Mechanical Filtraion and Floating Plankton

[samuel88]

i've always used mechanical filtration in the form of sponges and filter wool. and a thought suddenly came into my mind.

i know mechanical filtration is good cause it removes all the unsightly dirt particles in a tank, but i'm also wandering, what if your corals or clams or shrimps start spawning, and from what i know, the little coral, clam or shrimp babies are really small and float around, wouldnt they get stuck on your mechanical filtration and die?

would you guys consider removing your mechanical filtration if your live stock was spawning little plankton sized stuff? or how would you go around this problem?

[dnsfpl]

no mechanical filtration for my current tank

water is not as crystal clear as before, but still bearable lol

[iskay]

i've always used mechanical filtration in the form of sponges and filter wool. and a thought suddenly came into my mind.

i know mechanical filtration is good cause it removes all the unsightly dirt particles in a tank, but i'm also wandering, what if your corals or clams or shrimps start spawning, and from what i know, the little coral, clam or shrimp babies are really small and float around, wouldnt they get stuck on your mechanical filtration and die?

would you guys consider removing your mechanical filtration if your live stock was spawning little plankton sized stuff? or how would you go around this problem?

The spawn will most likely not survive in a typical aquarium so having them filtered off could actually be better for your tank as they will less likely to pollute filtered off.

[samuel88]

But what bout beneficial Copepods? Does mechanical filtration affect their population?

[Gouldian]

But what bout beneficial Copepods? Does mechanical filtration affect their population?

Not really as copepods tends to benthic rather than pelagic therefore they are usually scurrying amongst the rockworks or glass surface. Copepods will also camp on machanical filters that have not been service (change) to eat detritus.

So when mechanical filters are serviced or changed, you may technically remove some pods but will not fully affect pods populations.

IMHO, its is fishes that will affect the populations of pods, at least at places that the fishes can reach. That's why some reefers uses refugium to maintain a healthy pods populations.