How Much Phyto Do You Feed?

[rmay6850]

30ml per day for a 150

 

[JosephM]

I do maybe 1/4 cup a day in my 35 gal system. Not an exact measurement just kind of pour it in lol

 

[68 Stang]

1/2 gallon per week in a 140 gallon system. Splash in and try my best divide it up to use up the 1/2 gallon by Sunday. Grow my own 1 gallon each week.

 

[Bruce60]

I would take the variety of answers to this thread to mean that there may not be a good answer to this question at the present time. I also use it at the current time and am trying to follow the algae barn formula for now.

If you are using it to raise pods, then an amount close to the minimum necessary to keep the pod population thriving would be a good first approximation. If you are using it to feed other filter feeders I would use the same approximation.

The next question is what would happen to any excess phytoplankton in the system that was not consumed. Is it removed by various filtration methods? If live, does it die and add to the nutrient load? Does it survive in the tank? Propagate?

 

[JonnyTorch]

I do maybe 1/4 cup a day in my 35 gal system. Not an exact measurement just kind of pour it in lol

That is a LOT of phyto for that size tank. I literally put 10-15 ML a day for a week and a half in my 20 gal and it was too much nutrients. Brought it down to 5 ml a day with manual algae removal and Copepods and some cleanup crew.

 

[sde1500]

That is a LOT of phyto for that size tank. I literally put 10-15 ML a day for a week and a half in my 20 gal and it was too much nutrients. Brought it down to 5 ml a day with manual algae removal and Copepods and some cleanup crew.

lol then my dosing would blow you away. On my 65g DT, with 10g frag, I do 1-2 gallons per week. All depends on if I split after 1-2 weeks.

 

[boacvh]

I do around a gallon a week on my 75 g DT. No reason other than that's what's leftover after I harvest the culture.

 

[The_Skrimp]

I do about 20ml a day on a 50 gal with a small sump. I dose tetra and nano. Aside from feeding SPS and filter feeders, I’ve found that feeding live phyto (especially if it’s fresh and you culture it yourself) can go a long way toward keeping the water clear and helping with nutrients. Nano especially can help drop nitrates without a water change.

 

[Paul B]

I never fed phyto

 

[JonnyTorch]

I never fed phyto

You da man

 

[Crashjack]

I've been feeding Algae Barn phyto at approximately 40 milliliters, three times a week in what I estimate to be 125 to 130 actual gallons of water. What I have found very interesting is that it appears I'm getting a good bit of pods in the water column, likely pods in larvae stage. About a week ago, I witnessed my Exquisite fairy wrasse feeding, but I had not fed the tank. I started watching closely and at first the fish appeared to be feeding on nothing. I saw some sand grain-sized objects the fish was ignoring (I see these often; they are likely grains of sand or detritus), and then when I was in the right position looking at a certain angle, I saw some dust-sized particles that the fish was feeding on. A few days later I witnessed one of my Azure damsels doing the same thing, but this was late in my lighting cycle and the particles were easier to see. My goal with feeding phyto was to see if increased pod populations would feed my corals as opposed to feeding dry coral foods (Reef Roids, etc.). Other than the small food particles included with my LRS and Rod’s foods and just fish feeding in general, I’ve stopped all other coral foods. It hasn’t been long enough to tell a big difference but my Acans, Duncans, and Alevepora appear to be “popping” more than usual (brighter, maybe a little more inflated, more polyp extension, etc.). No noticeable difference in SPS or zoas, but nothing is looking worse or seems to be missing the dried coral foods.

 

[Paul B]

You da man

I'm da Man who don't use Phyto. Or anything else.

 

[Jay'sReefBugs]

I would take the variety of answers to this thread to mean that there may not be a good answer to this question at the present time. I also use it at the current time and am trying to follow the algae barn formula for now.

If you are using it to raise pods, then an amount close to the minimum necessary to keep the pod population thriving would be a good first approximation. If you are using it to feed other filter feeders I would use the same approximation.

The next question is what would happen to any excess phytoplankton in the system that was not consumed. Is it removed by various filtration methods? If live, does it die and add to the nutrient load? Does it survive in the tank? Propagate?

No when it dies it just becomes phytoplankton instead of live phytoplankton study's have shown there's almost no difference in corals and copepods vs live and not live phyto . What is not consumed is easily removed by various filtration methods. Live Phyto will not over take your system it needs requirements that a normal reef tank can't meet

 

[salty joe]

I use about 1.2 liters a day in my 800 gallon system. It's a fairly dense culture that measures 20 or less with a Secchi-Stick. I culture Nanno.

 

[Andreas' Reef]

It depends on your system.

 

[pigmo]

i think we need a poll. someone explain that famous example of how 200 people's average guess correctly guessed the weight of a cow

~75 ml of nanno every other day into 700 gals

mercer of montana (they sell via amazon). they use instant ocean for their water. we've had no icp problems.