Phytoplankton

[kyuubichan218]

So I got some live phyto at macna, and I've never used it before. We don't have any corals right now, and since corals mostly eat zooplankton anyway, we know that's not the benefit of it for us. The algae barn guy at macna said it would feed pods and out compete nuisance algae, which sounds great. But I wanted to get opinions on it before I dump anything in my tank. So who uses phyto? What dose, and what purposes (coral food, pods, algae reduction, other)? Also, what is the shelf life of commercial phytoplankton?

 

[ReefCheif]

I dose phyto specifically to feed pods. I've had good results with Algae Barns products.

 

[jahmic]

I dose phyto and do see benefits.

I don't dose daily on a regular basis...typically I dose daily for a month every 3 months or so to maintain my pod population. I have 2 halichoeres wrasses and a mandarin in my ~85 gallon cube that hunt pods all day. It most definitely helps the population; I can see an increase in pods after about 1-2 weeks of dosing and have been able to keep my mandarin fat and happy in spite of all the competition for food.

Initially I dosed pretty conservatively...half what they recommended. Then started going with the "full dose" without issues. I think the instructions they have on the bottle are pretty spot on and I wouldn't hesitate to add phyto to the tank according to their schedule. The bottle I get from algae barn stays refrigerated and usually lasts 4-6 weeks before I need to toss it. I find that fresh phyto doesn't really have a strong smell to it...when it starts to smell it's probably a good idea to toss it because it isn't live anymore and you're just adding more waste to the tank.

I honestly can't say I've seen a difference as far as algae reduction with the live phyto. That being said, I usually dose the tank and turn off the skimmer and UV filter for 2hrs after dosing...perhaps turning them back on removes them before they have a chance to outcompete the nuisance algae? Hard to say...but either way I dose for pods and it works great. The only things keeping me from dosing every day on a set schedule are cost and convenience. The three month schedule does well enough to keep my pod population thriving.

 

[Haulin Oates]

Fishtv convinced me to start dosing this weekend. I just put 100ml in my tank before lights off!

 

[clowninaround7474]

After talking to algae barn at MACNA I'm strongly considering dosing. Seems like awesome benefits

 

[FishTV]

I do dose daily, and I know of a couple others that dose multiple times a day because of the specific live stock they have. I think daily dosing obviously keeps your pod population strong, but the rest of your micro fauna as well. I do have several other coral, sponge, and cryptic filter feeders that require "live" plankton. I stop my return flow to the display for a couple hours as I feed instead of turning off my skimmer, just because it can be a pain to restart my skimmer sometimes.

 

[sethsolomon]

out compete nuisance algae

This is a misnomer as no one doses enough phyto to make this work. In order for nutrients to be absorbed in the quantities that are being produced in reef aquariums your water would be green.

Now it is true that dosing phyto can theoretically reduce the levels of nitrates and phosphates. The grow solution that is used to culture can add more of those excess nutrients than the phyto will absorb. This all depends on what the grow nutrients are, how much is used, and how long the culture has been running for, before harvested and bottled.

So who uses phyto? What dose, and what purposes (coral food, pods, algae reduction, other)?

I dose live phytoplankton I culture myself. I dose about 1/2 gallon a day in my 120g via dosing pump. It splits it out throughout the day. The reasons I dose is because I have lots of coral, pods, clams, and NPS.

what is the shelf life of commercial phytoplankton?

It is about 2 weeks refrigerated. The bottled thing like Phyto-plex are "phytoplankton like" materials.

 

[jda123]

If your tank is set up right, then the phyto will quickly be filtered out by the skimmer, carbon, reactors or anything else that is going on. A tank is a not a hospitable environment for phyto to live for long.

Yes, it will feed pods. How much? I doubt that anybody knows. Will it feed coral? Depends... are they fine enough of a filter feeder? Most coral cannot eat it. Clams can, but it is not necessary. Do you even have any coral that need fed? If not, then I would only try and feed them if your N and P are at zero - a fed coral with N at 10 and P at .03 is probably worse than a coral feeding on the symbiotic diatoms with lower N and P levels.

For phyto to consume nitrate and phosphate IN YOUR TANK, it will have to grow and divide. To do this, it will need iron and other nutrients that can get quickly depleted from a typical reef salt. Even if you could get it to grow in your tank, I doubt that you will like it... your water will get green... really green.

In the end, the phyto will add more to the N and P loads than anything. Any reduction in N and P might be more like just a P from the few growing pods that you might get that uplift into the life cycle and into the tank. I would only recommend dosing it if your N and P are near-zero.