Benefits of amphipods

[Brew12]

Can someone explain the benefits of having amphipods in the tank? I know they can function as a part of the CuC. Are there many fish that would eat them as a natural food source? I plan on seeding my tank with copepods but should I also seed it with amphipods?

 

[Quah]

Amphipods serve as a great part of the CUC as well as food for many fish and their napuli feed corals and other filter feeders. They fill in a different niche than copepods I'd seed with both. Amphipods and Copepods are necessary for some livestock to thrive.

 

[Brew12]

Amphipods serve as a great part of the CUC as well as food for many fish and their napuli feed corals and other filter feeders. They fill in a different niche than copepods I'd seed with both. Amphipods and Copepods are necessary for some livestock to thrive.

Thank you Quah, I've been torn on this one.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Thank you Quah, I've been torn on this one.

You need bugs. Check out vivariums and biosphere. Organics like food and poop need to Be broken down into smaller and smaller pieces by smaller and smaller mouth until it's small enough to be eaten by the bacteria and then expelled or encased in thier corpses to be skimmed out of the system. It's similar to composting.

Without bugs as some I guess do. You wait for only the bacteria and oxidation and the process of rotting to send it to the skimmer or the macro algaes in the fuge. And of course the corals too as they eat the poop and bacteria too.

Read up on Ron Shimek deep sand beds. Even if you don't do a DSB the principals method and science he teaches there are the same.
PaulB the 40 year old reef tank guy and Randy Farley too but he's less about bugs in his writing more refugium and the chemistry of the cycle and rotting of organics. But but he has a refugium that means he probably has bugs.

 

[Brew12]

You need bugs. Check out vivariums and biosphere. Organics like food and poop need to Be broken down into smaller and smaller pieces by smaller and smaller mouth until it's small enough to be eaten by the bacteria and then expelled or encased in thier corpses to be skimmed out of the system. It's similar to composting.

Without bugs as some I guess do. You wait for only the bacteria and oxidation and the process of rotting to send it to the skimmer or the macro algaes in the fuge. And of course the corals too as they eat the poop and bacteria too.

Read up on Ron Shimek deep sand beds. Even if you don't do a DSB the principals method and science he teaches there are the same.
PaulB the 40 year old reef tank guy and Randy Farley too but he's less about bugs in his writing more refugium and the chemistry of the cycle and rotting of organics. But but he has a refugium that means he probably has bugs.

Thanks Salty. I'll read the references and try to learn more. I think I understand the need for some bugs, which is why I was going to seed my tank/refugium with copepods. I'm guessing I will learn that amphipods will fill a slightly different role due to their larger size.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Yup. It's a little shrimp basically.

 

[john.m.cole3]

I used reef bugs and my tank is crawling with them! Not so much since I added fish back in, but u plan on using that product again once my refugium is set up.