Pods and fuge placement

[LadyTang2]

I'm considering adding a fuge for my first large build, never had one before with my tiny tank. I've read many people grow pods and they make it to DT as food for fish. But I see fuges being placed before the skimmer and even before socks and the pods are being pulled out I'm assuming, so these people are using them only for eating detritus in the fuge?

Why wouldnt you want to place the fuge last so they can go through return to DT and serve 2 purposes as detritovores in fuge and food for fish? If the fuge is places first do they make it into other part of sump and eat detritus there everywhere in the sump? Surely a sock will pull them out? Thanks!

 

[Crabby48]

I'm considering adding a fuge for my first large build, never had one before with my tiny tank. I've read many people grow pods and they make it to DT as food for fish. But I see fuges being placed before the skimmer and even before socks and the pods are being pulled out I'm assuming, so these people are using them only for eating detritus in the fuge?

Why wouldnt you want to place the fuge last so they can go through return to DT and serve 2 purposes as detritovores in fuge and food for fish? If the fuge is places first do they make it into other part of sump and eat detritus there everywhere in the sump? Surely a sock will pull them out? Thanks!

Some have water drains from fuge that bypass some water from skimmer. If you have good pod population and enough space I’m not sure a skimmer will hurt that much.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I'm considering adding a fuge for my first large build, never had one before with my tiny tank. I've read many people grow pods and they make it to DT as food for fish. But I see fuges being placed before the skimmer and even before socks and the pods are being pulled out I'm assuming, so these people are using them only for eating detritus in the fuge?

Why wouldnt you want to place the fuge last so they can go through return to DT and serve 2 purposes as detritovores in fuge and food for fish? If the fuge is places first do they make it into other part of sump and eat detritus there everywhere in the sump? Surely a sock will pull them out? Thanks!

That's how my setup is, its filter sock, skimmer, fuge, and then return pump. Fuge is packed with pods that make their way up via the return pump

 

[Doctorgori]

I don’t use socks on every tank.. IMO detritus has to go somewhere and it always collects and settles out in the same spot ...I take advantage of that and purposefully direct my flow to aid in manual removal .... a far easier deal than sock monitoring, washing and replacement .... any food that makes it to the sump is food for pods. ....

 

[LadyTang2]

That's how my setup is, its filter sock, skimmer, fuge, and then return pump. Fuge is packed with pods that make their way up via the return pump

Anything else you have in your sump aside from pods and chaeto?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Anything else you have in your sump aside from pods and chaeto?

Skimmer and a heater, and filter sock on the drain, thats it.

 

[Seanislav]

I have everything Crabs McJones mentioned above...plus my dosing lines and calcium reactor add their wares just prior to the fuge.

 

[eschaton]

A lot of people argue that putting a fuge "upstream" is actually a better idea, because it's much less likely to pulp pods on the way to the display tank. That pretty much leaves you with only a HOB option or trying to work out a secondary display tank, which is always kind of awkward.

A surprising amount of livestock can survive dealing with impellers however. In my freshwater tanks I'm always surprised at how many shrimp end up living in the canister filters, and as babies they are about the size of a pod.

A bigger concern I would think is how few of them are the right size to get scooped back up by the return pump to begin with, particularly if you keep the foam sponge block in, since many pods are large enough to not be sucked through the sponge holes easily.

 

[LadyTang2]

Can both copepods and amphipods grow and do well in a dedicated refugium tank? I always hear people talking about copepods but less about amphipods in fuges. Any other useful creatures that do well in dedicated fuges?

 

[LadyTang2]

Can both copepods and amphipods grow and do well in a dedicated refugium tank? I always hear people talking about copepods but less about amphipods in fuges. Any other useful creatures that do well in dedicated fuges?

#reefsqaud

 

[eschaton]

Can both copepods and amphipods grow and do well in a dedicated refugium tank? I always hear people talking about copepods but less about amphipods in fuges. Any other useful creatures that do well in dedicated fuges?

Amphipods grow very well in fuges. They're like the cockroaches of marine tanks. One of the first things that crawls out of live rock after curing, and breed very well as long as you give them a place to hide away from fish.

Mysis also does well in fuges, but my experience has been that you're more apt to have to introduce Mysis, because they don't really hitchhike in on rocks quite as much.

 

[LadyTang2]

So they also are in the rocks, do they live in the sand at all?

 

[MichaelReefer]

I made an external refugium. Great Chaeto growth and pods.

 

[Idoc]

Can both copepods and amphipods grow and do well in a dedicated refugium tank? I always hear people talking about copepods but less about amphipods in fuges. Any other useful creatures that do well in dedicated fuges?

I haven't witnessed it...or maybe I have since I can't seem to find any of the million pods I've introduced, lol. But many say the amphipods actually feast on the copepods! So if raised together, the amphipod colony expands! I started with tons of amphipods... maybe that's why i can't find any copepods now!

 

[LadyTang2]

Sounds as though most people advocate using refugiums as place for pods to grow.

What if any, are the downsides the having pods in a fuge, or in a system in general? Even if you are a fan, any negatives at all?