Detrivore kit from Inland Aquatics

[MitchM]

Has anybody tried this detrivore kit from Inland Aquatics?

http://www.inlandaquatics.com/prod/prod_detrit.html

I'm considering a trip down across the border to pick one up.
They will ship to Canada, but with border delays cannot guarantee live delivery.

Thanks,
Mitch

[gobytron]

shouldn't you just be able to have all of that in some good quality live rock?

[MitchM]

Some of the animals that live in a DSB do not live in/on live rock.
I am looking to as as much diversity to my dsb as possible.

[gobytron]

like which ones?

I'm sure i have all of these present in my system without having paid anyone beyond the price of good quality, fresh live rock.

[MitchM]

As I understand it, there are hundreds of sediment dwelling worms that are very grain-size specific with regards to their preferred environment. One example is Rhepoxynius abronius. Although this amphipod is limited to the west coast of North America, I don't see any reason why there wouldn't be similar type organisms living in the more tropical type areas that our corals come from.
If these type of organisms live only in specific size sand sediment, I can't see them existing at all in live rock, no matter the quality.

Even though live rock can appear to make a dsb "live", I think that there is room for improvement with regards to diversity.

Mitch

[naesco]

Originally Posted by MitchM

As I understand it, there are hundreds of sediment dwelling worms that are very grain-size specific with regards to their preferred environment. One example is Rhepoxynius abronius. Although this amphipod is limited to the west coast of North America, I don't see any reason why there wouldn't be similar type organisms living in the more tropical type areas that our corals come from.
If these type of organisms live only in specific size sand sediment, I can't see them existing at all in live rock, no matter the quality.

Even though live rock can appear to make a dsb "live", I think that there is room for improvement with regards to diversity.

Mitch

I think you are dead on Mitch.
That is why when a reefer wants to seed his tank it is a good idea to borrow some sand from an existing system.

[MitchM]

Originally Posted by naesco

...
That is why when a reefer wants to seed his tank it is a good idea to borrow some sand from an existing system.

...providing that existing system started with some sediment-only organisms in the first place.
Even grabbing some grunge from the bottom of an LFS' live rock tank might not work, as you may get some undesirable flatworm or aptasia populations.
Inland Aquatics cultures this stuff, and I haven't found any Canadian supplier that does the same.

Mitch

[reeferious]

if it's diversity you're looking for you should really go to your local saltwater stores and ask them to give you a bit of their sands every once in a while. they have all those corals and things that come to them every so often from everywhere that their tanks and sandbeds are probably full of diverse lifeforms.

[MitchM]

Hi Ken,

To give you an idea how specific some of the sand requirements are, the amphipod that I mentioned before requires a grain particle size of 0.113 mm. Not 0.110 mm, not 0.115 mm, but 0.113 mm. Unless a local saltwater store has a dsb with varying sand grain sizes and zero sand sifting creatures, I doubt that they will have some of the animals that I am looking for.
What I am looking for is a source where I can obtain more sand bed animals that would typically not be found on live rock.

Thanks,
Mitch

[Delphinus]

Hey Mitch, I'm not sure I'm reading the page right .. the stuff IA is listing there seems reasonably common hitchhikers? Spagetti worms, mini-brittle stars .. bristleworms, stomatella, all seem reasonably common enough to find amongst hobbyists? (You could have any number of those out of one of my tanks if you wanted. Not so sure about peppermint shrimp or microstars though - unless he means asterina..)

Not that I would want to talk you out of getting some from Morgan, the guy's been in business a long time selling those "kits" so I assume he's onto something.. I was just curious if there was something I wasn't seeing..