To pod or not to pod

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Yes I don't believe in phytoplankton dosing. Chastise me. Lol.
D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Ppl are ppl. Believe what u want

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

At least I started healthy conversation about the topic vs. What ppl believe or dont

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Cry me a river

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Don't even get me started on Dinoflagellates osteoporosis. Lol
Ppl with their microscopes

You really think your tank is getting red tide? Or that this or that is benthic or not. Or all of it.
I don't
-d

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

If the pod food wasn't present niether would be the pods....
And to say this tank has more pods than that tank cuz I dose pods or phytoplankton to the tank or that tank is an assumption just as my findings are.
D

 

[Lavey29]

I guess it depends on what you consider phytoplankton and what you consider "abundantly". The diatoms, dinoflagellates, and even cyanobacteria our tanks often generate could all be considered phytoplankton, though they're usually problematic in their benthic state rather than the types being cultured which tend to live in the water column. Yes, there will be some amount of phytoplankton present in a given system, but no, it's not going to feed much. If it was "abundant", then when your nutrient levels rose you would see the water turning opaque with green or brown as the plankton multiplied. In reality, between the many consumers of the phytoplankton and the multitude of filtration options that can remove or kill them (skimmer, ozone, UV, etc.), the population sustained in a typical tank is minimal. I really ought to get a centrifuge and actually try to get everything out of a sample of water and look at it under a microscope to take a look at what all can actually survive there, but I am pretty sure I won't be finding tons of phytoplankton. I dose my tank ~300mL of cultured phytoplankton daily and it takes all of an hour for the water to go clear with only a skimmer, so it gets consumed fast by filter feeders and things.

In nature, the reef isn't the thing making the phytoplankton, it's the nutrient availability in cold water currents coming from long distances away, growing in transit, and arriving over reef locations. Sure, phyto can survive in a reef, but there are so many predators it really can't get to the point of thriving. This is why people see substantial benefits to filter feeders and pod/larger microcrustacean populations so consistently when dosing phytoplankton, and why a number of corals (mostly NPS) actually require some kind of planktonic dosing to survive in captivity - the concentration of these tiny foods they get in nature is far higher than what a typical reef tank maintains.

So all our tanks need is distoms, dinos and cyano and we should be good then? I appreciate your knowledgeable explanation but there is a reason why a lot of reefers dose phytoplankton. It's because unlike the ocean, it is not present in our systems as you state near the end. It's why a lot of coral additives contain it also.

internet- On natural coral reefs, phytoplankton are an abundant food source for many bivalves, soft corals, sponges, and zooplankton (such as copepods). In-home marine aquariums, however, phytoplankton generally don't make an appearance. Without the natural supply from the ocean, you don't see these microscopic plants.

 

[Lavey29]

Yes I don't believe in phytoplankton dosing. Chastise me. Lol.
D

Each tank is unique and if not dosing works best for you then keep it up. I'm sure many years ago they did not have the additives they do now yet reef tanks still existed. However, I bet your pod hotel won't see many visitors without a good abundant food source like the ocean provides.

 

[DaJMasta]

So all our tanks need is distoms, dinos and cyano and we should be good then? I appreciate your knowledgeable explanation but there is a reason why a lot of reefers dose phytoplankton. It's because unlike the ocean, it is not present in our systems as you state near the end. It's why a lot of coral additives contain it also.

"What it needs" is pretty relative, too. The organisms we generally keep don't require a lot of phytoplankton, but it's a chicken-or-the-egg problem - the stuff that lasts in the hobby generally doesn't require it because it generally isn't available. A lot of the filter feeders and things that come in on maricultured live rock won't survive long term because their food sources aren't sufficiently present - whether that's specific corals, sponges, bivalves, etc. or whether it's phytoplankton.

When you dose phytoplankton you get to a somewhat more approximate imitation of the sea, and the pod and microfauna population will change accordingly - things that were top dogs without dosing lose out to things that can take advantage of the new food source. It's not that phyto dosing is required, it's that it promotes growth of some other kinds of creatures, some that were already there in some quantity, and it allows for healthier keeping of organisms that normally require it.

