pumps and plankton

[Anonymous]

I have several tanks hooked together some with passive flow from one to the other and some with pumps- My question is do the pumps wipe out most or all of the plankton going from one tank to the other? If so this may cause some nitrate problems? Are some pumps kinder to the plankton and small invertebrates?

 

[Anonymous]

If I remember correctly, yes, the pumps do kill the small inverts and plankton, and, yes, there are pumps that don't. Alas, I don't know which ones they are, though.

FWIW,

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E >< () !) !_! S

 

[Anonymous]

From all the info i have gathered, the pumps we use kill plankton and such but if they don't pass through the pumps frequently, then a larger portion survives. You will loose the more delicate species, but the hardyer ones will thrive due to less compitition.

Power heads with larger impellers seem to kill less then the ones using smaller faster spinning impellers.

The pums they don't kill plankton are large and expensive. They include air lifts, and pumps that move large amounts of water, but very slowly. There are more than I would care to mention, but they are all large and expensive.

The best figure that I have heard, was that we loose 20-35% of plankton life due to pumps in the avg. tank.

I really don't think you need to worry about a nitrate problem due to dead plankton. Something will eat the dead plankton and if not, it will settle just like uneated food.



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iRIDE w/ my SLO fizz

 

[Anonymous]

I think I read that the needle pumps used on some skimmers are somewhat gentler on the plankton/zooplankton population.

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Just one of many -- and havin' FUN!!!

 

[Anonymous]

I've heard the "needlewheel is kinder to plankton" rumor as well, but I don't buy it. The closest I can come to an explanation for this claim is that the needlewheel skimmers (Euroreef, Das) use more efficient pumps (less water flow, less violence) and it is this element that increases the amount of plankton spared. As I said before, I don't buy it - the moment when the needlewheel chops the large air bubbles in microfine bubbles sounds awfully violent - but I hope it is true..I have a needlewheel skimmer

. Perhaps someone who can speak with some authority on this subject can help us out?
-Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Marie,
I just started reading Adey & Loveland's "Dynamic Aquaria" (the algae turf scrubber book) and they go into great depth about pumps and plankton. Basically, there are pumps that are plankton-friendly, but they are either very expensive, very big, very noisy, or very specific types unavailable to most hobbiests. What I would suggest, is that if you have a refugium where planktonic production is encouraged, that the return from this tank be passive, so as not to harm the outflow of planktonic life back into the other display systems. I don't think killing plankton is a major problem as far as nitrates are concerned. Remember, your protein skimmer will also remove plankton very efficiently, so if it's not one thing, it's another ;^)
paul

 

[Anonymous]

Two types of plankton saving pumps:
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There is the "Archimedes Corkscrew" style pump, which uses a rotating corkscrew inside a tube to "lift" the water.

There is also the "bucket-on-a-conveyer-belt" style which dips the bucket or scoop into the water and hoists it up mechanically via a belt and dumps it out the top then returns to the bottom for another scoop.

Both of these methods are somewhat impractical for home aquariums, but both will preserve 100% of the plankton.

-Nathan

 

[Anonymous]

This is one of the largest myths I've ever had the pleasure of vehemently disagreeing with. I've got 16 50 gallon tanks at the shop composing the coral side all tied together with a common sump. Roughly 1000 gallons total volume. They are plumbed so that there is no way anything can move from tank to tank without traveling through at least one of the two Little Giant 4MDQ's providing circulation.

Each tank is TEEMING with amphipods, copepods, isopods, stomatella snails, limpets, mysis (larvae, juvenile and adult) shrimp and some unidentified species of other snails.

The mysis shrimp started breeding in one tank and moved throughout the system. I've seen 1/4" long amphipods and similarly sized isopods living happily in protein skimmers, which means a trip through TWO pumps, once through the Little Giant to the header tank and then through a RIO 3100 into my downdraft skimmer.

Some tanks have lower populations of zooplankton(usually the only kind that can be seen with the naked eye) than others? WHY? FISH! Fish are the number one killers of plankton, they are feeding. I've got a very fat and happy Sunrise Dottyback to prove it. It's the fish not the pumps people.

My captive propagation system has an even higher concentration of zooplankton. This system is 3 30 gallon tanks and 2 40 gallon tanks. Fed by RIO 2500's from a common sump this system only has LR in ONE of the 5 tanks on the system. Approximately 10 pounds....(no NH4, NO2 or NO3) 40 gallon tanks don't have lights yet and are empty, 2 30 gallon tanks have lights and contain mushrooms, xenia, capnella, GSP, etc. All that said, the two 40 gallons are totally empty but very large mounds of sand have been displaced by worms, and they are full of tunicates, sponge, and zooplankton. No live sand was used in ANY of the above mentioned systems, and in the case of the coral growout system, only an EXTREMELY small amount of LR in ONE of the 5 tanks as allowed for a heavy population of life. The key again is NO fish are in this system.

Pumps don't kill, predators do. IF you want this life in your tank add a refugium or cut down on the amount of fish.



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[Anonymous]

I will have to agree with Tom. Our tank is on the first floor and the sum is in the basemant. There is a refugia on the sump and the water gets pushed up 14 feet of head and our tank has all kinds of critters from the refugia in it. I think that it might be a problem if the critters made trip after trip throught the pump as it most likely kills some of them on the way through but not all of them. Once in the tank they will hide in the rock or the substrate and not get sucked out again. Our fish and corals love the stuff and I am a great believer in haveing a refugia. I am planning a 75 gallon refugia for the 400 that I am going to put sea grass in and try natural filteration.