Evo 13.5 refugium for copepods

[phl110]

Hi all. I know there are several threads for refugiums for the fluval evo 13.5. I am considering setting one up in chamber two to grow copepods as I would like to get a mandarin. For those that have one, do you have to harvest the copepods or do they somehow find their own way into the dispay(either through swimming back up the overflow or somehow passing through the pump without getting chopped up?

at this point, I am not sure if I want to do one in the traditional sense with chaeto and a grow light since several have mentioned problems with it growing into the display. Is chaeto needed for the copepods? Could I just put some poly fill in the chamber to give them a place to hid and reproduce and just occasionally dose the chamber with phyto?

 

[Jonify]

Hi all. I know there are several threads for refugiums for the fluval evo 13.5. I am considering setting one up in chamber two to grow copepods as I would like to get a mandarin. For those that have one, do you have to harvest the copepods or do they somehow find their own way into the dispay(either through swimming back up the overflow or somehow passing through the pump without getting chopped up?

at this point, I am not sure if I want to do one in the traditional sense with chaeto and a grow light since several have mentioned problems with it growing into the display. Is chaeto needed for the copepods? Could I just put some poly fill in the chamber to give them a place to hid and reproduce and just occasionally dose the chamber with phyto?

Hey! Nice idea with the Fluval. Yes, you will probably want to keep something like Chaeto in there, gives them a place to live so they all aren't just washed back up to your display at once. (And bonus, it will help you keep your pH up at night if you run the light on reverse cycle). They get back into the aquarium by going through your return, and no, they don't get chopped up--they're way too small for that.

 

[Tired]

You are not going to be able to successfully keep a mandarin in a 13 gallon tank long-term. The absolute smallest tank I've ever heard of anyone keeping a mandarin in without massive supplementary feeding is about 30-45 gallons, usually with hang-on 'fuges and the like. If you went the (best) route of getting a captive-bred mandarin and feeding it frequently to help supplement its diet, its bioload from all the feeding would likely be too much for the tank, and it would still eat all the pods and suffer for it. And finally, they're too active for a tank that size. They get chunky and move around a lot.

If you want a mandarin, you should get a tank of at least 30 gallons, and be prepared to feed frequently. Or attach a 20-gallon refugium to that tank, which would still leave the problem of too little swimming space.

 

[phl110]

Thanks! My thought process for the poly fill was to provide that as a place for them to live instead of the chaeto. But Looks like algae barn has other macroalgaes where the trimmings could be fed to fish such as sea lettuce . Maybe I’ll try that instead of chaeto.

 

[phl110]

Roger on the mandarin. I’ll stay away from them. I had one years ago in a 75 gallon but just regularly ordered copepods. Had to get rid of the setup when I moved and this is all I have space for. Was hoping a refugium would work to supply a constant amount of copepods food, but you’re right, it would probably still tear through all the copepods and remain hungry

 

[Tired]

Now, if you get just tiny fish, it's possible to feed them on pods in a tank that small. I have a trimma goby in my 4.5gal, and he eats amphipods, so I don't have to feed him at all. He stays fat of his own accord. So you could definitely have a setup where you feed corals and inverts every few days, but a couple of tiny, less active fish don't get fed much because they're eating bugs. Or you could get fish, feed them normally, and ensure a population of pods just for snacks.

I would opt for a macroalgae instead of polyfill, if possible.

Any other stocking thoughts? I highly recommend a candycane pistol shrimp and one of the smaller shrimpgobies, they're great to watch.