Is there even a point?

[x1crt]

Is there even a point of dosing phytoplankton if your not dosing zooplankton?
I hope to get some zooplankton for X-mas

[Amoore311]

Pods eat phytoplankton. That being said, I dosed phyto for about 2 months in my 90 Gallon, and noticed no difference at all in my pod population.

The zooplankton you typically feed the tank is already dead... so dosing phyto to feed zooplankton doesn't make much sense

[x1crt]

So i should have zooplankton before phytoplankton?

[Amoore311]

I honestly wouldn't dose phytoplankton at all.

And zooplankton you can spot feed to corals. The zooplankton isn't "alive" though... it's frozen.

You will never be able to sustain a living population of zooplankton in your tank. The amount of phyto you would have to dose would foul the water.

[seapug]

Let's first establish:

phytoplankton= free floating/pelagic plant matter (essentially algae spores)
zooplankton= free floating/pelagic animals, but often lumped with benthic (bottom dwelling) crustaceans and worms in the aquarium hobby.

Zooplankton often feed on phytoplankton, but "dosing" phytoplankton is not a pre-requisite for having zooplankton. Both will be produced and consumed in/on rocks, sand, and especially, in refugiums in an established tank with no intervention on your behalf.

Dosing phytoplankton can boost populations of certain micro crustaceans but it's not necessary. If you choose to start phytoplankton additions, do it slowly and sparingly. High levels of phosphate and nitrate fertilizers are often utilized for the growth of the algae spores. When you add phytoplankton to the tank, you are also adding all the "polluting" ingredients used to grow it. What isn't utilized by herbivores can fuel algae blooms or simply end up in the skimmer.