The Puffer Forum

Yup, those two tanks were a separate loop off the routine fry grow-out tanks. There were no infusoria-eater in the first tank, and it was on 24/7 lighting. That was to boost the FW 'pods in the tank and keep most of them in that tank - daphnia and similar 'pods tend to go to the bottom or at least lower in the water during the dark cycle. Constant light keeps them up in the water column more. When the 'pod density is larger, enough get pulled through to the big filter-feeder shrimp tank via an unscreened siphon tube (actually multiple ones). That would not work w/snall shrimp- they could go thru to the filter-feeder shrimp tank and compete with them for food.

I actually got the idea by watching my display 55 which had Amano shrimp (long-lived) dumping hatchling fry (which do not survive in FW) in the return outlet from the sump. The resident filterfeeding shrimp would compete for a fake (plastic) "driftwood tree" which was in the current flow. They loved the current-delivered hatchlings, but they were not frequent enough to be regular food for the big clunky filer-feeding shrimp. So I was inspired to come up with an alternate infusoria-generating tank and a separate tank for feeding the big clunckers. It worked quite well. Infusoria tanks work great w/24/7 lighting - not just in SW, but I need passive outflow to preserve the tiny critters. If you have to pump the outflow from the infusoria tank, many get shredded. That may depend on the types of infusoria you have in cultivation.

The infusoria tank was a 30-l0ng or 40-long (US gallons) tanks, The filter-feeding shrimp tanks were the same, 30-long or 40-long. The shrimp tanks were very low-light. The infusoria tanks were low to moderate light, but 24/7 lighting. The 24/7 lighted tanks need regular pruning or division/thinning (which is more trade-in material). It was fun and interesting, but not something I would want to do all the time.

FWIW

Thats awesome, man. I like the idea of being creative with my tank and going out on a bit of a limb. I think careful deviation from common practice is always exciting and I'm sure that how the limits of knowledge within the hobby are pushed forward.

Oh also, The Java moss appears to be growing quickly so far - Fluffy thick and green but it's early days. The plant does release branches still but it isn't making a mess at all (yet). The f8s don't seem interested in it at all.

I'm getting some more Java moss from a friend because he has excess so I might as well . I'm going to put the bulk of it in my spare 50l tank to get any muck off it, arrange it in someway that it (hopefully) makes a good habitat, and acclimatise it to brackish and then transfer it. I will also take some of the moss and plonk it straight into another tank with 1.003 SG and see how that turns out. I'll try and keep the other conditions the same in the two tanks as far as I can but i'm sure it won't be a perfectly fair test. I'll tell you how it goes anyway.

As an experimenter in the real world for most of my career, experimentation in my hobby worlds was just a norm. I was conditioned to seek answers and explore techniques. If you are not learning, you are dead.

Lol rtr. If you are not learning you are dead! Love it, might have to steal that from you my friend

Feel free - The big-brained, opposable-thumbed apes are built to learn constantly. Some of them just think that they can stop doing so. Their mistake and their loss. Their worlds must be boring as all get-out.

RTR wrote:There is little point to a refugium in light BW IME. But for me light BW (still with FW bacterial filtration) is limited to F-8 puffers. Rather than add a refugium I wold just give the fish a larger tank. A macroalga refugium in low density BW will not survive, and FW vascular plants will grow too slowly and poorly to be beneficial to water quality if they survive at all.

SFAIK there are no low-density macroalgae - they are all normally adapted full SW densities. That limits you to microalgae, and their upkeep is IMHO, a PITA. Macroalga refugia are limited to use with full SW tanks and mot often used with FOWLR tanks with skimmers and a macroalgae refugium.

You might try several different aquatic mosses to try to find one which will still grow rapidly in light BW. I have thought about that be never done it.

HTH

Im not sure if the OP has decided to go with a Refugium or not. I was unable to see any confirmation of this.
Before i had my GSP I was just obsessed by the Idea of having a sump/refugium setup in a FW setup. I went to great lengths to find a cost effective way to do this and my goodness did I learn a heck load. I might find a picture and then you can see the madness.
I had 3 Tanks all connected to one another. The biggest challenge I faced was how to create the Overflow. They are relatively simple in design and idea, but to replicate something which is super safe was a challenge. Non-the-less I had the Sump Refugium going for a while.
The reason I wanted the added tanks was to hide all the clutter from my main tank, and to add a large water buffer (just like the OP). I pushed my Main tank from a 30G (136l) to a 40G (180l).
While I had this setup I had pristine water an extra tank had Java Moss in, and high amounts of light to grow nicely. I dont think i ever had algae in my main tank.

TL:DR and conclusion I ended up pulling the whole Refugium setup one night when I was just sick and tired of the setup and said to myself, the next time I do anything like this again is when I have a Breeder Tank (i think thats what they called) a Tank which has a built in Hole at the bottom which could lead to a sump. Over the Top Overflows are too high risk and just way too much work.