How much phyto should you feed and how often?

[TangerineSpeedo]

I dose 5-10ML a day of this stuff:

Store — Holdfast Aquaculture

www.holdfastaq.com

Depending on which tank, Some is just to feed copepods, others for filter feeders, Brittle stars, mussels, clams, corals etc. There is stuff in my tanks that came in as zooplankton and now growing animals. I view dosing Phyto just as important as any other nutritional element. I can visibly see the results. Plus the stuff from holdfast is bulletproof. I never had a batch go bad, I don't even refrigerate it, just stick it on the window sill (not direct light) and shake it once a day! Not feeding Phyto is akin to ignoring all of the nutritional options out there and saying "ah.. I feed Tetramin flake food, it's fine, don’t worry about it."

 

[DaJMasta]

0. non. Zero.
Doesn't your tank produce phyto?phytoplankton?!
This is the grimme on the sides of the tanks. The biofilm.
D

The film algae that grows on the glass is not the same kind of algae that's generally considered phytoplankton, phytoplankton is pelagic and lives in the water column without settling onto surfaces. Phyto is a food source for copepods and other microcrustaceans (like mysid shrimp), but is also food for feather dusters, scallops, clams, sponges, and other filter feeding organisms.

I dose about 300mL daily to my E170 and my ~28G breeder system, but I'm culturing roughly a gallon a day as feed for copepod cultures, so it doesn't feel like as much as it is.

Salinity creep is a problem - I have to remove some water and refill with RODI once a week or so, and phosphates are a problem, but are pretty easily brought back into line with standard methods.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

I never dosed phytoplankton in the past and had no problems with pods. Feather dusters. Ect. It all grew on the rock np with what I was doing.
D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Or in
D

 

[AydenLincoln]

I dose 1-2 ML of zooplankton not phytoplankton about once a week in my 20 gallon. It’s so easy to overfeed it and skyrocket your nutrients.

 

[sixty_reefer]

I dose phytoplankton on a consistent manner to increase my organic N and P and by effect Doc, having a constant supply of organic nutrients in our systems aids zooxanthellae to get the nutrients they need to aid coral growth and colouration, the dissolved organic carbon reduces pollutants like nitrates and phosphates.
The dose is dependent on the amount of existent nutrients as other carbon dosing methods, I like to start at 1ml/gallon and slowly increase it until a balance is reached.

 

[Koh23]

Is there any difference in dosing home made and bought phyto?

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I dose dose a precise amount but I do think it's important since it makes up the very base of the food chain and many organisms feed on it plus I don't think I've ever heard any negatives of dosing live phyto in a reasonable amount. While I'm sure you can get by without it, besides cost (which isn't much) why wouldn't you supplement feed your filter feeders, pods, etc.? You can get by without pretty much everything except fish food, light, water, and a refractometer but imo you'd do much better adding a few things to your arsenal and live phyto is one of them.

 

[homer1475]

2ml/G daily.

I feed 180ml daily when I feed the fish. I put 90ml in my display, and 90ml into my rock pile in the sump.

I keep 2 adult mandarins fed well in my 80G cube. No longer have a persistent cyano issue on my sandbed, and have an explosion of micro life.

Basic part of the food web, why not feed it when there is so many beneficial aspects to feeding live phyto?

 

[MillennialReefer]

My system is 65 gallon. I just started dosing Easybooster (phyto in gel substance) from easyreefs, so far I dose .5 ml daily at night via dosing pump. Will increase weekly until I reach 2ml a day. I also dose 2.5 ml of No/Pox as well and 2.5 of red sea reef energy AB+. I do have a ATS rated for 100 g and a skimmer rated for 150 - will slowly start to cut back on Nopox and tune my skimmer off until its completely shut off. I want my system to be able to rely on phyto and ATS.

 

[Dinkins Aquatic Gardens Verified Sponsor]

We dose 10 mL per 10 gallons of system volume. Our corals love it!

