Phytoplankton dosing causes diatoms?

[Andrewalex11]

I decided to try and target feed my smaller mouthed corals with some phytoplankton about a month ago. The prescribed amount was 5ml per 50 gallons, so I had used 1ml per 10 gallons in my case. After about 2 weeks of dosing the eschew phytoplankton I had what I call a diatom depression, I mean my tank straight turned brown. It was insane. Anyone else have this issue? I don't dose phytoplankton for this reason.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Never heard of that, never experiment it either.
Where did you get the phyto. And your sure it's diatoms?

 

[Texas Reefer]

I have put phytofeast in my broadcast fish food every night for years. Have not had a chronic problem.

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

Have you checked your parameters? Dosing phytoplankton can drastically increase nutrient levels in an aquarium as most of the cells are filtered from the water and just break down. Even dosing live phytoplankton will have this effect and it's a common myth that dosing phytoplankton will somehow decrease nutrient levels.

@texasreefer each system is different and while one may be able to deal with the addition of so much nutrients, others may not.

 

[Timothy Butler]

Target feeding is great for the corals two to three times a week I feed them along with all the other coral feed fish every night all they can eat in about 30 to 45 seconds or else you start to pull up the tank and hopefully you have a good clean up crew

 

[Andrewalex11]

Have you checked your parameters? Dosing phytoplankton can drastically increase nutrient levels in an aquarium as most of the cells are filtered from the water and just break down. Even dosing live phytoplankton will have this effect and it's a common myth that dosing phytoplankton will somehow decrease nutrient levels.

@texasreefer each system is different and while one may be able to deal with the addition of so much nutrients, others may not.

My levels were all good I might have had a barely almost un-noticeable increase in phosphates but that's about it. I used it purely to feed small-mouthed corals in hopes it would increase growth. And growth it indeed increased in regards to some nice nasty diatoms haha

 

[Timothy Butler]

My levels were all good I might have had a barely almost un-noticeable increase in phosphates but that's about it. I used it purely to feed small-mouthed corals in hopes it would increase growth. And growth it indeed increased in regards to some nice nasty diatoms haha

Do you use myosin shrimp or brine shrimp or do you use oyster tags to feed your Coral supplemental nutrients brine shrimp have no nutritional value myosin shrimp are very high in protein and are good for both fish and supplemental feeding on my corals as needed usually I feed 2 or 3 times a week it works for me very well

 

[Timothy Butler]

Do you use myosin shrimp or brine shrimp or do you use oyster tags to feed your Coral supplemental nutrients brine shrimp have no nutritional value myosin shrimp are very high in protein and are good for both fish and supplemental feeding on my corals as needed usually I feed 2 or 3 times a week it works for me very well

Do as much or as little feeding if you do not have a good clean up crew crabs hermit crabs snails they get rid of the food that falls to the bottom I feed my fish twice a day for 30 seconds and then I supplement my corals and I turn off all circulation to the tanks make it a mixture of my sand shrimp and oyster lay it on top of them they eat it they grow they multiply they Bud they split I can't stop corals from grown in my but I love it I got a lot of people come over in her very surprised to see what I have I will take it that I got a lot of it before they bombed collection of coral but now you can't get them only way is the aquaculture Bud split and the continued growth and repopulation of corals that have almost been erased from the face of our sea they say it'll be the home Aquarius reef tank that will be responsible for reintroducing Carl's that no longer exist in the wild that would be a very cool thing I would find that a privilege to be a part of look at the Great Barrier Reef it's dead you can't pick up a big size Coral nowadays I bought brain corals at Wade 10lb I laugh at you and your ignorance of what you can do with a Talon you're given I do

 

[Timothy Butler]

My levels were all good I might have had a barely almost un-noticeable increase in phosphates but that's about it. I used it purely to feed small-mouthed corals in hopes it would increase growth. And growth it indeed increased in regards to some nice nasty diatoms haha

