Cryptic Fuge
- Thread starter Fishcrazy06
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Harry_Y
Valuable Member
sprinklerdudes
Valuable Member
lol, shark attack
Hhhhmmm seems like a lot of info has gone missing, but considering something doing something like this. Curious if anyone has been running one long term, and if so what info they can share? TIA
Read Steve's book - "Environmental gradients - crypic sponge and tunicate filtration models". It's a great read with lots of data from experimentation. I deleted the info I posted for various reasons - not related to this thread in any way. Just rather post that info on a different forum.
Jeremy
Jeremy
So would this kinda setup be what I have on my fiances tank. Just a ten gallon sump with rock and a return pun. Water is slow moving because the return is not very big. All the rock in the sump is covered in sponges and full of pods. No light on it. I mean full of pods. If you pick up a rock they start crawling all over your hand.
Me also. I have my 29 gallon already painted and drilled.
Nice Paul, are you going to use sponges you've picked up or have you found some type of starter pack somewhere? Anthony C. said something in the refugium thread about flow needing to be high enough to keep debris in suspension like around 20 to 30X turnover. I was hoping he might chime in over here as well.
Holy cow that is a nice set-up Bricky! I'm also out for the rest of the evening, but will definitely be back on tomorrow with some questions for you.
Ok, so some of the questions that I still have have to do with flow. I've read that the flow rate should be slower, but not too slow, so what is a good flow rate through the fuge. Additionally, I've read where some fill the entire tank with rock, while others are doing more what's shown above. I assume that filling the tank with rock would impeed the flow, so structures more like those pictured might be better? And besides picking off of LR, because I don't have that option are there any sources for a sponge starter pack of some kind?
Dang it! Nobody? I also wanna know if you can run a cryptic fuge in conjunction with a DSB, and if so what would be the proper way to set it up. In addition to everything in the previous post ^ ^ of course.
Very slow flow is required for ideal cryptic and tunicate growth. Cryptic sponges feed on DOM. Steve indicates POM will quickly and easily block pores that the animals pump water through if POM is in suspension. The higher the flow the better the chance that POM will be suspended in the water column and get into the porous sponge body.
Don't waste your money buying any sponges. Get some nice LR and put it in a dark location with very low flow. The sponges will begin to grow - no need to buy any sponges to get it going. To start my cryptic refugium I just used some LR from my display. No signs of sponge growth at all until I put the rock in very low flow and no light.
Cryptic fuge compatible with a DSB???? Tyree indicates to use a shallow layer of very fine sand below cryptic sponges since the fauna that reduce sponge waste thrive in fine sand beds. "DSB" is a very relative term and that term has many variations. There unfortunately isn't something as a standard DSB. Substrate grain size, depth variation, location, and a thousand and one other factors go into what is so quickly termed a DSB, therefore it's very tough to answer your question if a DSB is compatible with a cryptic fuge. The way one person has a sand bed functioning may be very different in comparison to how somebody else is implementing it. The hundereds of variations of sand bed construction and implentation may have completely different implications on how a crytpic refugium will or will not function.
Spend a few $$$ to buy Steve's book. It has all the info you could want to know about setting up a cryptic area for nutrient filtration.
Jeremy
Don't waste your money buying any sponges. Get some nice LR and put it in a dark location with very low flow. The sponges will begin to grow - no need to buy any sponges to get it going. To start my cryptic refugium I just used some LR from my display. No signs of sponge growth at all until I put the rock in very low flow and no light.
Cryptic fuge compatible with a DSB???? Tyree indicates to use a shallow layer of very fine sand below cryptic sponges since the fauna that reduce sponge waste thrive in fine sand beds. "DSB" is a very relative term and that term has many variations. There unfortunately isn't something as a standard DSB. Substrate grain size, depth variation, location, and a thousand and one other factors go into what is so quickly termed a DSB, therefore it's very tough to answer your question if a DSB is compatible with a cryptic fuge. The way one person has a sand bed functioning may be very different in comparison to how somebody else is implementing it. The hundereds of variations of sand bed construction and implentation may have completely different implications on how a crytpic refugium will or will not function.
Spend a few $$$ to buy Steve's book. It has all the info you could want to know about setting up a cryptic area for nutrient filtration.
Jeremy
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Bricky
New Member
Personally I would keep the structures open. You'll need to siphon the tank no matter if your flow is slow or moderate (never fast). I've since reworked to egg crate structures so that they lean against the walls of the tank. This has allowed me to siphon the ever present detritus. Sponges still grow, but now instead of the white finger type you see in the pictures above, I've go some encrusting white and tons of ball type sponges (with reaching fingers). Not sure why the change in sponges, although there are still some of the finger type, but the growth is good overall.
I would personally seed my tank, which I did, with the Tyree seed pack. You get more diversity this way and you don't have to wait for things to develop. I'm quite happy that I did this.
As far as racks or rocks go, I'd probably say it's better to stick with the racks. Live rock will build up with detritus due to the lack of flow in your refugium. I guess you could use a power head or turkey baster every so often to keep things clean though.
I would personally seed my tank, which I did, with the Tyree seed pack. You get more diversity this way and you don't have to wait for things to develop. I'm quite happy that I did this.
As far as racks or rocks go, I'd probably say it's better to stick with the racks. Live rock will build up with detritus due to the lack of flow in your refugium. I guess you could use a power head or turkey baster every so often to keep things clean though.
mjplumber
Community Member
Do you have any pics of your setup? How about a Jaubert plenum system as a DSB with a cryptic zone above it.
