Feeding Hawaiin Feather Duster

[jm82792]

I have a 20 gallon reef with a Aqua C Remora (full sized) skimmer I run 12 hours at night, I run carbon and some filter floss..
The setup is 6 months old, with 20 pounds of live rock with a 2 inch sand bed.
Currently,
I do a weekly 5 gallon water change from the same place,
it's where there is a rather large protected reef is that is 100% SPS.
Puako is one of the best places to snorkel and is a large diverse reef.
However I'm not sure how much phytoplankton is there.

The water is clean,
but I'm not sure if using that water alone will suffice for large feather dusters.
DT's phytoplankton is out of the question,
shipping to Hawaii will cost way too much.
Do I need to feed it with what I'm doing,
if I do what dry or preserved(unrefrigerated) food for it would be best?

Are there any economical way, since I'm a younger teen,
to catch phytoplankton ?

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

I grow phytoplankton/zooplankton using skimmate. I have had a continuous culture going in a 1 gallon container for a about 4 months. Not sure where you would get your starter culture from. I suppose you could just let the skimmate bubble and wait for something to bloom, but that is probably hit and miss.


Here are a few things to remember:
16 hour photoperiod
1 cup of skimmate every week
1.023 specific gravity
Air bubbling through rigid tubing

 

[sedor]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15600072#post15600072 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Joe Pusdesris
I grow phytoplankton/zooplankton using skimmate. I have had a continuous culture going in a 1 gallon container for a about 4 months. Not sure where you would get your starter culture from. I suppose you could just let the skimmate bubble and wait for something to bloom, but that is probably hit and miss.


Here are a few things to remember:
16 hour photoperiod
1 cup of skimmate every week
1.023 specific gravity
Air bubbling through rigid tubing

Interesting...

Are there any benefits to using skimmate as opposed to the usual RO water?

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

The skimmate acts as the nutrient. I am not using it to mix saltwater. I use it instead of fertilizer.

 

[sedor]

Makes sense. Thanks for the tip!

 

[sunfishh]

Look on the net and see if there are any research or educational facilities on the big island that specialize in marine life. Then see if you can volunteer for them and they will probally just give you a starter culture.

 

[jm82792]

My skimate is really green already.
Hmm I've read about that before.

There really isn't anything here,
I'd happily donate my time for nothing but that's on another island.

 

[DTagrin]

A couple of points;
It is illegal to ship any live phytoplankton to Hawaii.
Culturing skimate is most likely a cyanobacteria culture. I suggest contacting a local university to try to get some kind of phytoplankton to culture.
Good luck,

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15601881#post15601881 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DTagrin
A couple of points;
It is illegal to ship any live phytoplankton to Hawaii.
Culturing skimate is most likely a cyanobacteria culture. I suggest contacting a local university to try to get some kind of phytoplankton to culture.
Good luck,

I do not know of any green planktonic cyanobacteria. Can you point me at some reading to support your claim?

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

This is a picture of my culture. If there is any evidence of it being cyano, I will probably take it down, but I didn't think that planktonic cyano came in that color. Also, there are a lot of zooplankton swimming around in there, and I didn't think zooplankton could eat cyanobacteria.

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/AXGondI-HTKIb_RksVmk6g?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_xXnKvgKPgX4/Si_0yszEYAI/AAAAAAAAAng/i0LyN56HPiM/s800/DSCF0004.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/deformative0/Phytoplankton?feat=embedwebsite">Phytoplankton</a></td></tr></table>

 

[sedor]

Wait, we aren't talking about starting a phyto culture with skimmate are we? I assumed you would "feed" the phyto with skimmate when you split the cultures.

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15607120#post15607120 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ryandlf
Wait, we aren't talking about starting a phyto culture with skimmate are we? I assumed you would "feed" the phyto with skimmate when you split the cultures.

This is correct. I started my culture with DTs.

 

[kahaluu]

Featherdusters don't feed primarily on phytoplankton, but on zooplankton or any other floating debris in the water. I have 3 hawaiian featherdusters in a 20 gal tank with a 10 gal sump/refugium and I don't feed the featherdusters directly at all, and I use synthetic seawater. The will take what ever crumbs are left from fish feedings, fish poop, zooplankters from the refugium, etc.. You could just use a turkey baster to feed them mashed/crushed fish food. They need good water flow for filterfeeding. If they start ejecting their crown of "feathers" (which they can then regrow) this is a sign that they are stressed and may not be getting enough to eat. Otherwise I wouldn't worry.