Pods going from sump to tank??

[rook]

I see often where people talk about having a good pod population in there sump or refugium, and the pods somehow make it up to their main tanks.
How??
I would think that the pod would either be blocked by the foam (or what every you use) from gettin into the last chamber of the refg/sump and if they did make it, they would be chopped up by the intake of the pump that sends water to the main tank!
What do you think?

 

[bang guy]

I have done some pretty intense experimentation in this area.
I don't use any mechanical filters so I don't have the foam problem you discussed.
My experiments involved an Iwaki WMD40RLT and an Iwaki MD55RLT with 9 feet of verticle head. Neither of these pumps damaged very many pods. Over 95% were uninjured. Of the injured and dead it was mostly the larger Amphipods.

 

[krux]

aye the very few that are chopped up become food for smaller critters, nothing is wasted.

 

[fishtanker]

i have my fuge positioned above the main display tank with an overflow box so there is no mechanical pump to damage the pods. here's a pic.

 

[rook]

Bang,
I have an eco 40 hang-on with a small power head (probably a rio). It would seem like the ph would be more detrimental than the iwakis you experimented with. Wouldn't you think?
I could remove the little pad which is really just to prevent calerpa from clogging the ph.
My concern is that I added a dsb to a 29 gallon tank. I want to maintain a good pod population. I currently have a sand star which I know eats these guys, and I would like to get a six line which eats pods. I considered taking back the sand star.
So I was think of culturing pods, either in the eco 40 or in a seperate 10gallon tank, and replenishing the pod population everyonce in a while.
What do you think?
They need to make a pump designed like a bellow, so that nothing, including phytoplakton, are destroyed.

 

[bang guy]

Yes, powerheads are much more destructive.
Is there any way you can use the powerhead to push water into the eco-fuge and have it gravity drain? If not I really don't think it's that big a deal. If only 80% make it vs 95% then you're still adding a lot of pods.
A 10 gallon refugium can produce a LOT of pods if it's well maintained.
There are plankton friendly pumps. They are large and expensive though.

 

[rook]

Originally posted by Bang Guy
Yes, powerheads are much more destructive.
Is there any way you can use the powerhead to push water into the eco-fuge and have it gravity drain? If not I really don't think it's that big a deal. If only 80% make it vs 95% then you're still adding a lot of pods.
Hmmmm, that is an interesting idea. Maybe I could switch the syphon and the ph around. Not sure if that would work, but it is a possiblity.
A 10 gallon refugium can produce a LOT of pods if it's well maintained.
There are plankton friendly pumps. They are large and expensive though.

Do you know any good articles, threads, books on setting up a pod/worm/critter tank? Do you think the Eco 40 would harvet enough pod, ect to maintain the population in the main tank?
Thanks,