increasing natural plankton levels

[trentdingo]

How do you keep your phyto and zooplankton populations high and diverse?
I have considered starting a phyto population and also starting a brine shrimp population so I can harvest the young a few hours after hatching. But seems like a TON of extra work. Mainly I just want to supply a larger food source than average for my acros. Natural/ self-sustaining populations are what I am after as opposed to "additive X"

So what do you guys do?

 

[rickyfins]

I would use a larger refugium to help promote phyto and zoo plankton. I'm sure some populate while others will not. Also another thing to consider is that some species of phyto eat others and will give you a good population of one while the other may not flourish. Of the three types of Phyto in DT's one consumes at least one of the others in the bottle over time. You would have to pick species that are of similar size and nutritional requirements.

Skimming takes most of the buggers out though. So normal dosing regime is necessary. You could try having a culture drip in the system, but run the risk of contaminating the culture from the tank you are feeding. You would also have to culture most species separately as well.

I hope this helps.