So I've got this big 20g plastic tub sitting around and I was going to make it a home for my marbled crayfish feeder colony.
Then it dawned on me--maybe I can kill 2 birds with one tub.
Is there any reason I couldn't turn the tub into a sump and just have the marbled crays living in it? I'd be using this sump for only a 30g growout, and so I figure I could maybe fill 1/3 of it with media and section that bit off from the crayfish, then just have a pump on the other side.
Concerns are:
a) Will the water temperature be too high for the crays? I've got them at 73.5 right now but the lowest I'd want my growout tank running is about 78.
b) Should I put substrate in there? I've got coarse pool sand in their current enclosure and was thinking I'd add more to the tub if they were going to live in it, but would that be counter-productive in a sump? or would it be a good thing, as sand is sometimes used as media itself and it would just be adding more biology to the tank?
Of course any practical problems I haven't thought of I'd love to hear. I'm about to head over to my LFS and discuss the idea with them and possibly start drilling the plastic top I'd like to use for it.
Then it dawned on me--maybe I can kill 2 birds with one tub.
Is there any reason I couldn't turn the tub into a sump and just have the marbled crays living in it? I'd be using this sump for only a 30g growout, and so I figure I could maybe fill 1/3 of it with media and section that bit off from the crayfish, then just have a pump on the other side.
Concerns are:
a) Will the water temperature be too high for the crays? I've got them at 73.5 right now but the lowest I'd want my growout tank running is about 78.
b) Should I put substrate in there? I've got coarse pool sand in their current enclosure and was thinking I'd add more to the tub if they were going to live in it, but would that be counter-productive in a sump? or would it be a good thing, as sand is sometimes used as media itself and it would just be adding more biology to the tank?
Of course any practical problems I haven't thought of I'd love to hear. I'm about to head over to my LFS and discuss the idea with them and possibly start drilling the plastic top I'd like to use for it.
