Dosing phytoplankton

[Blacktone]

About how much should I be dosing to my system and how often? this is the home cultured stuff fed with F2.

[eklikewhoa]

I feed about 1ml per 10g twice sometimes once a week.

[msn711]

If you're using DT's, there are instructions on the bottle. I've been doing 2 capfuls every 4 days though on my 40br...just easier than looking for a clean spoon.

[Uhuru]

zero

[wildernesstank]

ohh wow i do it every day

[geekreef_05]

this depends entirely on your bioload.

 

experiement btn 2 capfuls a week and 4 capfuls a week. if you start to see any negative effects, just cut back.

 

realistically most tanks can handle ALOT of phyto, but if it doesnt get used up, then it turns into waste. So you gotta feel out that breakpoint for your own tank.

[petsolutions]

We dose twice a week on our Pick of the Reef raceways with phytoplan and zoplan. From personal experience on a home tank, dosing more often than that with those products just tends to add waste to the system. Also, we use about a 1/2 dose and feed via target feeding.

 

My two cents.

 

John

[Izzue]

^^^ John is right on...

 

DTs and Phycopure...if I remember correctly...have some PO4 for the algaes...to much and algae bloom

in your tank...

 

Izzue

[tperkins]

I think alot of people just dose too much hence the nickname Phosphates in a bottle. I used to dose it a couple times a week on my tank with no ill effects.

[chrisdamage]

I usually turn the pumps off for about an hour and then target feed all my corals that need it... I think I've been using too much though so I'm going to start cutting back on how much I dose... I do that about once a week... I also feed my open brain and my hammer coral a brine shrimp about every couple weeks or so...

[LoBo]

i didnt know hammer corals needed feeding...

[HecticDialectics]

i didnt know hammer corals needed feeding...

 

they don't

 

 

but it doesn't hurt either...

[Blacktone]

I don't use DT's Phyto, I cultured and grew my own with a light and an air pump into some gatoraid bottles. So I'm guessing I can put in as much as I want before I start to have algae/phosphate problems.

 

 

I usually turn the pumps off for about an hour and then target feed all my corals that need it... I think I've been using too much though so I'm going to start cutting back on how much I dose... I do that about once a week... I also feed my open brain and my hammer coral a brine shrimp about every couple weeks or so...

 

I'm pretty sure phytoplankton is far too small for target feeding of corals, when we feed phyto I thought it's for the little guys in the tank like copepods that feed the corals.

[Uhuru]

I may try the reed's mariculture phyto this weekend. I used to culture my own but depending on how you time when your phyto is ready to feed, you can (and most likely will) still have phosphates in your phyto solution. What else do you think the phyto feed on? They are microalgae after all. The only way to avoid this is to time it so that you only feed the phyto after all they have consumed all the nutrients in your gatoraid bottle, which is almost impossible. What I like about the reed product is the phyto is filtered so the only remaining phosphates are in the microalgae themselves. Still you can have a rise in phosphates if you overfeed but it's not going to be as bad as just dumping liquid phosphate into your tank. I believe the best use for growing your own phyto is so you can culture other planktonic species like rotifers. Feed it to the rotifers, then when the water turns clear you know the rotifers are ready to be fed to your corals. They have such a high metabolism that you can feed them phyto in the morning and by the end of the day they have already consumed all of the nutrients. Not only does this feed your corals but your fish will eat them too.

[Scucci]

Completely off topic, kinda... but I've been try'ng to grow my own phyto for a while now, no success. I've been using a recipe that a friend of mine uses and I've had no luck. Been using the MiracleGro + DT's tech and I've had 0 results. No phyto, just blue water. lol

 

Of course, the idea of adding miracle gro to my tank worried me a little, but after the culture gets a deep green you do a 50% change with new water, then after it sets again you do the same and let it grow again before using it. So, it'd be really thinned out, but still...

[dsoz]

I used DT's phyto, and turned my tank into a cyano monster for 3 days. I cut the dose in half, and tried again. Another 2 days of cyano. I tried it again with a half dose. Another 2 days of cyano. I even gave it another chance. Still have cyano. I am giving up on that stuff.

 

BTW. A different LFS from where I got the DT's told me that DT's doesn't really feed anything in the tank. The green algae is too large for most SPS, and the cell wall is too thick for clams. According to the LFS guy, clams can INgest it, but they cannot DIgest it.

 

I didn't like the cyano problems that I had, so I just dumped the rest of the bottle.

 

As for MiracleGro, I don't think I would use it without some more research. What causes that blue color??? The most common chemicals that are "blue" contain copper. Unless you are sure that there is no copper in it, don't use it. Copper will kill all your inverts. I am not saying that I KNOW that miracle gro contains copper, I am just asking if you KNOW it does not.

 

dsoz

[Scucci]

I used DT's phyto, and turned my tank into a cyano monster for 3 days. I cut the dose in half, and tried again. Another 2 days of cyano. I tried it again with a half dose. Another 2 days of cyano. I even gave it another chance. Still have cyano. I am giving up on that stuff.

 

BTW. A different LFS from where I got the DT's told me that DT's doesn't really feed anything in the tank. The green algae is too large for most SPS, and the cell wall is too thick for clams. According to the LFS guy, clams can INgest it, but they cannot DIgest it.

 

I didn't like the cyano problems that I had, so I just dumped the rest of the bottle.

 

As for MiracleGro, I don't think I would use it without some more research. What causes that blue color??? The most common chemicals that are "blue" contain copper. Unless you are sure that there is no copper in it, don't use it. Copper will kill all your inverts. I am not saying that I KNOW that miracle gro contains copper, I am just asking if you KNOW it does not.

 

dsoz

 

Dug around and found a list of Miracle-Gro ingredients. Down on the list... 0.07% copper. I guess him using it for fry and not a reef tank would explain that away... Oh well, I already dumped out my last tries, just need to find something else. Hmph... Heck, maybe just tank water and nuke it for a few minutes to sterilize it and then add DT's and give it a shot again. I figured that since the only builb I had left laying around was a 50/50 18w PC that it was somehow the problem... Oh well... try try again.

[strangelove]

Reef Nutrition makes a good line of reef food. They sell live Phyto too so if you want to make your own culture from that it should start up quickly. DT's sells a mostly dead product, been sitting for to long to make a good culture out of.

 

I prefer just getting the bottles of Phyto Feast Live, Roti Feast, and Arcti Pods (whole cyclopeez). I'll switch back and forth feeding a few squirts of the three reef foods, mix it in a glass of tank water, turn off water filters and let it circulate in the tank for 15 minutes. Corals, clams and dusters love that stuff, fish love the Arcti Pods. Then I'll wait a day then target feed corals with Frozen Mysis or Brine. From my experience don't feed phyto too often if you don't want quick algae growth on the glass, twice a week is as much as I do. A bottle of Phyto, Roti, and Arcti lasts me about 6 months. Doing this has saved me money on frozen food that I used to feed exclusively.

[joesmoe517]

I've been feeding about 10 oz of live phyto (grown locally) per week to my 12 gallon... mostly spot feeding my baby maxima and sun coral. I switched over to Kent Phytoplex after doing maintenance for one of my customers who uses it. I have never seen more filter feeders growing on live rock ever... and he keeps some good sponges and gorgonians with it as well.

[wildernesstank]

ya ^^ but isnt it better if its live ?

[Uhuru]

well I tried dosing some phyto yesterday, and lo and behold a get a thin film on my glass the next day. I dosed according to the instructions on the reed bottle. I may try again next week at 1/2 dosage.