Fauna kits?

[Joey1]

Hi,all,just wondering about any experiences with fauna kits,such as the ones from ipsf.I had hoped to have a bit more life in my dsb than I do now,and wondered if the purchase of this product would be a good investment,from someone who has preferably used one themselves.Could anyone,otherwise,give me an alternative to help boost the life in my sandbed?(Besides live sand from an established tank)I want lots of worms,really into the anthill look...

Joey

 

[McReef1]

Joey~

I purchased a detritivore kit from www.inlandaquatics.com and it has worked well. The difference between their fauna and detritivore kits is that there are baby bristle worms in the det. kit. If you have any fish, etc. in the tank that like to eat the detritivores, make sure you add them at night when the fish are sleeping.

Good luck,

McReef

 

[2poor2reef]

Hey joey. I have purchased det kits from both IPSF and Inland Aquatics and they are both good. Alternatively you could buy "live sand" that is wild collected from reef areas but I believe that the quality of what is sold as live sand varies quite a bit. I think it's really important how its been handled during shipping and subsequently stored. But I have received a lot of interesting organisms that I have not normally seen in cultured kits. The other option which you said not to mention is to swap some sand with someone else. A great reason to join or start a reef club. My opinions only.

 

[JeremyR]

Bumming a couple pounds of sand from someone with a very live sandbed seems to make alot more sense to me than ordering the "kits", you probably get alot more "stuff", and it's going to be alot cheaper. This is assuming you know someone locally with a healthy active sandbed.. if not then disregard the above.

 

[Joey1]

Yeah,I don't know too many people around me with reefs,except for a friend who just recently took down his tank and gave me the leftovers.

I don't know about getting live sand from anyone either,as my dsb is already quite deep,and would be apprehensive about adding any more to it.I think that I will continue my search for a good live sand activator kit,unless someone can vouch for one companies product over another,(thanks for the link,by the way,I will check out their products).Anyone else? Thanks in advance. Joey

 

[monkeyboy]

I ordered a kit from www.ipsf.com today and will give somewhat of a review when i get it. Later i will order from www.inlandaquatics.com, these 2 places seem to be the best out there (if not the only) for kits like this. Do a search on the board, or any board for that matter, its these 2 that just keep popping up!

 

[Tybond]

Just my 2c worth but I live down the street from Inland and go there alot.
I purchased the mysis kit for my refugium and was very very pleased with the kit.
Fauna kits are excellent from them also but I might suggest looking around for the Det. kit.
The kit they sell has the same things you can order or for that fact probably pick up locally.
The det kit contains
Blue leg hermits
Serpent star
cucumber
cerith
bristle worms

ty

 

[Joey1]

Maybe a company that would just sell me a bucket of worms

I think I'm looking for a product that doesn't exist,maybe I could ask Shimek on RC,kinda confused as to what exactly I need to purchase to give my sandbed a good stirring...Joey

 

[monkeyboy]

Tybond, how are the mysis shrimp doing? Are they reproducing?

 

[Scott D Passe]

Joey,

You wrote:

“My dsb is already quite deep,and would be apprehensive about adding any more to it.”

Actually, there might not be a upper limit on sand bed depth.

My best DSB’s have been 6”+ in depth. Also particle size is important.

I use detrivore and live sand kits from Island Aquatics and IPSF. Biodiversity is what we are aiming for.

You want worms, pods, micro-brittle stars, etc.

You only need a starter cultures, which you “grow out” by feeding it and giving it time to mature.

Regards,

Scott

[ December 19, 2001: Message edited by: Scott D Passe ]</p>

 

[JoshF]

Well, I've got quite a mixed bag of flora and fauna arriving tomorrow from Inland. I like their selection on their price list as they have a ton of organisms not found in their kits. I ordered the flora kit for an inexpensive way of getting some interesting algae. I also ordered by individual item the following:

micro stars
mini stars
baby bristle worms
mysis shrimp
gammarus shrimp
various amphipods and copepods
a single fighting conch
interstitial meiofauna kit (basically a lot of little creatures across various Phyla which live in between the sand grains)

I have had a new tank set-up for the last 6 months with the fairly sad excuse for live sand available locally and a single fairly bare piece of live rock to seed a 10 gallon tank. The plan was to set up a ten gallon tank and get it seeded from locally available live sand. Well, 6 months later I have a great population of spaghetti worms and very little else. There is a small amount of life in the sand, but very poor diversity. So, I wanted to add a bit more of the things I want to see in a sand bed. On top of this, the local reef club will be doing a sand bed swap next month which will help round out the tank. This is supposed to be the seed tank for the large tank I'm setting up next year. We'll see!

Josh

 

[Joey1]

Yeah,the sand bed is about 6" deep now,and it is a 55,so I'm sure it is deep enough,(but I also want it to be aesthetically pleasing),and it is a mix of one bag of reef grade live sand and 2 bags of oolitic sand,with a bit if live sand from a well established system mixed in,to give various grain sizes.Also the rock was cured in tank,so I had hoped that the sand bed would be seeded well enough,and there is are a lot of creatures on the substrate,especially visible at night,but I don't have a lot of worms,and very little bubbling in the sandbed.(I was under the impression that bubbling was a sign of a properly functioning dsb)For example,the trails left in the sand against the glass by the worms is only about ~1 or 2 per inch,and I had thought that a healthy system would require more than that.Tank is 6 months old,
ammonia-0
nitrite-0
nitrate-undetectable,curious about the test kit though,need to check it against another one...
pH-8.3-8.6
KH-9
temp-83
SG-1.024
lighting-440 W PC
soft corals,one sps,(refugee),lps,Many shrooms,zooanthids,few fish,all doing well.
Anyway,I don't know if all the parameters were necessary,but people always ask for those things when posting a question,so,any opinions?Thanks!
Joey

 

[JeremyR]

I have millions of mysis shrimp..how much do they sell for? Hehe. And I've been looking for a new get rich quick scheme too..