razorskiss
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If pods are nocturnal should I be dosing phyto at night?
Should I be dosing phyto at night?
- Thread starter razorskiss
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I usually feed during the day when the corals are more metabolically active. @Randy Holmes-Farley had an article about feeding corals during the day vs. night I believe. It depends whether your targeting pod of coral nutrition, but in the end I'm not sure it matters too much.
razorskiss
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What about to maximize feeding pods?
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Good question - in that case feeding at night might be your best bet. They tend to be more active during the night (although in our culture tanks they clear the water - eat phyto - just as fast during the day or night, so it may not matter).
I dose phyto 24 hours a day via a doser and have not really seen a difference in pod population based on day or night dosing, as I have tried both.
You have to look at it this way. As long as your tank has proper flow, pods will eat phyto during the day. It will blow through the tank and into the rocks (where they are hiding from predation) and they will be able to consume it while hiding. A lot of the phyto dosed in our tanks does not really have time to settle, like it does in a culture, as many mouths will eat it, some will be pulled out by skimmer and some will just loop over and over in the flow for quite a while and until it is consumed.
I will say that 24 hour dosing of small amounts has proven better fo rme than just dumping it in all at once at any given time. It is a constant supply of food, so all organisms that consume it can do so when they choose to.
You have to look at it this way. As long as your tank has proper flow, pods will eat phyto during the day. It will blow through the tank and into the rocks (where they are hiding from predation) and they will be able to consume it while hiding. A lot of the phyto dosed in our tanks does not really have time to settle, like it does in a culture, as many mouths will eat it, some will be pulled out by skimmer and some will just loop over and over in the flow for quite a while and until it is consumed.
I will say that 24 hour dosing of small amounts has proven better fo rme than just dumping it in all at once at any given time. It is a constant supply of food, so all organisms that consume it can do so when they choose to.
razorskiss
Active Member
All of this makes sense, thanks for the advice!
