|
|
FAQs on Culturing Food Organisms: Culture Pests, Predators
Related Articles: Culturing
Food Organisms,
Foods/Feeding/Nutrition, Reproduction, Marine
Ornamental Fish Culture, Mysids,
Related FAQs: Food Culture 1, Food
Culture 2, & FAQs on Marine Food Culture:
Rationale/Use, Sources (Info.,
Starters, Products, ...), Selection
of Culture Species, Tools/Materials,
Culture Techniques, Feeding Food
Organisms, Troubleshooting/Fixes,
& Foods/Feeding/Nutrition 1,
Foods/Feeding/Nutrition 2,
Foods/Feeding/Nutrition 3, Foods/Feeding/Nutrition
4, Frozen Foods,
Coral Feeding, Brine Shrimp, Algae
as Food, Vitamins, Nutritional
Disease, Coral Feeding,
Growing Reef Corals, | 
|
Too many Pods? - 12/8/04
Hi! <Hey, Claudia>
I'm still in the
hobby thanks to the great information your website has given me
throughout the years.
<This is why I am volunteering here at
WetWebMedia. Thank you for the validation of my efforts.>
But now I
have another issue... <Alrighty>
One fine day I just decided that I
don't want any fish, only corals , soft ones just for now. <I have done
the same> My tanks is 26Gal. mini reef with live rock and only soft
corals, some bristle worms, sponges and TONS of copepods, which is fine
by me, <Sounds awesome!> very entertaining to see them fighting over
that last piece of algae, that is until they attack the zooxanthellae in
my polyps <Huuh?!>(Palythoa)<Haven't heard of this from a common
amphipod or copepod> so I need something which eats them and which is
not a fish (fish just eat too many of them) <Well....maybe just one
fish?> in other words I need something which can live off the copepods
and which won't extinguish them so that I don't have to feed it after
the copepods are gone. <Well. One small wrasse might do the trick but in
such a small tank will likely extinguish you colony fairly quickly. (in
the process become the fattest little bugger you ever seen). I
personally have never seen amphipods or copepods eating algae out of my
Palythoa. I have many tanks at my disposal as well as many friends in
the business and industry who have never asked or related to me such an
occurrence. Strange. I would do more research. I too, will look into
this a bit more. In the meantime, not sure what to tell you. Try adding
some algae (Nori strips or sinking Spirulina chunks for them to munch
on. ~Paul> Please help me...
Cheers,
Claudia <<Perhaps a small
fish... RMF>>
Propagation Tank/"Pod" Populations - 08/26/06
I've recently
started a 20L propagation tank in addition to my 105 gallon reef
tank.
<<Cool!>>
I am trying to follow Anthony Calfo's book
and have had some success so far.
<<An excellent guide>>
I
have a quick question about the growing number of pods and shrimp
in my prop tank.
<<Is a good thing...>>
Do I need to add a
fish to control the population or will it self sustain?
<<Populations will be governed by predation and available food>>
Starting a fish free tank for the first time, I'm amazed and
somewhat alarmed at the amount of tiny sea life that is blossoming
without large predators.
<<Indeed...and a prime reason for
keeping a newly started reef system "fish-free" for 6-12 months to
allow these beneficial crustaceans to establish healthy and
sustainable populations>>
Right now it seems like a good sign of
a healthy tank but should I start to worry or correct at some point?
<<Nothing to worry about here>>
I'd really like to keep my
propagation tank fish free if possible so as not to strain the
system.
<<Is this propagation tank plumbed to the display
system? If not, the addition of one or two "small" fishes would
provide nitrogenous waste products that many of the corals
use/require as a food source. The corals "can" be kept without fish
present, but it's my opinion they do better with at least "some"
fish in the system>>
Thanks for providing me hours and hours of
educational reading!
<<Quite welcome>>
Laura
<<Regards,
EricR>> Re: Propagation Tank/"Pod" Populations - 08/26/06
Thanks for the quick reply!
<<You're welcome!>>
In answer to
your question, no, the propagation tank is not plumbed into my main
display tank. I wish it were so that my main tank would receive the
benefit of my pod explosion!
<<Yes indeedy>>
As to adding
one or two "small" fish, are there any you would recommend?
<<Yep...Sphaeramia nematoptera, commonly known as the Pajama
Cardinal. A pair of these would do fine in your 20 gallon prop
tank>>
In an ideal world, I could find a breeding pair of
something to add a dimension to the propagation tank, or would that
strain the system? (I'm running a Penguin 350 Bio-wheel filter and
a heater with live rock also helping the filtration. I do two 10%
water changes a week).
<<A breeding pair is a possibility with
this species...I have had them breed in reef systems, some careful
searching of the NET on your part should yield some information on
captive breeding of this species>>
I thought about a seahorse as
there was no competition for food but read that they require 50 or
more gallons.
<<Yes...and glad to see you're using the resources
available to you!>>
Also, do I need a skimmer or are the
frequent water changes enough?
<<I'm a skimmer guy. You might
do just fine without one, but adding one will only help>>
Thanks
for your help.
Laura
<<Any time my friend. EricR>> |
Raising clowns in rotifer tank? 9/2/06
Good morning!
My clowns have decided they like the idea of mating. The female is a
black true Perc, and the male an orange false Perc. The laid eggs once;
I moved the rock the eggs were on, they hatched, a week later, they all
disappeared. I fear the culprit was the introduction of an airstone,
<Maybe...>
as it was the very next day that I noticed they were all
gone. Anyway, I now have a milk jug with rotifers swimming around in it
ready for the next batch (and, of course, a milk jug with the green
water to feed them!). Is it a good idea or even feasible to raise the
rotifers in the former nursery tank and then, once the next round of
babies hatches, raise the larvae in the rotifer tank with the rotifers?
<Mmm, not a good idea... for control of predation/feeding, and nutrient
control reasons>
Or would they gobble up all my rotifers and leave
me with barren cupboards?
<Too likely yes. You might want to
invest in the books of Frank Hoff, Joyce Wilkerson... see Amazon.com
re... Bob Fenner>
Thanks!
Goldie
|
|
