Feeding question: What animals produce plankton??

anathema · #1 06/27/2002, 04:11 PM

I have been pondering setting up a new refugium, and I was thinking of trying to use some animals to manufacture food. I know IPSF has advertised their "sea bunnies", and I have some stomatella that regularly breed, but I was wondering what other snails/animals exist that might produce a regular stream of plankton in a refugium setting?

It would have to be something that is easy to keep, the refugium could be lit or unlit.

Any ideas?

Tim · #2 06/28/2002, 12:00 AM

skunk striped cleaner shimp spawn every two weeks in my tank.
I've read that they switch sex so getting a pair is just a matter of having two.

anathema · #3 06/28/2002, 10:22 AM

I'm not sure I would want shrimp in the tank...

Randy V · #4 06/28/2002, 11:12 AM

What doesn't produce plankton? I consider everything that goes into the water column as a result of reproduction to be plankton, eggs and all. It all can be used by something: corals. filter feeders, etc. Anything from polychetes to snails to crustaceans of all sizes will help produce food.

Even if you have things that you don't want in your refugium you can often find space elsewhere. I keep a pair of peppermint shrimp in my sump for the plankton they produce and so I have them if rogue aiptasia appear. I have screens on my pump intakes and they scavenge any meaty food that settles in the sump. I feed them directly also. They are common around peer pilings and they seem happy running up mand down the outsides of pvc pipes and the undersides of eggcrate platforms.

anathema · #5 06/28/2002, 01:25 PM

the refugium, but i keep clams, and shrimp often bother them.

My idea is to set up a refugium specifically designed to increase the plankton variety in the water. I realize that most everything in the tank breeds, but I am interested in what species people find to be most prolific.

If I was to set up a refugium for this purpose, what animals would I put in it? Of course live sand, witha full compliment of worms, but possibly some types of snails that breed often, maybe shrimp, etc.

I am trying to discover what critters breed in people's tanks often, and therefore contribute the most to suspended plankton.

Piero · #6 06/28/2002, 01:35 PM

are these just lettuce nudis? anyone have any? pics? the IPSF site says they proliferate madly. But I've never seen my lettuce nudis fornicatin!

anathema · #7 06/28/2002, 01:45 PM

they are a type of snail. I don't know, i haven't tried them though.

fishosofer · #8 06/28/2002, 02:25 PM

Hi!-Just by setting up your refugium you'll increase the plankton level in your system, as there will be an environment for the copepods, amphipods,phyto's, etc. to reproduce in a less predatory setting.Unless you have enough nano(?) plankton in your system, I (imho) don't think you have much to worry about re: the shrimp.(They are eeasy to catch, anyway, if they become a problem-a piece of fresh sea food in a reg. net, and they should walk right in!)

anathema · #9 06/28/2002, 03:41 PM

I'll add a little more info, just to keep this going.

Thanks for all the input so far. Shrimp are something I hadn't thought of.

I have a 55G Reef, it has been up for 6 months, and was an upgrade from a 29G. The main tank has a 6" sandbed.

It has a 20G sump, which is partitioned with 1/2 of it containing a sandbed about 3 inches deep, a "caleurpa farm", and is full of life. However, anything from there goes through the pump, which doesn't hurt everything, but who knows what it's effects are.

In a couple months, I will be setting up a combination surge/refugium using a 26L tank, which is the same width as my 55. I will be putting in partitions that don't quite go all the way to the top. The surge will fill, and eventually overflow into the refugiums at the top of it's cycle, but then when the surge goes into the tank, it will pull the top 1" or so of the water from the refugiums, and hopefully some animals with it each time.

There are a lot of details to still work out, such as how much flow to give the refugiums, and how much of a surge they should have, but some of this depends on the animals I decide to keep in them. It looks like they will each be about 10.5 G, with a 5G surge in the middle. I may nix one of the refugiums and replace it with a top off system, but in either case this gives me a lot of opportunities to try stocking the system with specific heavy plankton producers in addition to the usual refugium fare.

I just need to figure out what will do well in that setting, and what will consistently produce food.