Perplexed by Plankton

[Reef GE]

I have what I think are pods....LOTS of them in my refugium. I have no idea what kind. There are also little crawling things on my glass at night especially - white. Are these baby pods or some sort of plankton?

What's the difference between zooplankton, phytoplankton, pods? Are the planktons visible? Since I have so many pods is that a sign that my tank "naturally" already has plankton of some sort in it?

Can I draw some water from the DT and use it to culture plankton?

I ask because I want to raise rotifers and don't know where to get any live plankton. I live in Central Asia so options are limited.

 

[ichthyogeek]

Phytoplankton - “plant plankton”, or organisms that cannot directly affect their movement caused by currents and waves (in contrast to nekton). In the case of aquariums, it refers to microalgae and other photosynthetic organisms that are not cisible to the naked eye. Common Phyto that is cultured in aquariums includes Nannochloropsis (Nanno), Isochrysis (Iso), and Tetraselmis (Tet). But it’s highly highly variegated.

Zooplankton - “Animal plankton”, see phytoplankton for definition of plankton. Usually copepods, but also can refer organisms such as larval fish and invertebrates, as well as crustaceans like krill and mysid shrimp.

Pods - general term for copepods, amphipods, and isopods which all occur in a tank.

 

[ichthyogeek]

What you have could be pods. But without a picture, we can’t exactly ID what you have. Pods can be plankton, and plankton can consist of pods, but the two are not mutually inclusive.

Having the pods in the tank is a sogn that the tank has microfauna (tiny animals) in it. Not necessarily plankton.

You could try to culture plankton using DT water, but what you get is variable depending on culture conditions.

If you want to raise rotifers, your best bet would be to approach a university or college to see if they have extra rotifer or phytoplankton culture you can have, especially if you can’t source any by yourself.