phytoplankton, do I need it
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Sisterlimonpot
Premium Member
LPS will definitely benefit from phyto.
Flipper62
Premium Member
For years I used DT'S Phyto.... The past year I have been using Phyto2
I believe that its good to add.....but it also depends on what you have in the tank.
I can say....be careful on how much you add. Only add the amount for the tank of you are just going to ask for possable algae problems
I believe that its good to add.....but it also depends on what you have in the tank.
I can say....be careful on how much you add. Only add the amount for the tank of you are just going to ask for possable algae problems
Frick-n-Frags
New member
why do LPS benefit from phyto? they are packing their own algae. they are meat eaters.
most (if not all) photosynthetic stony corals need meat, not veggies.
an LPS is just an SPS with bigger polyps. what is a Galaxia? or Turbinaria? they are right in the middle, but still all the same.
lets not BS the noobs ok? they need the straight scoop more than anyone else.
btw, what exactly is that "sun coral"? if it is a Tubastrea, it requires LOTS of meat type food to thrive. if it is a Protopaly grandis, then it needs nothing.
most (if not all) photosynthetic stony corals need meat, not veggies.
an LPS is just an SPS with bigger polyps. what is a Galaxia? or Turbinaria? they are right in the middle, but still all the same.
lets not BS the noobs ok? they need the straight scoop more than anyone else.
btw, what exactly is that "sun coral"? if it is a Tubastrea, it requires LOTS of meat type food to thrive. if it is a Protopaly grandis, then it needs nothing.
DC_40gallon
New member
DC_40gallon
New member
there are two types of sun corals that I am familiary with (both look the same to me). One will extend its tentacles at night (thus they are much cheaper to own) and the other extends its tentacles all day and around usually around $90-100 a head to own. They do eat a ton! I watched my LFS guy put about half a teaspoon of pure mysis shrimp in a single head and that pig had it ate in less than 10 minutes.
DC_40gallon
New member
I personally would look into another coral feed such as Coral Frenzy. More vitamins, minerals and benefits for SPS, LPS and even fish! A jar goes a long way as you will only use 1/4 of a teaspoon and mix it in with a glass of tank water. Target feeding is best for the corals and the rest can be poured into a powerhead and let it be thrown all over the tank.
Sisterlimonpot
Premium Member
It's definitely not "BS" it is a debatable subject, The fact that LPS don't ingest phyto in the tank is absurd, for the sheer fact that they are filter feeders and if there is phyto floating in your tank then they are ingesting it. That's not the debate, the debate comes from, "do they benefit from these free floaters?" Some researchers say "yes" and some say "no". Do they accidently capture it and store more than they need? Or do they take this extra phyto and put it to uses? I can’t answer this question with fact after fact.
From experience I dose concentrated phyto and since I started I have had great results with my LPS (frogspawn, favia, and trumpets) they really opened up, colored up and started to grow pretty quickly. Not to say they don't benefit from meaty foods as well, about 12 months later, after reading more on cyclopeze I started target feeding them this as well. And they really took off after that. Was it a combination of both or can I get the same results with just cyclopeze? The 12 months of not target feeding and dosing tank with phyto would suggest no. Will you get good results without dosing phyto and only target feeding meaty foods? I would venture to say yes. But the fact that LPS don’t benefit from phyto is ridiculous.
I'm not a marine biologist, just a hobbyist, so to me I don't have fact after fact, just my experience, and from my experience they definitely benefit from phytoplankton.
From experience I dose concentrated phyto and since I started I have had great results with my LPS (frogspawn, favia, and trumpets) they really opened up, colored up and started to grow pretty quickly. Not to say they don't benefit from meaty foods as well, about 12 months later, after reading more on cyclopeze I started target feeding them this as well. And they really took off after that. Was it a combination of both or can I get the same results with just cyclopeze? The 12 months of not target feeding and dosing tank with phyto would suggest no. Will you get good results without dosing phyto and only target feeding meaty foods? I would venture to say yes. But the fact that LPS don’t benefit from phyto is ridiculous.
