Will large doses of live phyto alter my salinity?

[JosephM]

This might be stupid but won’t large doses of phyto cause a slow rise in salinity? Right now I’m dosing 50ml a day in a ~35 gal system and I just started culturing it myself so I plan on pushing it to the max to see what my tank can handle. I make it at 30ppt. Im thinking I’ll probably max out at around a cup of phyto a day (in a few months while I slowly work up). How can I negate the salinity rise?

 

[vetteguy53081]

This might be stupid but won’t large doses of phyto cause a slow rise in salinity? Right now I’m dosing 50ml a day in a ~35 gal system and I just started culturing it myself so I plan on pushing it to the max to see what my tank can handle. I make it at 30ppt. Im thinking I’ll probably max out at around a cup of phyto a day (in a few months while I slowly work up). How can I negate the salinity rise?

I dose phyto occasionally and see little to no salinity affect

 

[JosephM]

I dose phyto occasionally and see little to no salinity affect

How much are you dosing in comparison to total water volume though?

 

[vetteguy53081]

How much are you dosing in comparison to total water volume though?

This particular tank is 660g and I dose 3-4 oz once per week

 

[JosephM]

This particular tank is 660g and I dose 3-4 oz once per week

Yeah. So that's even less then what I'm dosing right now. Im talking about dosing 8oz PER DAY in a 35 gal system. That's bound to cause a rise in salinity unless I filter the phyto out of the water with like a 2-5 micron sieve or negate the changes by adding RO along with it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yeah. So that's even less then what I'm dosing right now. Im talking about dosing 8oz PER DAY in a 35 gal system. That's bound to cause a rise in salinity unless I filter the phyto out of the water with like a 2-5 micron sieve or negate the changes by adding RO along with it.

That is a huge amount. Is there a reason why so much ? It is a supplement in most cases. Mine is to supply to a clam

 

[elysics]

You could add a dosing pump that takes out 50ml of tank water a day, probably slightly less because your skimmer also takes some out and because the phyto is only 30ppt. Or turn your skimmer wetter.

 

[JosephM]

That is a huge amount. Is there a reason why so much ? It is a supplement in most cases. Mine is to supply to a clam

No reason at all. Just want to see what will happen. From my reading of other experiments there reaches a point to where you will basically have a culture crash in your tank. Doesn't harm much except it looks ugly with the dead brown phyto everywhere. I want to be able to achieve just below that 'crash' level for an extended time and see how it benefits the reef ecosystem in an enclosed box.

 

[JosephM]

You could add a dosing pump that takes out 50ml of tank water a day, probably slightly less because your skimmer also takes some out and because the phyto is only 30ppt. Or turn your skimmer wetter.

I didn't think of that. I'd have to do some math to calculate the salinity difference per water volume since I run my tank at 1.0264 and the phyto is basically 1.021. (I am running skimmer wet as is since its meant for a nano tank its impossible to run it very dry.

 

[elysics]

I didn't think of that. I'd have to do some math to calculate the salinity difference per water volume since I run my tank at 1.0264 and the phyto is basically 1.021. (I am running skimmer wet as is since its meant for a nano tank its impossible to run it very dry.

Unless you want to go through the trouble of figuring out exactly how much your skimmer takes out, I'd just start in the ballpark of taking out an extra 30 or 40 ml and measure salinity every day for a while. If it trends up, take out more, if it trends down, take out less.

 

[JosephM]

The more I think about the more I think I might just stay around 50ml twice a day tops. Too much trouble for me for a fun experiment. Plus I'm definitely low income being a full time student so I can't risk a tank crash. PLUS the less I use the more I can giveaway and sell.

 

[Rmckoy]

The more I think about the more I think I might just stay around 50ml twice a day tops. Too much trouble for me for a fun experiment. Plus I'm definitely low income being a full time student so I can't risk a tank crash. PLUS the less I use the more I can giveaway and sell.

I’ve always thought too much phyto ( green water ) will increase the nutrients to be removed .

 

[JosephM]

I’ve always thought too much phyto ( green water ) will increase the nutrients to be removed .

I don't exactly understand what you're saying but live phyto from my understanding basically filters the water in the same sense that other micro algaes do. They'll compete with nuisance micro algaes, absorb P03 and N04 and filter the water. Large parts of the ocean are filtered solely by phytoplankton.