sump living

[amstar15]

i have a 30" long, 24 inch high, and 12 inch wide mudd filter. it has about 7 pounds of live rock and various marco algaes. With the lights on 24/7 is a good idea to put living things in there??? such as shrimps, maybe a blenny?

do you have any ideas what to put in there? what about a mantis shrimp? or will the lights being on 24/7 hurt things in it

 

[Navarre]

I have kept shrimps and crabs in the sump with no apparant signs of stress. However, I would be concered with fish, i currently keep a cleaner wrasse in the sump (it harrasses other fish) and this wrasse can easily go under the sand when tired. other fish cannot escape the liught however and might get stressed.
Also remember what the sump is for, its a filtration system and not a display tanks. What would be your reasons for keeping fish in the sump?

 

[amstar15]

well the blenny would be lawnmower blenny. I was just thinking for a couple of days to help control any unwanted algae (if any occurs) i just have heard of people putting them in their for a few days thats all. Like you said its for filtration, plus its under the tank and hidden by my stand. i was just asking in case i needed as a cooling off tank (for aggressive fish, or one thats getting picked on ect)

so you say a shrimp or two?? what about cleaning crews? do you want any in your mudd filter to help algae growth/stir up the sand bed?

just curious, all i have is live rock and macro algaes I guess thats good enough right?

 

[Ed4567]

Personally unless it is for a specific reason (eg. the shrimp cannot be housed in the smain tank) I would not put any shrimp or crabs in a sump with mud/ macro algae. The reason for this is I would want to protect the populations of the various 'pods' living their and supplying my main tank with food from predation.

 

[amstar15]

i thought the pods would never make it to the main tank because of the impellers on the return pump? is this is not true then I should take off the sponge filter I have on the return pump then, so the pods can get to the main tank. makes sense though, no predators, more live, more reproduction, more for the main tank. i just had a hang on refigium for pods and let them just drain back into the main tank.

 

[Ed4567]

As far as pods in the impellor go some survive some dont- even if they dont then they are still eaten at the other end. A refugium which drains via gravity into the main tank is prefferable, but isnt really fesible for most people.

I suppose you need to decide what you want from the sump- purely filtration, a food supply for the main tank, maybe a place to keep something a bit different (mantis shrimp)

 

[amstar15]

so to have both is ideal?? i have refugium that drains by gravity already hanging on the back of the tank.. however I do not have it running. so basically start it up, it will double my pods ect in the main tank.

the mudd filter I got it for filtration for the main tank. It has three different macro algaes in it. I just heard that people have kept things in their filters, such as mantis shrimps ect. I was wondering... doesnt the lights being on 24/7 hurt anything you put in the sump, even if it is just for a couple of days for what ever reason.