Refugium Mysis

Intricateart · Jan 7, 2014

Does anyone have huge numbers of mysis shrimp.My wife and I built our custom refugium so that it is more like a 2nd dislay tank. The fuge itself holds about 40 gallons.The baffles on either end of it,and a chamber on each end add up to a total of 55 gallons.The stand is then framed out around just the fuge.Other than adding a lot to system total gallons it has become quite the breeding facility.We have swarms or brooding "balls" of baby mysis shrimp with spread out adults defending them and their territories.We find ourselves watching the fuge as much as our display tank.We literally have thousands!The fuge has a deep sand bed with lots of turtle grass. There is some live rock and the sides of the fuge have been naturally taken over.Our nitrates are trailing off to near zero and we feed the display tank generously. We just wanted to share how well this approach works with everyone. A fuge doesn't have to be hidden in the cabinet. Will include pics soon.

JMSKI333 · Jan 7, 2014

I believe what you are seeing are copepods and amphipods, not mysis. Still just as cool though.

jokervueboi · Jan 7, 2014

Wow sounds cool! Can't wait for pictures! How did you start your colony of mysis shrimps? i always thought they're either freshwater or brackish water only. be nice to just culture your own mysis in fuge.

Intricateart · Jan 7, 2014

No we have copepods,very small.Also have amhipods,larger than copeods and mysis.The mysis we have,unless its another species entirely,are small about 1/16th inch maybe 1/8 for the largest.They look like tiny shrimp and constantly hyper and on the move.We bought a few pieces of live rock with polyps that needed rescuing.We like to rehabilitate dying corals the lfs discards.A few times we have seen tiny shrimp swimming around in the bag.Months later in the display tank,if you shine a flashlight into holes in the live rock we would see them moving around inside.One day we saw what looked like a snow globe in action inside an old oyster shell.Now our fuge is full of thousands of mysis.The babies form individual balls of movement.At first you would see two adults protecting the swarms,but now the babies are everywhere in the fuge and the adults just dart all around.The babies are the size of the "."on your screen.

JMSKI333 · Jan 7, 2014

That's awesome! Is there any way you could get a picture of one of them?

Intricateart · Jan 7, 2014

Will try to get pics tonite

tektite · Jan 7, 2014

Are you sure they're mysis? Both their size and behavior doesn't sound like them. Mysis adults don't protect young, in fact they're quite cannibalistic, and an adult mysis should be around 1/2-3/4" at the big end.

ARNALDOLEX · Jan 7, 2014

put up a pic

SteelerMike · Jan 7, 2014

I have some of these that live in my chaeto, I believe they are some type of amphipod but they look like shrimp.

BfishLpond78 · Jan 7, 2014

I believe they are mysiD shrimp as I'm pretty sure mysis shrimp are a freshwater shrimp that are harvested for our use. The mysid shrimp which are the itty bitty ones scurrying around will breed on their own. As long as there is nothing predatory in the refugium they will grow in numbers.

eliramos · Jan 7, 2014

def wanna see this!

TJ's Reef · Jan 7, 2014

BfishLpond78 said:
I believe they are mysiD shrimp as I'm pretty sure mysis shrimp are a freshwater shrimp that are harvested for our use. The mysid shrimp which are the itty bitty ones scurrying around will breed on their own. As long as there is nothing predatory in the refugium they will grow in numbers.

Correct, Mysid Shrimp are also very abundant in my refugium and occasionally get the baby swarms into DT which do not last long once lights come on

op2: They are easy to identify from their reflective eyes as they scitter about. They can reproduce quickly in refugiums especially if you have empty shells which seem to be where they do their reproducin'

Cheers, Todd

BfishLpond78 · Jan 7, 2014

Oh, I never thought about throwing in some empty shells for them.

Great idea Todd!!

mbray94 · Jan 8, 2014

That is really neat.

Intricateart · Jan 9, 2014

Thanks Todd!My name is Todd too.Yep definitely Mysid. I didn't have much luck with the pics.They are too small and very quick for my camera.

Intricateart · Jan 9, 2014

Mysids

These pics are the best I could manage.This is the refugium.

In this pic they look like worms since they are moving too fast.Also they are free swimming and not on the glass.This is one of the brooding swarms of baby mysids.They are very round in shape actually.

In the last pic you can barely see a few adults near a glass shrimp.

Freya33 · Jan 9, 2014

Very neat! We are in the process of setting up our first refusium on the 40 gallon to see how it goes! I had the same idea of open view on the stand. I cant wait to see it spring to life like yours hopefully!

chefb_5 · Jan 9, 2014

Awesome thread like to see more progress!

florida reef · Jan 9, 2014

I have some in my fuge and overflow as well. I always thought they were little mysis also. Thanks for starting this thread and thanks for the clarification!

Intricateart · Jan 9, 2014

I will post more pics when my stand is skinned and finished.Its amazing to see how beneficial a properly running fuge can be to your whole system.I credit the large volume of the fuge,the deep undisturbed sand bed,bright light,and plenty of growing turtle grass to its success.I also allow the micro algae grow on the sides like an algae scrubber.