The use of "polyfilter" in larvae/rearing tanks

[NMAJames]

Has anybody used polyfilter in their larvae/rearing tanks?
It removes pollutants/chemicals/odours. I'm particularly interested in using it for larvae stages when water changes are most problematic.
I have concerns that larvae could get trapped in it so have wrapped chunks of it in 100 micron mesh and am going to try it with mandarin larvae but am interested to hear people’s opinion/experience. The only possible problem I can think of is I have heard some of the labs have found high levels of boron when its been used, apparently to prevent it from removing other trace elements. Not sure if this would have any side effects on the development of larvae (or even if its true)?

Regards


James

[Luis A M]

Welcome James!
Interesting aproach.Have you already attempted to raise mandarin larvae and have reasons to suspect toxic factors?.To tell the truth,I don´t trust polyfilter after having checked it against a control and there was no difference in NH3 and NO2 curves in newly set tanks.Though this happened many years ago,and they could have improved their formula since then.

[NMAJames]

Thanks
No this is the second spawn I have collected and first to hatch now at 3 dph I'm using small volumes of water so water quality is a concern. Interesting you found it pretty ineffective. I'll do some tests on a future batch and see if its improved.

[Jake Levi]

How has it worked out? I am quite interested in all trials with Mandarins.

[NMAJames]

To be honest I'm starting to get the feeling this product is pretty rubbish. Admittedly I haven't done any proper side by side trials but it seems to have done little to control NH3/NO2. I'm just going to stick to using as larger volumes as possible and regular water changed.
I've also been using it on a reef tank with no skimmer or any other means of nutrient export apart from algae and haven't been very impressed.


Regarding the mandarins my best at the moment is 14 dph which is the current group. Circumstances with the rearing set up and feed has improved so I'm looking forward to my next batch to see if I can decrease mortalities early on. I have little in terms of facts to offer on top of what is already known at the moment. I will start a proper log when success increases (and include the unsuccessful). Interestingly slightly warmer water seems to have been beneficial to hatch rate and survival. Disturbing the eggs too much during late development has caused issues I think. Which is annoying as I collect the eggs from a pair in my reef at home then take them to work the next day by which time they're already growing lots.

[Luis A M]

James,I believe there is some unknown factor that kills our larvae sometime during the rearing process.We need a scientific aproach with a multifacetic research protocol if we are going to find and solve it.Which can be coordinated among several participants in a Site like ours.

[Jake Levi]

I like that idea Luis, maybe start several species groups.

And start with a basic protocol for each species.

I am thinking that with pelagic spawners nitrites/nitrates would be a major obstacle as the eggs rise up and are carried off in very low nitrite water. And high O2 content. I am going to be attempting Mandarins. This summer.

[Amie]

Thanks
No this is the second spawn I have collected and first to hatch now at 3 dph I'm using small volumes of water so water quality is a concern.

You might want ro consider starting with smaller water volume, vs. large water volume, then slowly drip NSW into the system instead of filtering the water or performing constant water changes. If you doubled the water volume in a day, for example, the NO2s would be reduced by half. Once the tank is filled with water, then start doing water changes. But by that time, the larvae are stronger, and larger, than they would have been the first few days.