I'm not a marine biologist, just a hobbyist, so to me I don't have fact after fact, just my experience, and from my experience they definitely benefit from phytoplankton.
There has been no proof that stony corals benefit directly from phytoplankton. But as Sisterlimonpot stated, there are some who believe certain corals may consume phytoplankton. We just have to be careful about making this sound like anything more than theory. From what I've read, I think the evidence leans heavily towards no direct benefit, and phytoplankton that has been found injested by a coral is not actually used by the coral. But that's not to say there is not indirect benefit. I'm a big believer in dosing phytoplankton, but I always stick to live phytoplankton. I've used DTs, but more often, I just grow my own. Your tank will do just fine without it, though. There are very few (if any) organisms we put in our tank that actually require the addition of phytoplankton.
Sisterlimonpot
Premium Member
After further reading on the net I see that many sway towards the opposite of my stance, and I like what IslandCrow has said about it being possibly an indirect benefit with other factors in play.
Personally, I think corals aren't anywhere near that discriminating. If it's in the water and is the right diameter and doesn't offend the polyp, it's into the polyp mouths at first chance, and I've not seen them close up and reject phyto, which would be their reaction to something negative. But imho anything green is going to carry phosphate with it, and that can grow algae you may not want. What I use generally is frozen cyclopeeze (lps) and I also keep a lot of bristleworms to break down anything of size into smaller size: I've had good success with montiporas in that regard.
theyammieguy
Active member
I was dosing 1.1ml a day in my 12g until several people on RC told me I was wasting my time. I cannot say that I saw a difference when using and when I stopped using it. With that said, I may try using it again and concentrate only one my torch to see if I notice an improvement.
Also FWIW, I have not had any luck target feeding my torch. It just will not grab ahold of anything and put it in its mouth.
Also FWIW, I have not had any luck target feeding my torch. It just will not grab ahold of anything and put it in its mouth.
Is it necessary (or essential)?
No, its not.
The ricordea and the bubble coral can survive and grow with just sufficent light and any excess fish food they catch. The sun coral will need supplemental feeding to survive in captivity, but phytoplankton is not essential to the supplemental feeding. Frozen baby brine and cyclopeeze can suffice as the staple foods for this coral. The sun coral is often best fed with target feeding or moving to a seperate food rich feeding tank several times a week.
No, its not.
The ricordea and the bubble coral can survive and grow with just sufficent light and any excess fish food they catch. The sun coral will need supplemental feeding to survive in captivity, but phytoplankton is not essential to the supplemental feeding. Frozen baby brine and cyclopeeze can suffice as the staple foods for this coral. The sun coral is often best fed with target feeding or moving to a seperate food rich feeding tank several times a week.
What about the stuff that eats phyto? Certainly the LPS benefit from catching those small crustaceans that do eat phyto.
I believe this is where the indirect benefit comes in. Phytoplankton really is the building block for life in the oceans. It seems to me almost a given that our tanks can benefit from its addition. The converse is as Sk8r talked about. Our aquariums are a closed system, so there is always a risk when adding nutrients to it. I think it's a matter of proper system husbandry, though. Feeding our fish can lead to significant increases in nitrate and phosphate if you're not careful. So, we try not to overfeed and employ nutrient export techniques such as protein skimming and water changes. I believe the same can be done with phytoplankton. . .you just have to manage it properly. That's also why I prefer live phytoplankton. Other than the fact that freeze dried phytoplankton has a tendency to clump, possibly making it too large for ingestion by its intended target, dead phytoplankton is going to start decomposing immediately, releasing those stored phosphates directly into your water stream. Or at least I think that's the way it works. It's been a long time since I've taken a biology class.
Sisterlimonpot
Premium Member
Definitely, there is even a website that ships copepods, however most colonies are introduced to our tank as hitchhikers on our live rock.
Cyclopeeze is a product that most people use to target feed their corals, it's very tiny food particles that make it easy for the corals to ingest. Here is a website for them
Cyclopeeze is a product that most people use to target feed their corals, it's very tiny food particles that make it easy for the corals to ingest. Here is a website for them
