Good Fuge Creature?

[fattyratrat]

What is some good invert to put in my fuge? It is about 30 gallons with tons of rock and macro algae. I prefer something that eats small fish, because I have a fire fish goby that slipped down there about a month ago and i cannot get out for the life of me, so i want something that can at least make a good meal out of him (i never cared for him anyways). Something that would keep the fuge clean would be nice too... any suggestions?

[Tswifty]

M A N T I S

[fattyratrat]

i mean.. i would rather not have to worry every day about him deciding to break the glass and spill 40 gallons of water on my floor... but besides that hell yea! haha

[Playa-1]

I think you need to get the goby out and put some pods in there.

Other then that I think it's an excellent idea to rename to fuge to the Dave Jones Locker and put a Mantis in there

[jamest0o0]

That's a good idea lol!

[fattyratrat]

why put pods in there? there are pods everywhere. the goby may have eaten a few, but there isn't really a need to restock is there?

and my main idea here is not to get the goby out, it is to get rid of him. Would a big old Brittle star do the trick? I hear they can be fish eaters, and are good clean up too also...

[Playa-1]

Well If you get something thats going to eat the goby then it's prolly gonna clean out the pods too.
Thats kinda the point of the fuge hence the name.
I wasn't suggesting you restock, I was suggesting that pods are the creature of choice for a fuge.

[jthao]

jelly fish!! they're cool to look at, and they die in 6 months, perfect.

[tmz]

Why do you wan't to kill the firefish? It's a beuatiful if unlucky animal to find itself in your care. Any predators in your refugium will defeat one of it's purposes which is to provide a food source via pods, mysis etc.

[cloak]

All these creatures a refuge might harbor should be in the main tank to begin with.

[wiscsaltwater]

dont worry too much about a mantis breaking your glass theres only 1 or 2 species that are capable and the recorded cases of it happening are few and very far between.

[ludnix]

Focus on getting the firefish out and give it to someone who can care for it. Don't put anything else in your refuge or you'll be defeating the point of the refuge and just end up with two connected tanks. The refuge is meant to be a place where pods and other small invertebrates can live without predation to improve the overall quality of your system.

[jamest0o0]

I don't think mantis shrimp eat pods and I believe the peacock mantis is the most known for breaking glass.

[tmz]

While they proably prefer larger foods, there is no reason to think that a hungry mantis won' eat copepods,mysis, brine or whatever is available, as far as I know.

[returnofsid]

I agree with getting the firefish out and re-homing it to someone who wants it. I also agree with not putting anything in your fuge that'll be predatory. As for clean up crews in your fuge, not really needed as the more algae growing in there, the less growing in your display tank. That's the secondary purpose of a fuge. The primary purpose is a "refuge" or safe place for lil' critters to populate without predation. If you want something that'll clean up accumulated detritus, get a few nassarius snails in there. Stay away from sand sifting star fish as they'll desolate your critters in no time.

[jamest0o0]

Well I don't know a lot about mantis shrimp, but from what I've seen of them I don't see how they would actually eat copepods? Don't they have large smashers?