PhycoPure Zoox

[-Logzor]

Does anyone know if it is possible to culture this product? Right now I culture regular phyto but I wouldn't mind trying this out.

ALG-0576 Premium Aquatics - ALG-0576 Aquarium Supplies

 

[Liquid360]

Nope. It's not alive. I've not ever heard of it being able to be cultured in the home aquarium. Hopefully someone will have further info.

 

[Liquid360]

Ah here we go...

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/1/aafeature1

 

[-Logzor]

Nope. It's not alive. I've not ever heard of it being able to be cultured in the home aquarium. Hopefully someone will have further info.

The product description says live. It also says that they are culturing it. My question is if we can culture it. Apparently this product just came out.

"PhycoPureTM Zooxanthellae is a blend of LIVE zooxanthellae assembled for use as an aid for marine reef aquarium corals and clams."

 

[Liquid360]

Well there you go. Why ask?

 

[-Logzor]

Well there you go. Why ask?

Why be so matter of fact?

I'm asking because culturing takes specific requirements and I don't know what those are.

 

[Liquid360]

Just curious. Didn't mean to offend.

 

[shred5]

Why do you want to culture Zooxanthellea?

 

[-Logzor]

Why do you want to culture Zooxanthellea?

I want to culture it so I can dose large amounts on a regular basis. I think the benefits of dosing zoox will be more relevant than dosing phyto or other live products. Right now I dose phyto and culture large amounts, my corals have been looking better since I've been dosing. If I can add additional live products to dose I think it might improve the overall health and coloration of my corals.

Not to mention, once you begin culturing, the cultures on on autopilot and aside from the electricity of a tiny air pump and light, the costs are minimal.

 

[shred5]

Most Corals eat very little phto. Very little phyto has ever been found in the gut of most corals and what is there mainly is from what they eat.. It is not natural for them? For phyto to exist it needs high nutrients, do we find high nutrients on a reef? It is thought that some nps and gorgonia eat some phyto but I have never seen evidence of that. Dumping phyto in is like duping nutrients in your tank.. People use refugiums to remove algae thus removing nutrients. Why dump phyto in? isnt that like putting nutrients back in? Phyto lives on phosphates and is loaded with it.

Culture phyto to grow different copepods and rotifers and brine shrimp, they are better food for corals and easy to grow with phyto.

 

[-Logzor]

Most Corals eat very little phto. Very little phyto has ever been found in the gut of most corals and what is there mainly is from what they eat.. It is not natural for them? For phyto to exist it needs high nutrients, do we find high nutrients on a reef? It is thought that some nps and gorgonia eat some phyto but I have never seen evidence of that. Dumping phyto in is like duping nutrients in your tank.. People use refugiums to remove algae thus removing nutrients. Why dump phyto in? isnt that like putting nutreint back in? Phyto lives on phosphates and is loaded with it.

Culture phyto to grow different copepods and rotifers, they are better food.

Dropping nutrients in my tank is exactly what I want, actually. My BB system and skimmer result in such low nutrients that my chaeto dies off. Things are in much better balance when I'm dosing phyto, it also helps natural populations of zooplankton thrive in my reef which hopefully begins to create a more natural ecosystem.

 

[shred5]

Dropping nutrients in my tank is exactly what I want, actually. My BB system and skimmer result in such low nutrients that my chaeto dies off. Things are in much better balance when I'm dosing phyto, it also helps natural populations of zooplankton thrive in my reef which hopefully begins to create a more natural ecosystem.

You never are going to have large numbers of zooplankton in your reef unless you remove your fish and filtration system. Dumping phyto in our tank was popular a long time ago for the reasons you say but we found this out long time ago not to be true. The only thing it helps is filter feeders like sponges, some bi-valves, tunicates, clams, feather dusters etc. not corals. It would grow copepod populations but the ones we want that live in the water columns dont survive in our tanks unless again we remove our fish, filteration system and corals.

 

[-Logzor]

You never are going to have large numbers of zooplankton in your reef unless you remove your fish and filtration system. Dumping phyto in our tank was popular a long time ago for the reasons you say but we found this out long time ago not to be true. The only thing it helps is filter feeders like sponges, some bi-valves, tunicates, clams, feather dusters etc. not corals. It would grow copepod populations but the ones we want that live in the water columns dont survive in our tanks unless again we remove our fish, filteration system and corals.

I'm not trying to feed my corals with phyto, I'm simply trying to maintain high nutrient levels (nitrates) in my reef. It seems when nitrates are at dead zero my corals starve but with barely detectable they do a lot better.

By dosing lots of phyto, verses regular fish food (to sustain higher nutrient levels), I think I avoid a lot of the other junk in food that I don't want.

I'm trying to figure out if culturing zoox is possible. I'm running my own phyto experiment and I'm hoping to determine if it helps my reef or not. So far I think it's done more good than harm.

Edit: OK now I'm interested in this debate, lol, I did some searching and found this great video from MACNA, talking about all the indirect benefits to our reefs:

[video=youtube;1BSI3kIV6Oc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BSI3kIV6Oc[/video]

I think part of the issue is that people probably are not dosing nearly enough to have any impact on their systems. Just like anything in our reefs, using the correct amount is critical. An example: If we only dosed 1mL of buffer we would observe no impact and assume it doesn't benefit our reefs, but in actuality buffer is extremely important, in the correct dosages.

 

[DiverGirl82]

Does anyone know if it is possible to culture this product? Right now I culture regular phyto but I wouldn't mind trying this out.

ALG-0576 Premium Aquatics - ALG-0576 Aquarium Supplies

Hi, I see this is a really old thread but I was wondering if you tried the phycopure zoox and if you liked it. I'm interested in the product but can't find much feedback from people who have actually used it.