There are going to be natural reefs with less phyto available, with different prominent species, and with wildly fluctuating abundance of them (usually seasonally) and the creatures that live there will reflect that. The dinos/diatoms/cyano in our tanks does actually sustain some kinds of microfauna and things, but not every eater of phytoplankton can use them or does best with them, so those that struggle to sustain on them will gradually disappear from the environment. If you've raised copepods before, you'll know that some strains have fairly particular diets - size, movement, construction of the phytoplankton itself makes it more or less suitable for different copepods to eat - and the same is true with the "ugly stage" plankton that grows in some abundance in most tanks. Not everything can eat what grows reliably in tanks, so those organisms don't thrive.

Adding phyto gives you more copepod growth, more kinds of copepods and microfauna that can reliably sustain populations, and can feed some kinds of filter feeding organisms. A tank can be perfectly healthy without it, but some kinds of organisms you can't keep or will struggle to keep, and the extra microfauna can be beneficial as a food source or a clean up crew for a lot of tanks.

 

[Lavey29]

"What it needs" is pretty relative, too. The organisms we generally keep don't require a lot of phytoplankton, but it's a chicken-or-the-egg problem - the stuff that lasts in the hobby generally doesn't require it because it generally isn't available. A lot of the filter feeders and things that come in on maricultured live rock won't survive long term because their food sources aren't sufficiently present - whether that's specific corals, sponges, bivalves, etc. or whether it's phytoplankton.

When you dose phytoplankton you get to a somewhat more approximate imitation of the sea, and the pod and microfauna population will change accordingly - things that were top dogs without dosing lose out to things that can take advantage of the new food source. It's not that phyto dosing is required, it's that it promotes growth of some other kinds of creatures, some that were already there in some quantity, and it allows for healthier keeping of organisms that normally require it.

There are going to be natural reefs with less phyto available, with different prominent species, and with wildly fluctuating abundance of them (usually seasonally) and the creatures that live there will reflect that. The dinos/diatoms/cyano in our tanks does actually sustain some kinds of microfauna and things, but not every eater of phytoplankton can use them or does best with them, so those that struggle to sustain on them will gradually disappear from the environment. If you've raised copepods before, you'll know that some strains have fairly particular diets - size, movement, construction of the phytoplankton itself makes it more or less suitable for different copepods to eat - and the same is true with the "ugly stage" plankton that grows in some abundance in most tanks. Not everything can eat what grows reliably in tanks, so those organisms don't thrive.

Adding phyto gives you more copepod growth, more kinds of copepods and microfauna that can reliably sustain populations, and can feed some kinds of filter feeding organisms. A tank can be perfectly healthy without it, but some kinds of organisms you can't keep or will struggle to keep, and the extra microfauna can be beneficial as a food source or a clean up crew for a lot of tanks.

Excellent post of information.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Why? Because it agrees with what you believe?
Diversity does not mean healthy. Just more likely of things you don't have to deal with cuz the organisms don't take care of it for you. We had bottled crap years ago. Ect
Just ppl didn't sell bugs and micro brittle stars like they do now.
D

 

[PeterEde]

I have a dragonet that eats pods and brine shrimp. I plan on going away for a month so need a decent pod population to sustain it. Not sure I'd trust someone to hand feed it every day or other day for a month

 

[Garf]

I had a mandarin in my old tank that grew fat and old. Every time I saw him I congratulated myself on what a fantastic reefer I must be. The live rock and pods are surely sustaining this little beauty. Recently the wife bought a wild one that eats absolutely anything ( I don’t think it’s tank bred, not in the UK ). Perhaps my fat old mandarin just ate food like everything else and I’m not as good as I thought I was.

 

[GarrettT]

If the pod food wasn't present niether would be the pods....
And to say this tank has more pods than that tank cuz I dose pods or phytoplankton to the tank or that tank is an assumption just as my findings are.
D

Prior to actually dosing phytoplankton, I would have agreed with you. I always believed copepods just mainly fed on detritus, so I was pretty surprised to see such a dramatic increase in the population when I started dosing it.
In regards to dosing pods, I fully agree. It’s really only needed when certain conditions aren’t met.