oyoster eggs/phyto which products/benefits

[bsagecko]

Hello,

I am looking into start phyto dosing and dosing oyster eggs into my tank for target feeding of specific inhabitants

( I might be coming into a feather star....)

I have looked at both the DT's oyster eggs and phyto as well as Reef Nutrition oyster eggs and phyto

I was wondering what you guys thought of these products or what other products you were using similar to these........

Money is not an issue in terms of these supplements and I was wondering what was the best for the money in terms of feeding corals and hard to feed other inverts like feather stars............

Both seem to be running in the $20~$40 range...........

lmk what you think...........

I also am looking into starting a small brine hatchery anyone recommend a particular brand or dealer? I already have the equipment

I am local Central Florida with access to Tampa and Orlando so any precise information about stores/manufacters of these materials would be helpful as well......via pm

Thanks
Zack

[jwatson31]

I just bought some reef nutrition oyster feast and roti feast this weekend. obviously too early to tell any results, but tagging along to see what everyone else thinks of the stuff.

[bsagecko]

Anyone?

[DTagrin]

You may want to read this research article which compared phytoplankton products in the aquarium trade.
http://somas.stonybrook.edu/~MADL/pubspdf/Emma-clamgrowth.pdf

[Ratpack]

I can't speak to those products but I have had some really good results out of Brightwell Aquatics PhytoChrom Gold.

[buffalo123]

I did try some store bought phyto last year and stop when bubble algae started, i did not have any bubble algae before i started using it. Don't know the source of the phyto, My assumption is it came in with the phyto.
I did have some luck growing it outside in the summer time in pop bottles
I am considering trying phyto again

[moumda]

Oster eggs are great for feeding sps and organisms that need that size food. Phyto is great for clams, sandbed critters, and things that actually eat phyto. Befor you start dosing either take a look at the livestock you've got in your tank and see if you need it. A good alternative I've used is Rod's reef food. A frozen food that has pretty much everything in it and is a great fish food. Best of luck.
BTW, Dosing phyto, especially dead phyto will add nutrients to your tank that you may not need. IME feathers do not need additional supplimented feeding.

[Peter Eichler]

First of all, the chances of you maintaining a feather star longterm is slim to none even with the foods you're mentioning. Culturing rotifers and/or cilliates and feeding large amounts of every small food that may fit the size believed to be best for feather stars would be your best bet. In the end you'll probably have a tank with nutrient problems and a starfish that slowly starves anyways.

Here's a link to a lot of good information on feather Crinoids.

http://www.nova.edu/ocean/messing/crinoids/index.html

[DTagrin]

I agree with Peter. Do not buy feather stars!

[bsagecko]

Thanks for the warnings and I fully understand that my chances are not high..........I was simply wondering what other ppl were doing

I will take a look at the articles and see what I can learn about the species and different phytos

Peter~I fully understand the risk I am taking and the potential nutrient problems; however I trust the lfs who has had the feather star for over 1 month.................which to my understanding is beating the odds to begin with........Furthermore, I will be talking to the store owner to see if he will hold him an additional month for further observation and the store owner I am hoping will agree not to buy another one........(pretty good relationship thus far)

While I do not support the illegal trade or unethical trade of marine animals; I am not quite understanding the difference if he dies in my tank or someone else who knows nothing about it and then tries to replace it with another one in the future because they dont have the knowledge of its special requirements

Could you plz provide additional information about rotifers and cilliates culturing?

I have not bought this specimen yet and if I do not feel I can adequately take care of it to the best of my knowledge and ability I will not purchase the specimen...............

Thanks for all the info thus far.........

