Live VS Dead Phytoplankton for feeding just-added copepod population

[Muffin87]

I'm cycling with dry rock, and when that's over, I'll seed my tank with copepods in a bottle.

Should I invest in live phytoplankton to feed the copepods and make them reproduce faster, or is dead phytoplankton like EasyReefs EasyBooster gonna do just fine?
If I buy cheaper, dead, phytoplankton, I could use the money to get more copepod bottles. Which seems a better idea to me.

Thanks for the help!

 

[PeterC99]

I'm cycling with dry rock, and when that's over, I'll seed my tank with copepods in a bottle.

Should I invest in live phytoplankton to feed the copepods and make them reproduce faster, or is dead phytoplankton like EasyReefs EasyBooster gonna do just fine?
If I buy cheaper, dead, phytoplankton, I could use the money to get more copepod bottles. Which seems a better idea to me.

Thanks for the help!

Are you planning to have lots of corals?

 

[Muffin87]

Are you planning to have lots of corals?

In the future, yes. But it's gonna be years before my tank is full of corals.
I need to save money for a chiller, a controller, and a second life fixture first!

 

[PeterC99]

I feed homemade phytoplankton everyday and nothing else for my corals. The system has paid for itself in 6 months.

Also my aquarium is 15 months old.

 

[Jay'sReefBugs]

Nannochloropsis is very cheap to buy and stores well for long periods of time . If you're looking to use it to help seed your tank then I would just buy it out right . If you're looking to mess around with something outside of your display tank then you can culture it pretty easily . Once you get into the Pavlova, Thalassiosira type algeas that's when it can get tricky .

 

[Reef Nutrition]

For what it's worth, the copepods that are sold into the hobby for seeding a tank don't care if the algae is alive or not.

 

[homer1475]

You could also buy live phyto for loads cheaper then the "big box" reef stores charge from fellow reefers right here on R2R.

Look up @Eldredge and his thread on his 8 species blend of live phyto.

 

[Eldredge]

I'm cycling with dry rock, and when that's over, I'll seed my tank with copepods in a bottle.

Should I invest in live phytoplankton to feed the copepods and make them reproduce faster, or is dead phytoplankton like EasyReefs EasyBooster gonna do just fine?
If I buy cheaper, dead, phytoplankton, I could use the money to get more copepod bottles. Which seems a better idea to me.

Thanks for the help!

Pods are kind of like fish - they have varying dietary needs. Not all fish will survive on dead flake food, and not all pods will survive on dead phyto. There are also other organisms in your system that will consume the phyto. Again, some will want/need live/motile phyto and others won't care. The size of the phyto cell also matters for many organisms. Of course nutrient content (which varies among different species of phyto) is also important. It is also very difficult to overdose live phyto, so you don't have to be too concerned about that when dosing live. In my opinion, dosing phyto to a system is a great help, and dosing a blend of live, motile phyto is definitely ideal. A good blend of live phyto will provide a wide range of sizes, motility, and nutritional profiles that will benefit many different organisms and corals.

 

[homer1475]

Pods are kind of like fish - they have varying dietary needs. Not all fish will survive on dead flake food, and not all pods will survive on dead phyto. There are also other organisms in your system that will consume the phyto. Again, some will want/need live/motile phyto and others won't care. The size of the phyto cell also matters for many organisms. Of course nutrient content (which varies among different species of phyto) is also important. It is also very difficult to overdose live phyto, so you don't have to be too concerned about that when dosing live. In my opinion, dosing phyto to a system is a great help, and dosing a blend of live, motile phyto is definitely ideal. A good blend of live phyto will provide a wide range of sizes, motility, and nutritional profiles that will benefit many different organisms and corals.

I couldn't have explained it better myself!

 

[mello_dank]

I would try getting some copepods and phytoplankton

 

[mello_dank]

You could also buy live phyto for loads cheaper then the "big box" reef stores charge from fellow reefers right here on R2R.

Look up @Eldredge and his thread on his 8 species blend of live phyto.

I would try getting some copepods and phytoplankton from Jayreefsbugs, - great customer service and better quality than the other big brand places.. you can find him on facebook or his own website.

 

[Muffin87]

I would try getting some copepods and phytoplankton from Jayreefsbugs, - great customer service and better quality than the other big brand places.. you can find him on facebook or his own website.

I'd love to but I live in Italy. Over here, it's difficult as it is to source a bottle with a decent amount of copepods with a price tag that doesn't make you doubt the way you're spending money.

 

[Jay'sReefBugs]

I'd love to but I live in Italy. Over here, it's difficult as it is to source a bottle with a decent amount of copepods with a price tag that doesn't make you doubt the way you're spending money.

Trust me if there's a way I'm willing to try . The biggest thing is I'm not keen on international shipping I deal with enough trouble just within the United states . But if you find someone in Italy that trans ships let me know . I've found one that does this in Dubai and it's worked out . Always will to expand my horizons but as a 1 man show I'm not scared to ask for help doing it .