 

[Dinkins Aquatic Gardens Verified Sponsor]

Is there any difference in dosing home made and bought phyto?

Potentially, depending on density of the culture. Our phyto is really dark, for instance, so it depends on how dark/dense your home culture is.

 

[kdtorgy]

At least the early 00’s, if not earlier.

I Have a 140 gallon with a small fuge and trying to establish pod colony in the fuge. I dose about 20-30 mL of reef magic daily to the display tank with the return pump off for 30 min. When the return comes back on the UV sterilizer and skimmer remain off for another 2.5 hours.

 

[doubleshot00]

I dose a 5-6 ml every other day or when I can remember in my 90 gal but dose the same amount in a 13.5

 

[BigSkyRich]

Let's talk about phyto! How much should you dose? How often? Does time of day matter? Excited to learn from you guys and your phyto strategies!!

I have recently, last 2 months, committed to daily dosing of about 30ml of phyto to my 100 (mixed), 130 (fowlr) and now new cube 20 (coralonly). I have noticed a significant improvement in my corals and maintaining/growing my copepod population is without a doubt noticeable. I also culture phyto and pods so my supply is readily available. I have significantly reduced broadcast feeding (RR) . Struggling a bit with elevated phosphate but may be due to other factors which I'm trying to address

 

[Susan Edwards]

I dose nightly 8-12 oz, or 256-354 ml to a 220 system. I usually add my AB+ to it and dump in display, with a bit in the refugium. I figure some of it makes it way from display to the 2nd sump where my pods and chaeto grow. If I can I shut off skimmer and UV for 15 min. Not always

I also use 2-3 inches in my condiment containers that have frozen cube/freeze dried fish/coral food (I make 6-8 containers of food and freeze). When I need a new food bottle, I add phyto to thaw it then fill them up with ro

I culture my own (from @Eldredge ). I bought the phyto system from Poseidon. 2 phyto and 1 pod system. I harvest every 5-7 days. Lost some batches I think due to the heat each jar gives off (all 3 next to each other). Since using a fan during the day, I've not had any crashes. I get 375 ml x's 2 every 5-7 days. Enough I keep my brother-in-law supplied and still have a fridge full in case of crashes. Also use it for my pod culture.

This hobby is so costly, it pays for itself to make it on my own. Same with pods. I was spending 40ish on phyto every 3-4 weeks and 80-100 on pods every 4-6 weeks.
This is about 1 harvest.

 

[Kellie in CA]

I have tried several times and ended up with algae and cyano issues. I start out with a very small dose. Does the algae get worse before it gets better? I always end up giving up after a few weeks.

 

[Susan Edwards]

I have algae but it is byropsis which I had last march and though I treated tank, I didn't get rid of it all so it came back with a vengeance. I don't think phyto is to blame for algae or cyano. In fact I think it helps your tank.

 

[Tomsimtim]

Let's talk about phyto! How much should you dose? How often? Does time of day matter? Excited to learn from you guys and your phyto strategies!!

Here are the directions for the Phytoplankton that I buy from a company called AlgaeBarn. The directions are from their product called OceanMagik. The link is to their website. I am not a sales rep for AlgaeBarn, just a loyal Customer and regular user / purchaser of their products.Description of OceanMagik. I do not know if these instructions will convert to other Phytoplankton products, but they may be a good baseline to establish, and monitor from there.

All that is necessary to add is to calibrate your dosing pump to match the requirements and convert your 6-pack O'Beer fridge into a refrigerated Phytoplankton supply. Here's how on my 190 Dream Tank Thread. Go to the Phytoplankton entry on July 21, 2022 July 21, 2022 Phytoplankton Entry

 

[PeterEde]

Most of what my skimmer takes out is the phyto + I put in. If I add phyto my skim is a very translucent green.
My No3 is around 50 and read if you have a nutrient issue DONT dose phyto. I have stopped