Golden Pearls & Nannochloropsis

[Flame*Angel]

I've been feeding my tank a lot of golden pearls (1 tsp. a day) and Nannochloropsis (a cup and a half a day) as I've been feeding a couple non-photosynthetic seafans. The seafans are doing great but I've noticed my clams gaping somewhat at times. More recently I've been feeding most of the golden pearls very early in the morning and at night after the lights go out as at these times the clams aren't open and it seems to be helping.

Question #1 - could the golden pearls be a bit big or jsut a bit much for the clams to be filtering? I bought the 4 smallest sizes and just mixed them all together.

Question #2 - would I be better off culturing Isochrysis instead of Nannochloropsis? I've read that nanno has a very tough outer cell membrane that clams and other microfauna can't digest fully but that it's great for feeding rotifers. I do culture rotifers as well and they never seem to bother the clams.

 

[MiNdErAsR]

It's very possible the golden pearls may clog the gills of certain clams. I don't think nannochloropsis would be a problem because (if I'm not mistaken) that's what DT's is made of, and everyone I know uses it for their clams.

Check this link for some excellent articles on feeding by Ron Shimek.

HTH

 

[Flame*Angel]

Excellent articles. I'm only asking because in Joyce Wilkerson's book she has a rundown on several different types of phytoplankton.

Under <i>Nannochloropsis</i>:
<blockquote>
"... This alga can be digested by rotifers, but its food value for most other animals is low because the cell wall prevents them from digesting it thoroughly."
</blockquote>

Under <i>Isochrysis</i>:
<blockquote>
"<i>Isochrysis</i> is often used in bivalve (clam, oyster, etc.) culturing. ..."
</blockquote>

She does mention that <i>Isochrysis</i> isn't as easy to culture as <i>Nannochloropsis</i>.