on, the secret is to find the balance between critters and the peps appetites.
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Ok, I think I'll get a couple of peppermints for the refugium. They may eat some pods, but the should reproduce therefore adding some back. I like Mouse' suggestion about the sea bunnies from IPSF too.

I'm still looking for some answers on this : <blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr> quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you alresy have plenty of light on your aquarium KENTs Iron supplement helps teh macros out.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have 65W smart light. That should be plenty of light for a 20G. Do you have to test for iron? If so, who makes the best test kit?

<hr></blockquote>

Should I add the iron supplent or not? What about testing for iron?

 

[npaden]

I would vote against peppermint shrimp in a refugium. They are voracious predators IMO and single handedly wiped out a large breeding population of stometella snails I had when I introduced them to control my aipistasia problem in my old 120.

FWIW, Nathan

 

[danmhippo]

Well, Louey, for your info, I use up 1000 shrimps a week to feed my 10 giant Brazillian seahorses, 2 file fish and a trigger, 3 toadfish and 6 pipefishes. I typically order 1000 per order.

Most of my fish rely on live feeds.

 

[danmhippo]

BTW, I also feed them HUFA fortified frozen mysis for variety. All these nutrients are feeding the tankfull of caulerpa. Caulerpa also provide refuge for the live feeds so the fishes don't finish them off too fast. Plus this give my fishes workouts hunting for their food.

 

[SPC]

Posted by Louey:
Should I add the iron supplent or not? What about testing for iron?

-IMO no, excess iron can cause excess nuisance algae too. Now, I know that Randy Holmes Farley adds iron to his tank, but he is a chemist

. Randy has also said that he does not know any set amounts to tell people to add, its just a feel thing. He does test for it, but the results of his tests are for his parameters and don't necessarily correlate to others applications.
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Danmhippo:


<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

I use up 1000 shrimps a week to feed my 10 giant Brazillian seahorses, 2 file fish and a trigger, 3 toadfish and 6 pipefishes. I typically order 1000 per order.

WOW

. You do have an expensive hobby

.

Do you have any pics to share?