Proper Phytoplankton Usage

[luv2jeep]

As requested, here is what Anthony Calfo suggested on Phytoplankton (DT's):

 

1. Phytoplankton is not necessary, but can be beneficial.

2. Zooplankton is preferred.

3. DT's and ESV are the best IF used properly!

4. Don't trust any Phyto w/o an expiration date or that does not need refrigerated.

5. The best zooplankton is baby brine shrimp not more than 9 hours old. Next best is homemade zooplankton by pureeing a variety of seafood (with shell!).

 

OK, now to the proper usage of DT' ... Just dosing from the bottle does NOTHING! With anything that warms, it will coagulate. Corals can only filter a specific range of micron size. To the layman, as small as we can get it c/o a blending device.

 

His recommended method:

 

1. Place DT's in a GNC milkshake cup with a cup of tank water.

2. Use the GNC shake blender and whip the $%#^ out of it!

3. Feed it to the tank.

 

That's It! But the jist is ... in it's bottled form, it is useless since it tends to clump therefore making itself too large to be filtered by most polyps.

 

For the *BEST* coral food, make your own zooplankton by mixing various seafoods, shellfish, vitamins, Nori, etc. in a blender similar to above then feed. Just buy your own blender ... if the wife or SO catches you ... there will be hell to pay! :x

[luv2jeep]

On a similar note, you can search for Sanjay Joshi's article on homemade reef food. When I maintained my 75-Gallon reef, I used this recipe and all I can say is ... WOW!

 

My fish would go ape-poop! My corals were healthy and bright, etc.

 

It may sound expensive at first, but talk to the local grocery store. I was able to get few day old scallops, shrimp for no charge! They have to throw it away after so many days anyhow!

[chvynva916]

Great Post!!!

 

Tell me what you think:

 

5 gal nano

open brain, alveopora, frogspawn, shrooms

 

My newest plan to feed is:

 

1: 2 drops of dt's twice a day

2: One small squirt of Joshi's recipie twice a week targeted at my frogspawn and my brain

 

What do you think?

[luv2jeep]

That might be overkill on the DT's. Once a day is plenty ... just make sure to blend it first!

 

On the homemade food, it is meant as a replacement for prepared food to reduce nitrate and phosphate introduction. Gelatin-based foods have been linked to cyano when overfeeding occurs.

 

Best thing to do is feed at what you feel is right, then watch and change the schedule to see what works best.

[gobies]

Eric Borneman spoke about feeding corals at the last CMAS meeting (Chicago Marine Aquarium Society). A few relevant tidbits I remember:

 

Hard corals don't eat phytoplankton; softies do. The LPSs and SPSs want animal proteins.

 

Live brine shrimp trigger a feeding response in corals, especially hard corals. He recommended Golden Pearls, the smallest size, for feeding corals. Live brine plus Golden Pearls is a good combination: the brine shrimp get the corals into eating mode, and the GPs have assorted advantages over the brine shrimp. Adult brine shrimp are as effective as BBS for eliciting the feeding response.

 

Just because you don't see your LPSs eating, that doesn't mean they aren't eating... the particles stick on their tentacles/etc. and eventually get eaten.