Most corals will take supplemental feedings two to three times a week and they react very good to this because they do filter feed and collect small shrimp and particles to help them with their photosynthesis put some people on here don't know that you have to have brown algae for your Coral to live that's what allows it to photosynthesize people don't get it you're doing a good job one piece of advice leave enough room between corals to grow so they don't fight each other otherwise you're doing a great job Pat yourself on the back and I'm glad you're getting good results with the LED lighting it's awesome to hear you save a lot of energy and a lot of heat on the tank that you don't have to remove with a chiller so congratulations enjoy it cherish it is a hobby that most people wouldn't have the will or the time to invest in properly maintaining a reef aquarium I know so many people that started out went five years then decided to quit or they did total Coral die off do without isolating new inhabitants that's my number one advice for you isolate all newcomers in an isolation tank for at least 10 days that way you can see if it has any disease bugs you can cut it off and the corn teen quarantine or isolation tank that will stop your corals from being destroyed overnight because you wanted to put something in the tank as soon as you got it and not make sure it's safe to be in the tank have fun

 

[Timothy Butler]

I buy phytoplankton at the coral dealer comes in a jar with green liquid obviously phytoplankton i-dos 75 drafts every night in my 150 gallon and I dos 150 drops in my 300 gallon tank helps your copepod population expand and give the corals natural food that will grow with the phytoplankton that you put in the tank it works great highly recommended just don't overdose there is a danger of green algae once you see your copepods population explode you can back off to half the dose and you will have a very healthy tank and with a good clean up crew it almost takes care of itself I love my passion I recommend people this Hobby it is time consuming and a little expensive but when you're done and you have that beautiful thriving ecosystem to watch swaying back and forth It's hypnotic I love my reef tank tanks

 

[Timothy Butler]

Have you checked your parameters? Dosing phytoplankton can drastically increase nutrient levels in an aquarium as most of the cells are filtered from the water and just break down. Even dosing live phytoplankton will have this effect and it's a common myth that dosing phytoplankton will somehow decrease nutrient levels.

@texasreefer each system is different and while one may be able to deal with the addition of so much nutrients, others may not.

I have used phytoplankton and love the results I get from it it maintains a healthy copepod population for your corals to filter feed at night I dose phytoplankton in both tanks every night and I have very good results

 

[Timothy Butler]

I don't have a diatom problem with phytoplankton feeding the copepods so I don't know where you're getting that information from but I have not personally experienced that problem and I dos daily in both tanks phytoplankton once your copepods get to a thriving repopulating you can decrease the phytoplankton but I have never seen or heard about this diatom problem I guess I better Google it good luck you are a part of an elite community be proud to be a reef tanker I have for 17 years and loved every minute I hated cleaning and brushing and polishing changing Slaughter but it's all worth it at the end a brilliant ecosystem you made two further growth of corals I also use a product called Reef fuel very good results with that my corals responded really good to it highly recommended

 

[Andrewalex11]

I feed mysis shrimp usually I don't like feeding brine Shrimp in my saltwater tanks. If they are going to eat a shrimp it's always mysis. My CUC is amazing and always clears up the tank I never have any leftovers after feeding. I try to target feed my fish corals and shrimp with an oral syringe to eliminate the issue of leftovers. Actually I just put a pretty decent sized conch in my tank to help get the leftover diatoms out and increase my CUCs strength. it was the best decision I've ever made to add that conch

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I feed mysis shrimp usually I don't like feeding brine Shrimp in my saltwater tanks. If they are going to eat a shrimp it's always mysis. My CUC is amazing and always clears up the tank I never have any leftovers after feeding. I try to target feed my fish corals and shrimp with an oral syringe to eliminate the issue of leftovers. Actually I just put a pretty decent sized conch in my tank to help get the leftover diatoms out and increase my CUCs strength. it was the best decision I've ever made to add that conch

Where are you getting you phyto?

 

[Timothy Butler]

I feed mysis shrimp usually I don't like feeding brine Shrimp in my saltwater tanks. If they are going to eat a shrimp it's always mysis. My CUC is amazing and always clears up the tank I never have any leftovers after feeding. I try to target feed my fish corals and shrimp with an oral syringe to eliminate the issue of leftovers. Actually I just put a pretty decent sized conch in my tank to help get the leftover diatoms out and increase my CUCs strength. it was the best decision I've ever made to add that conch

