Replacement options for the function of filter socks (1 Viewer)

[codesman]

So a little backstory then a question.
I have a 55 gallon tank that I recently put corals in after our expo and they are doing great. They were mad for a day or two, then nothing but progress. In addition to the coral I ended up with over a gallon of copepods from Dinkins. I was able to notice the copepod population for a week or so but now I never see pods anymore even with the flashlight at night.. I checked my mesh filter socks after 2 weeks and there were a lot of pods in them. I have since pulled the socks to hopefully stop intercepting the pod larva in the water column. In the interim since I did that my nutrients are steadily climbing and although my coral are REALLY enjoying the nutrient denser water I want a way to filter out fish pellets and other large debris while leaving finer particles and copepod larva to pass through.
I am currently looking at making my own chaeto reactor to manage nutrients but I don't have a solid plan for chunks of food/algae that go down the overflow without filtering the pods as well.

Anyone have experience with or the solution to this?

 

[Reefer Oz]

Although mechanical filtration does have an impact on copepod population density, it doesn’t prevent them from proliferating in our systems. It seems like copepods end up in every system without even adding them. Anything that was wet in another body of saltwater can have copepods, nauplii or eggs in a single drop of water. They find a way in whether promoted or not.

The main reason we see fluctuations in their populations is because of the availability of ideal food and forage. If the glass is fairly clean you will see less than when it has a bit of film on it. After adding copepods there will be a noticeable amount for a time, but the number will stabilize based on food availability. Super clean running systems can’t support massive pod communities. And without additional phytoplankton feeding the maximum population is certainly lowered.

Mechanical filtration is a literal trap, as you say. We want to reduce the incidence of organic particles breaking down in our systems. But if we don’t clean the mechanical media frequent enough, it backfires and actually prevents a healthy system from managing them within it own capacity. It certainly plays into the seesaw of inputs and outputs we manage in these closed systems.

Because I know mechanical filtration components in my systems won’t get the regular maintenance and most likely will contribute more to DOC levels, I don’t use much. Instead, I find the consistency of organic particles finding their way through the system and being trapped in biological filter media to be broken down by micro fauna a better fit in my case.

One way I achieve this is having rubble in filter cups instead of running socks. It ends up getting loaded with brittle stars, amphipods and other critters that can consume some of the bits. I will periodically swish it out in some tank water when doing a water change and recover any of the larger critters that dislodge.

 

[codesman]

Rubble cups are a good idea. I'll give that a try.