Thoughts on Phyto...

[cplklegg]

I have my 20g going well now w/ 27lbs live rock, 26 lbs sand, a neon goby, and 6 ceriths along with assortment of pods, mini featherdusters attached to live rock etc. Was wondering if I should supplement with any phytoplankton, zooplankton, both or neither to bolster any microfauna to help support my neon and upcoming 6 line I have in QT now.

[Paintbug]

feeding phyto is always good. many little creatures will feed on it, which something else feeds on them, and so on up the food chain.

[ugluk]

How often should you feed the phytoplankton?

[Frick-n-Frags]

feeding phyto is 99% polluting your tank.
tank biology is fueled by bacteria.
anything that really lives on phyto is long gone due to starvation/malnutrition as it is impractical to maintain any useful density in the water column.
so, if you think about it, what phyto does for unwanted algae growth is the equivalent of what a calcium reactor does for corals.

I have yet to see anything concrete, over all these years that demonstrates that phyto is anything but a detrimental waste of money in your normal coral dominated reeftank setup.

[Frick-n-Frags]

furthermore, what are you actually having this tank for?
I'll assume corals, and go from there.
Your corals eat meat. You may want to feed them meat like DT's, cyclopeeze, homemade superblend whatever. The ancilliary filter feeding population will adjust to what the scraps from the primary feeding of corals(and fish) are. They are now HELPING you in the cause for water purity. These are the populations you want. They are helping the crew clean.

You are not deliberately trying to feed some secondary crap in the first place, at the expense of water purity.

anyway, it is bad all around.

Anyway, 2 things have struck me as scams in this hobby for general use: blue leg hermits and phyto

[Paintbug]

phytoplankton is the building block for everything thats in the ocean. while most corals do not directly consume the phyto, pods, and other small living creatures (zooplankton) in the tank will. the corals will consume them.

dose wise, it depends on the brand. there should be a dosing recommendation on the bottle. you can adjust more or less depending on your tanks needs.

[Medaka]

I just started using phyto a week ago, and now you see pods everywhere. Before you were lucky to see one pod after looking for a month LOL.

[michaeldaly]

I would wait till you have more corals to consume the phyto before dosing.

[Icefire]

Phyto is good for pods?

Hell my tank is a reactor since a few days... Guess I'll have more pods

[michaeldaly]

Ouch, what happened to that tank?

[Icefire]

Nothing, just got a bloom out of nowhere after a bacterial bloom.
Corals are all good, wide open.

[amazingbobby]

Phyto has helped in my aquarium. Way more creepy crawl creatures and feather dusters, and all of my corals look better. It is possible that the phyto has nothing to do with it, maybe there are tank maturity issues or other factors. I will continue to use phyto until something changes for the worst.

[Jocool]

I have been useing a Photo drop Refrigerated)) Food 20 drops for my 9 gallon--- every other day for over a month. My tank is pristine and flourishing. Nothing is gonna make me stop!

I'm convinced its helping everything! Eh--To each his own. =)