I feed mysis shrimp usually I don't like feeding brine Shrimp in my saltwater tanks. If they are going to eat a shrimp it's always mysis. My CUC is amazing and always clears up the tank I never have any leftovers after feeding. I try to target feed my fish corals and shrimp with an oral syringe to eliminate the issue of leftovers. Actually I just put a pretty decent sized conch in my tank to help get the leftover diatoms out and increase my CUCs strength. it was the best decision I've ever made to add that conch

I have heard great things about the Fighting Conch unfortunately I have a crush Coral substrate and not sand this is going to change in about a week thank you for your information I will see if it will help again thank you for your information

 

[Timothy Butler]

I feed mysis shrimp usually I don't like feeding brine Shrimp in my saltwater tanks. If they are going to eat a shrimp it's always mysis. My CUC is amazing and always clears up the tank I never have any leftovers after feeding. I try to target feed my fish corals and shrimp with an oral syringe to eliminate the issue of leftovers. Actually I just put a pretty decent sized conch in my tank to help get the leftover diatoms out and increase my CUCs strength. it was the best decision I've ever made to add that conch

Brine shrimp have little to no nutritional value myosin shrimp are very full of protein and using krill on bigger size I'm glad to see somebody interested in learning a time-consuming and money consuming Hobby be proud of what you do most people are not really ready for the commitment of time electricity and how to choose proper corals for the reef you are trying to gross and have the ability two aquaculture budding splitting of corals make sure they come from the same region my two reef tanks are mostly Fiji corals I've been diving around the world and I like what fiji's corals have to offer now I'm trying SPS it's a whole new game there I was worried about white tips on dsps I was told the calcified tips that are white are waiting for the algae to farm over the white tips I tried LEDs I couldn't sustain or have thriving corals under LED so I went back to my metal halide already see a big difference in girls compared to LED I'm not saying it might not be good for you but it was not good for my tank

Where are you getting you phyto?

I get my phytoplankton from my Coral dealer the only thing is it needs to be refrigerated when not using I have seen my copepod population explode they are crawling on the glass at night they curl up and drift in the current and help feed some of your corals I found phytoplankton dosing very valuable to help keep a thriving and growing corals I was also turned to use a product called Reef fuel highly recommended first dosing you notice a difference right away it also helps replace Trace elements

 

[Timothy Butler]

Brine shrimp have little to no nutritional value myosin shrimp are very full of protein and using krill on bigger size I'm glad to see somebody interested in learning a time-consuming and money consuming Hobby be proud of what you do most people are not really ready for the commitment of time electricity and how to choose proper corals for the reef you are trying to gross and have the ability two aquaculture budding splitting of corals make sure they come from the same region my two reef tanks are mostly Fiji corals I've been diving around the world and I like what fiji's corals have to offer now I'm trying SPS it's a whole new game there I was worried about white tips on dsps I was told the calcified tips that are white are waiting for the algae to farm over the white tips I tried LEDs I couldn't sustain or have thriving corals under LED so I went back to my metal halide already see a big difference in girls compared to LED I'm not saying it might not be good for you but it was not good for my tank

I get my phytoplankton from my Coral dealer the only thing is it needs to be refrigerated when not using I have seen my copepod population explode they are crawling on the glass at night they curl up and drift in the current and help feed some of your corals I found phytoplankton dosing very valuable to help keep a thriving and growing corals I was also turned to use a product called Reef fuel highly recommended first dosing you notice a difference right away it also helps replace Trace elements

A refugium filter with macroalgae you are using to clean the water days they say this is where you are copepods go during your daytime cycle once your light pops off they come out I was scared when I saw the first one but my coral dealer said that is a sign of a very well-maintained tank if you do not have copepods in your tank you can buy them I would highly recommend it put it in your aquarium and give it phytoplankton your corals will explode with color and size I always listen with an open mind to what people have to say with their experiences particularly SPS where I have very little knowledge but I'm getting facts and always use Google it does not lie or Miss interpret facts and information on this site for some reason there are people saying things that aren't not completely true be proud of your reef tank they say in the near future where the Great Barrier Reef is dead it will be the coral hobbyist that will have saved species and would repopulate from reef tanks I would love to be a part of that

 

[Timothy Butler]

Where are you getting you phyto?

I get phytoplankton from my local Coral dealer It's relatively inexpensive but has a great outcome especially for your corals that filter feed at night