Using Aptasia to eat detrius?

R

RedComet89

I have heard some people talking about farming Aptasia and controlling it in their sump, because when the dirty tank water comes in from the overflow the Aptasia eat a lot of the detrius. Then when the Aptasia become to plentiful they just throw some of them away.
Anyone have any insite on this?

Thanks
 
I got a bunch of aptasia in my refugium, those thing are so aggressive they kill anything that gets into the sump. Just be careful not let it get out of control.
 
It has been talked about for quite a while. Calfo has shown a few in his presentations the past couple years. They work excellent. The biggest thing is needing to contain them. I have never tried it in a sump for fear that a piece of one will escape into the main tank and it's all over them. The concept though is very solid and I've been tempted many times!
 
I'm really tempted to try to control an Aptasia farm in my sump, but I'm also afraid of them getting into my main tank. I'm thinking about getting 5 pep. shrimps just in case and I have been researching the copperband butterfly just because it is a cool fish with a possibility of it eating Aptasia. Maybe if the copperband will eat the Aptasia I can raise the aptasia to also act as a natural food source :D
 
Exactly In my mind the ultimate would be an aiptasia filter followed by xenia filter, followed by a macroalgea refugium, followed by a cryptic sponge filter. If you could get the logistics correct on this it would be a superb filtration system and I doubt ou would need a skimmer at all!
 
I saw that video last night and after doing more research I am going to try that as well...I am still debateing on the UV sterilizer to make sure they dont get through or not because i want the copepods.....I did some looking on the site for stuff about skimmers I need one cheap but good does anyone have any recomendations.
 
its in anthony calfo's book of coral propagation too.

He mentions that its also a good training tank for copperbands and peppermints. I know my peppermints need a refresher course.
You could probably cover the exit tube with a screen to catch escapees.
I've thought about it too, seems to me any way you can do it naturally is best even if you are just cutting down on skimmer run time. That would keep the tank a bit cooler and the energy bill a few cents cheaper.
Xenia would need the light cycled on and off, so if you leave your light on your refugium all the time like I do, that is another consideration. Xenia can still live in the display too.

Please post pics if you do it.
 
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