Filtration for large marine puffers

[las]

[quote="Pufferpunk"]No, I think it's the size of the environment. I highly doubt many folks ever properly house monster puffers like this. There is no reason a any fish in captivity not to meet or exceed their wild


so what is it about tank size that stunts a puffers growth? Excercize? Depression? if you put a puffer in a 500 gallon system with great water it still doesnt approach wild sizes. So what part is missing?

[Pufferpunk]

Actually eats up nitrate. Good idea. I won't run any SW tank without using some sort of carbon dosing though... VC has always worked well for me.

[RTR]

Who ever said that 500 gallons is a big tank for big fish? It isn't.

[las]

I see- so we are definitely under housing these fish in this case

[RTR]

Hobbyists tend to under-house all fish IME, especially predators. Predators may school when immature - that is a survival trait. Mature predators tend to be very highly territorial in breeding seasons, but may school with con-specifics (others of the same specie) outside of breeding seasons, but we tend to need to house them singly as adults for most species as we cannot distinguish sexes for most puffer, and adult schools tend to be quite loose and well-spaced beyond our tank capacities for most puffers. DPs and SAPs are exceptions there. Most others will fight to the death of non-dominant fish in most captive tanks. There are many more incompatibles than fish which be co-housed with others of their species.

HTH

[las]

PP & RTR-

Thank you very much for your help. What would you use for a photoperiod on the refugium? 18 hrs?
More?

[Pufferpunk]

24

[RTR]

For marines w/marcoalgae I'd use 24/7 lighting (screen it from the display tank).

For FW/BW, I'd use no more than 12 hours lighted, but I'd use two refugia on opposite light cycles. Most FW vascular plants shut down photosynthesis in 12 hours or less. This requires the two separate tanks to keep oxygenation up and pH stable. FW extended light cycles have management issues for me, generally algae issues resulting clogging. PITA.

In FW, Anacharis is one of the best plants for veggie filter use, but it is incompatible w/Seahem's Excel. High Excel doses may also damage Val - my commonest veggie filter plant for other than large tanks. In large veggie filter, submerse Crinum is excellent and eternal (it reproduces vegetatively - trade goods). Emerse Crinum are good for nitrogen extraction, but do not contribute to oxygenation of the water as the submerse forms do.

HTH