Hatch/rearing tank plumbed into main DT and sump?

[afboundguy]

I am getting ready to try my first crack at raising clownfish in the next month or two and I have already gotten my phytoplankton cultures up and running and I am about to start some rotifer and copepod cultures (copepods are for the DT mainly) and I have a 35 gallon DT with a 10 gallon sump and plan to upgrade the sump. I am planning to plumb in the growout tank into the system to allow for better water quality and I was curious if anyone has plumbed in the hatch/rearing tank into their main set up? I know they are not supposed to have much flow but I was thinking more along the lines of plumbing it in with valves so that when I have the larvae I could simply isolate the hatch/rearing tank from the main system.

I had thought that if it was plumbed in I could easily do small minor water changes and have the leftover rotifers and phytoplankton go into the main system and the ammonia buildup would be easily handled. I also thought this would be a good way to keep the hatch/rearing tank cycled. My main concerns would be the isopods and other microfauna getting into the hatch/rearing tank hurting or eating the larvae's food source. Ideally I would think I would keep it isolated from the system for 10+ days at the start to keep those microfauna out of the tank to give them a chance to get to the metamorphosis phase. Thoughts?

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

Back when I was considering trying my hand at raising clown fish I figured I wanted the systems separated just in case any issues came up in either. An anemone going through a wave maker in the DT wouldn't cause issues for the fry in the grow out tanks.

 

[afboundguy]

Back when I was considering trying my hand at raising clown fish I figured I wanted the systems separated just in case any issues came up in either. An anemone going through a wave maker in the DT wouldn't cause issues for the fry in the grow out tanks.

I have anemone guards on my PHs and ideally with the valves I would be able to isolate the hatch tank but it might just be easier to keep that separate from the system but the grow out tank with valves to be able to isolate the tank could be beneficial...

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Thoughts?

It's definitely an interesting idea - I don't know that it would work as well hoped in practice, but it might be worth a shot. I'd be curious how it works if you try it!

Also, it reminds me of the design in the link below:

looking for some input on my pelagic egg collector design.

As I get closer to setting up a broodstock system, I wanted to make sure egg collection was built into the design. After researching various designs out there, from simple floating collectors to complex upwelling setups, I decided to design something that would work well with a standard...

www.reef2reef.com