Vacuum refugium

CHARLIE AGUILAR · #1 12/05/2007, 06:52 AM

Has anyone ever vacuumed out the detritus (i think that's what it is) that sits on the top layer of your sand bed in your refigum? I was thinking about doing so and adding fresh sand after doing so, any comments/advice would be appreciated!

"Umm, fish?" · #2 12/05/2007, 09:26 AM

I'm sure it's been done, but small sand gets sucked up really easily. Why not tie a filter sock to the output of a powerhead and just stir the bed to get the detritus into the water column? But, do you have little critters in there to eat leftovers?

artful-dodger · #3 12/05/2007, 12:06 PM

Go natural! I'd suggest adding a few Nassarius and Cerith snails instead. Combined, they'll do a great job of both scavenging and gently turning the sand bed without harming your pod collection or macroalgae.

Besides the Nassarius are great fun to watch as they cruise. Then the Ceriths make the nightly crawl up the sides like Night of the Living Dead A 'fuge can be entertaining as well as functional.

CHARLIE AGUILAR · #4 12/05/2007, 02:07 PM

Ya my little boy likes to lay on the floor and look inside the refigum

Ill try to add a few snails to mow it down. I may try to get a sea cucumber to put in there also. Thanks for the input!

artful-dodger · #5 12/05/2007, 02:11 PM

Just get the mixed lot...

Nassarius won't generally eat detritus, but will eat any excess food. The Ceriths will eat detritus and microalgae. Both dig into the sand.

jwhyne · #6 12/05/2007, 02:20 PM

Anyone know if anyone locally has the Ceriths in stock?

emoutz · #7 12/05/2007, 03:39 PM

I've vaccumed the sump before. Worked out just fine.

rehnberg · #8 12/05/2007, 04:18 PM

I bought a conch from Jon and it is doing a great job of cleaning my sand, you could move it back and forth from main tank to fuge. Such a weird creature. I enjoy watching it.

killagoby · #9 12/05/2007, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CHARLIE AGUILAR
Ya my little boy likes to lay on the floor and look inside the refigum Ill try to add a few snails to mow it down. I may try to get a sea cucumber to put in there also. Thanks for the input!

I'm 34 years old and I still do that...

jwhyne · #10 12/05/2007, 04:19 PM

Are conch's hard to keep? I wouldn't mind one of them, they seem very cool.

rehnberg · #11 12/05/2007, 04:23 PM

So far so good for mine. But I have only had it a couple of months, they are fun to watch!

jwhyne · #12 12/05/2007, 06:22 PM

What variety do you have? Queen?

artful-dodger · #13 12/05/2007, 08:09 PM

Conchs aren't hard to keep except that they do need plenty of sand and lots and lots of microalgae...especially ones that get big (including queens).

Ron Shimek suggests a minimum of 100 gallon tank with a crop of algae covering all of the sand. They don't climb rocks so the sand has to be in one contiguous patch--they can't make it to the south pasture on their own!

With enough algae these can grow very quickly; without enough they will gradually starve and die. I (unfortunately) learned all of this after buying one...it cleaned all of the algae within a week. I tried keeping it alive with the Kent herbivore pellets, but the fish wouldn't leave it alone long enough for the conch to get enough. I personally wouldn't do it again.

rehnberg · #14 12/05/2007, 08:23 PM

I have a Tongan Turtle conch. If my sand starts to look really clean I will probably put it in my fuge for a while.

jwhyne · #15 12/05/2007, 08:26 PM

I think I'll poke around locally and see if anyone has one. With the mess my tank is in, they sound like the perfect helper.

(yes yes, i realize I probably have other issues too, but this might help them too.)

rehnberg · #16 12/05/2007, 08:34 PM

I have been looking around a little and you can buy aquacultured queen conchs. They are supposed to be pretty hardy as long as you can keep them fed.

Clown-N-Around · #17 12/06/2007, 12:09 PM

One other thought - I don't know if you turn off your main pump for a few minutes when you feed, but that might help less food get sucked down to the sump before it is eaten. My fish are such agressive eaters that it barely touches the water, let alone the sump, but I was drooling over controllers yesterday and they have a feeding mode which made me think of that as a possible help for you.

I do like the snail idea a lot though, that should really help.

"Umm, fish?" · #18 12/06/2007, 12:18 PM

It's certainly possible to feed your conchs, but you have to get the food down to their level.

rehnberg · #19 12/06/2007, 12:33 PM

What are you feeding your conchs? Sorry to hijack your thread Charlie.

jwhyne · #20 12/06/2007, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Clown-N-Around
One other thought - I don't know if you turn off your main pump for a few minutes when you feed, but that might help less food get sucked down to the sump before it is eaten. My fish are such agressive eaters that it barely touches the water, let alone the sump, but I was drooling over controllers yesterday and they have a feeding mode which made me think of that as a possible help for you.

I do like the snail idea a lot though, that should really help.

My fish are the same way. They tend to devour the food before it even thinks about going into the sump.

CHARLIE AGUILAR · #21 12/06/2007, 02:16 PM

Not a problem thats why its here

outlaw60 · #22 12/06/2007, 11:25 PM

HaHa, Those look like my Queen Conchs in Andy's pic, they are pigs...

"Umm, fish?" · #23 12/07/2007, 01:03 AM

That was nori in the picture. They went crazy for it.