plankton

[nobby]

hi all
its been a few months since i was here last, tank is coming on in leaps and bounds, and i finally got a beautiful pair of mandarin fish to help with my copeopod/isopod population explosion.
my main question is im thinking of putting a small thin tank into the sump to grow my own plankton, i know it requires a bit of care but at least it will be at the right temp, ect if its in the sump but seperate if you know what i mean, theers 20w per gal of light there(reverse lit for ph stability)and i can easily alter the ph or salinity as i need to, does anyone have any articles or any tips on whats best for planktonic growth??
cheers all
andy

[Drew]

Hi Andy,

I am not familar with your system, what size tank is it? Just for the record, I believe that most of the pods in our tanks would not be considered plankton. Plankton are the larval stage of various reef animals such as some fish, corals etc. They ride the currents at the surface. I could be wrong about that, and if I am please correct me. Anyway, what you describe sounds like an in-sump refugium. Lighting does not really matter that much to the pods. Any type of flour lights would do the trick, along with a sand bed, a few pieces of scattered rock, maybe some macros and feed it 1-2 times a week and viola. However, depending on your tank specs, I doubt this will be able to support two mandarins, let alone even one. Remember, to get from the refugium to the mandarin, a pod has to get out of the refugium, get to the return pump, and then survive the trip through the pump. HTH

Drew

[nobby]

hi there drew, sorry i didnt explain too well.
my tank is approx 60 gals, with a 30 gal sump( two tanks side by side), im actually thinking of growing my own plankton for the filter feeders in the tank itself, i have tons of spare room in my sump so i thought id put it in there, my pod population is in the main tank as well as the sump, i dont think they need any support as they are breeding beyond control.
i just wanted to know how easy it was to cultivate plankton or what you guys would grow that would benefit the inhabitants like brine/mysis ect.
id like to establish a basic food chain so the plankton seemed to be the obvious starter.
cheers