Feeding the fuge?

[sooju]

Does anyone feed their fuge? I took the plunge and added a mandarin to my tank and I want to make sure that my fuge is as hospitable place as possible for copepod reproduction. My tank is borderline to begin with (55G w/ 110 lbs live rock) so I'm planning to supplement his diet by purchasing (and potentially cultivating) copepods regularly. I'm worried if I add phyto or some other food to my fuge (it's an indirect one - gravity drain into the sump and small pump back into the fuge, low flow) that it will foul my water. I finally got my nitrates down to about 5 ppm and my corals seem quite happy!

[melosu58]

I dont feed mine but all I have in my fuge is grape calerpa and a CC star. I`m sure a small bit of food gets down there through the over flows.

[Ziggy953]

Phyto plankton is pretty much phosphates in a bottle. Copepods will survive and reproduce without adding phyto. If your system hasn't been up and running for at least a year you better have a regular supply of copepods added to the tank. I would add half of what you buy to the main and half to the fuge for several months and let the pod population explode. Even then you may be fighting a losing battle. The Mandarin can be a very tough fish to keep.

[sooju]

Thanks for your advice. When my first shipment comes (I ordered from aquaculturestore.com yesterday) I'll divide the pods between my fuge, the main, and my sump. I also added a ball of chaeto to my sump so there's another predator free place for them to reproduce. The only thing in the sump right now is a heater and the chiller pump so it's a mostly empty (except water of course) 20 gallon tank. The skimmer has been moved to a DIY 2nd sump on the other side of the wall (my fish closet). I'm doing all the research I can about pod production, both in and out of the tank, but if there are tips that others want to share, I'm all ears!

EDIT: I've only had the tank since September but it's been up and running for seven years now.