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View Full Version : DT's Live Phyto Users


robertifly
12/06/2008, 05:57 AM
I just got some of this and was wondering how many are using and what is your results, comments. It sort of looks and smells like what my skimmer collects?

crvz
12/06/2008, 07:25 AM
What do you hope to feed with it? VERY few critters we keep in our tanks actually eat phytoplankton (usually zooplankton is much better alternative), and you're probably doing very little more than just fouling your water. And if it smells bad, it's probably spoiled anyways.

robertifly
12/06/2008, 08:42 AM
crvz if that's really true I must of misunderstood, I thought phyto was good for filter feeders such as clam, I have a Jewel clam,also I thought phyto was food that is sort of building block in the ecosystem we call reef tank. As for the smell, most of "all" the foods, frozen, freeze dried, flake or pellet I'm put the nose to have an offensive smell, certainly not any I would use as room freshener. Let's put it back out there "Anyone using DT's Phyto?" and if so why are you or why should you use it, how do you use it?

1DeR9_3Hy
12/06/2008, 08:49 AM
DT's should look like dark greenwater and have a sulfur smell to it when fresh. It will smell like rotten vegis when its bad.

Dont pods eat phyto? So if your trying to up your pod population, phyto is a good helper.

crvz
12/06/2008, 08:54 AM
A clam is one of the few things that would consume phyto, but in my opinion it's a misunderstood product and pushed improperly in the hobby. And with tridacna clams, though previously thought required phyto when under 2" or so, have now been shown to not need phyto at any stage.

Again, phytoplankton, plant matter, are used by very few creatures in our tanks. Zooplankton, being that of animals, would be the "building block" of nutrition that you're implying. Corals and other inverts are much sooner to consume zooplankton and have no need for phyto.

robertifly
12/06/2008, 09:52 AM
^^

GeoffM1968
12/06/2008, 09:55 AM
What product is anyone using if feeding zooplankton in their reef system with variety of fauna? Any studies on the subject? Is there benefit to feeding versus a general regime such as ON Prime Reef?

I am asking as I have been using Phyto for about a month and have seen good response from my Caulastrea. Granted it may be antidotal response. My LFS recommended as regime to fight some polyp recession I was having with it as it was not responding to targeted feeding with all parameters in check.

Roy G. Biv
12/06/2008, 10:14 AM
I dont use DT's. I used to. I ended up growing my own and its very easy to do. A 2L soda bottle, a light, and an air pump. I think DT's is a blend of Nannochloropsis oculata, Isochrysis galbana, and Tetraselmis. One of them, I think Tetra, is the best for clams.

When dosing you will see the pod population dramatically increase. If you start growing your own you will smell the difference between fresh and bottled phyto.

robertifly
12/06/2008, 10:17 AM
crvz, I just did a search here and consensus seems you are correct in that phyto used by Zooplanton and to feed rotifer cultures, maybe clams. So maybe I am correct in phyto being a building block for the reef system in general but perhaps it is a long stretch to think I could benefit the tank by feeding it with phyto and feeding the tank zooplanton would be a much better and direct method to feed? Right now I have mostly softies and invertebrate and plan to add variety as I go.