phyto

[reeferwanabe]

what do you think is the best and place to purchase phyoplankton?

 

[Carlo]

Many stores carry DT's or ReefNutrition brands and both are very good. But judging from the fact that you're asking where to purchase it I'd assume you haven't use it before.

The question I'd want to ask you is why do you need it? Contrary to what you might have gotten from some advertising you probably have enough natural plankton growing in your tank that you don't need to add additional amounts. If you skim and get green water like tea you have plenty of plankton growing in the tank already for any normal fish or coral.

There are only a couple types of coral that I'm aware of that will normally require dosing of plankton to keep and these are usually tough/difficult corals. These same corals usually do better when you don't run a skimmer since the skimmer pulls much of the plankton out of the water.

Adding bottled plankton is one of the easiest ways to bump your nitrates and phosphates which most people don't want to do. Now if you are running a separate culture for something like pods and need to add plankton then that's a totally different story.

I don't know why you need it, but I'd hate to see you purchasing something you don't need or that will get sucked right back out by the skimmer and be wasted or worse yet give you nitrate and phosphate problems. BTW, if you have a coral that does in fact require it then you would want to turn off the skimmer for a few hours while you dose it.

Carlo

PS most people buy it for pods, clams and things like sponges. Clams don't require plankton in the water but can use up to 5% of it for their daily diet. There would be enough in a normal aquarium without dosing. Same for pods in the tank. Sponges on the other hand probably wouldn't have enough in the tank and could make use of small daily or bi-daily additions. In cases where you have a lot of filter feeding plankton (not just filter feeding) corals you don't need to worry about "fouling" the tank because they will "absorb" the plankton before it breaks down into nitrates and phosphates.

 

[reeferwanabe]

thanks for your wisdom Carlo.
I was considering a clam . I heard 3" and under they need phyto and wanted to have some on hand.I have this stuff called coral food mix by h2o life is this any good?

 

[Carlo]

I should have mentioned baby clams can use more phyto then adult clams but the amount is still questionable. Different studies give different numbers. Also worth noting some studies show growth being ok even without dosing it in established tanks.

If you do get a 3" clam it might not be a bad idea to spot feed some phyto mixed with some tank water directly towards the clam every couple of days. You should be able to use 1/3 to 1/4 what the directions tell you on the bottle. A small bottle of DT's should be enough. You shouldn't need to get a second bottle as it's not something you will need to continue with. Once the baby clam gets off to a good start you'll be fine and the clam will require less and less phyto as it grows and your tank will have it naturally anyway. For this size clam it's really your call.

I would spot check nitrates every week to make sure you aren't getting a build up. If not your safe to dose it but turn off the skimmer for a couple of hours at dose time or you'll just suck it right back out of the water and waste your money.

Carlo