Pods Vs The Return Pump

[l337dave]

anyone got any reading on what sort of % can make it through the blades..?


dave.

 

[Mr Miagi]

No % numbers, I dought many significant studies have been done on the topic, but quite a few make it through. Depends on the pump type really IMO. Ive seen some designs where the blade just pushes water through to the outlet, but other pumps where the blade will force water through the blade more. (Sorry, not being very scientific, im not into equipment, maybe SKi can confirm my observation).

 

[SkiFletch]

You're absoloutely right Mr M, its exceptionally pump-specific. Factors like how closely the impeller form-fits to the housing, number/spacing of blades, and especially how fast the imeller moves all play a role in how many pods live. Some really big centrifugal pumps have the unfortunate consequence of having very tight-fitting impellers but comparatively slow impeller speeds. Sorry, its really an impossible question to answer directly but a ballpark of maybe 5-40% of the pods might make it through alive. Again, thats just an educated guess, no studies have been done on this

 

[l337dave]

It's a mandarin question really - I understand that a fuge on top of the tank is best to get pods back in, but a living room it's hardly practical! how many extra pods can I factor in for a fuge in the sump? I know I could take a rock and shake it off into the tank everyday but I'd like it to be as automated as possible. Anyone any experience with this type of setup?

The other thing I considered was some sort of big air pump set up pumping water from sump to display and run it for a few mins every hour, again anyone done anything like this?


dave.

 

[SkiFletch]

Using ain air pump to push water up multiple feet would require a system WAY too big and complex for a home aquarium. Air pumps are not efficient as vertical transfer pumps and one big enough to transfer water from sump to display would be enormous and way too violent for a reef aquarium. One thing that might work would be a progressive cavity pump but those are shall we say not cheap ($500+ in the states). Think of other types of pumps, diaphragm, gear, peristaltic, piston, all work by squeezing water against hard surfaces. Of those, probably only a piston pump would be anywere near the effectiveness of a centrifugal pump as far as pod-survivability. Gear, diaphragm and peristaltic pumps are death traps for any particulate.

I wish there was an easy way to keep a mandarin too. Gorgeous fish

 

[boshank23]

have you considered a HOB fuge? seems to me to be the best way of getting pod life back into the tank unharmed

 

[Eversurf]

For my Scooter Blennie I have been feeding him frozen brine shrimp twice a day and I bought a BrineShrimp Factory (It makes brine shrimp) I make them every friday and they hatch all week-end. I throw that in the tank and the Blennie seems to be doing well. He was really skinny at first, but now he has gained all sorts of weight and he looks fat and happy.

 

[ostrow]

I have a Sequence Hammerhead, and I can tell you that I have pods that have made the trip upstairs from my basement fuge. Off the return I have a skimmer, a 57w uv sterilizer, a carbon filter, a phosphate reactor, and pods have made it from fuge to display around all that stuff.

Lots of them.

How do I know? I added a bottle of "Tigger pods" to my fuge. I had zero of the species in those bottles in my system. Zero visible anyway. I have thousands upon thousands now in my fuge, sump, frag tank and display. All initially introduced into that fuge.

Pumps likely not going to bother them.

Plus, mandarins gobble up dead pods like no tomorrow.

 

[l337dave]

wow - the man with experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument!

that's a really good way to test - I'll order some tiggers and leave it a month.


dave.

 

[SkiFletch]

That is a brilliant idea and one heck of a fantastic lesson learnt

 

[l337dave]

That is a brilliant idea and one heck of a fantastic lesson learnt

yeah I like things that i can quantify

chac pointed me to these a while back so I think I'll have a go:

http/www.coralculture.co.uk/shop/product...products_id=827

I'm hope I'll be able to identify them when they are in the display, but I guess I'll have the sump population to compare with so should be okey


dave.

 

[poo-tang]

quick question about that. those pods are microscopic cultures right? so when you put it in you sump your pump circulated that culture throughout your system. this says to me that what is actually going on is these pods are thriving in all areas...and reproducing...within you set-up. maybe they are simply a very fast reproducing species and able to easily keep up with demand. i doubt all your pods come up from your sump.