More advice would be welcomed
Thanks
Zack

[Peter Eichler]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14543981#post14543981 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bsagecko
Thanks for the warnings and I fully understand that my chances are not high..........I was simply wondering what other ppl were doing

I will take a look at the articles and see what I can learn about the species and different phytos

Peter~I fully understand the risk I am taking and the potential nutrient problems; however I trust the lfs who has had the feather star for over 1 month.................which to my understanding is beating the odds to begin with........Furthermore, I will be talking to the store owner to see if he will hold him an additional month for further observation and the store owner I am hoping will agree not to buy another one........(pretty good relationship thus far)

While I do not support the illegal trade or unethical trade of marine animals; I am not quite understanding the difference if he dies in my tank or someone else who knows nothing about it and then tries to replace it with another one in the future because they dont have the knowledge of its special requirements

Could you plz provide additional information about rotifers and cilliates culturing?

I have not bought this specimen yet and if I do not feel I can adequately take care of it to the best of my knowledge and ability I will not purchase the specimen...............

Thanks for all the info thus far.........

More advice would be welcomed
Thanks
Zack


I don't think you do munderstand... It's not that your chances aren't high, it's that your chances are just a touch shy of nil.

One month with a feather star is easy, so is 2 months, and even 6 months to a degree, but usually at that point they've started degrading and their "feathers" are getting shorter. There are even people, with very dilligent and heavy feeding, that have been able to keep them for a couple years. However, it's usually just a matter of how long it takes for them to starve to death, not if they will starve to death.

Studies have show that a very large portion of Crinoids diets consist of zooplankton and not phytoplankton so just dumping a bunch of phytoplankton in regularly probably won't get you very far. However, the phytoplankton will be need if you want to culture rotifers.

As far as cultures go, there is plenty of information around the web and on this site so do a search. Rotifers should be fairly easy to find, ciliates might be a little tricky.

[bsagecko]

I have decided not to purchase the specimen afte researching about rotifer/ciliates culturing........on top of the need for an increase means of nitrate removal............

Still would be interested in hearing about some oyster eggs pro/cons with different manufacters for my sps coral

I think I have decided on culturing my own phyto from a florida biological supply house

Thanks
Zack

[Peter Eichler]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14547843#post14547843 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bsagecko
I have decided not to purchase the specimen afte researching about rotifer/ciliates culturing........on top of the need for an increase means of nitrate removal............

Still would be interested in hearing about some oyster eggs pro/cons with different manufacters for my sps coral

I think I have decided on culturing my own phyto from a florida biological supply house

Thanks
Zack

Oyster eggs have all the workings of a great food for SPS, most importantly their size is appropriate for most SPS.

Not trying to discourage you from culturing your own phytoplankton, but if you're doing it with intentions of feeding corals you're wasting your time. An overwhelming majority of corals eat zooplankton NOT phytoplankton.

[bubbly]

By the way, stay far, far away from the reef nutrition phyto.

I had a feather duster that absolutely loved DTs. Every time I dumped DTs phyto in the tank, it would come out quickly if it was "hiding" and I could turn the tank green with DTs (it was a 6 gallon so a few capfuls would quickly have that effect) and it would clear the tank of phyto in an hour or two)

This was a brown feather duster with a feather span of about 2-3 inches.

So I bought some Reef Nutrition because it said "live" on the bottle. The funny thing was that every time I dosed with the Reef Nutrition phyto, the duster would duck his head quickly back into the tube every time the stuff hit the water. I mean as soon as I saw the green stuff touch his feathers he would duck back into the tube as if the stuff really bothered him.

I finally checked the ingredient list (the stuff said "live" on the bottle so I thought it really was live, and I found that they put citric acid, a preservative, in the bottle). You see stuff preserved with citric acid all the time. Now I realized why the duster was ducking his head back in the tube so fast when he tasted it -- he was tasting acid!

I finally realized that this stuff was not working and got some DTs but it was too late. You can't really tell when feather dusters are gaining or losing weight.

So not only did I lose that duster, but I lost some smaller dusters that were really cool that I had for a while. DTs rocks -- the other stuff really sucks, in my experience.

[jwatson31]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14550277#post14550277 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bubbly
By the way, stay far, far away from the reef nutrition phyto.

I had a feather duster that absolutely loved DTs. Every time I dumped DTs phyto in the tank, it would come out quickly if it was "hiding" and I could turn the tank green with DTs (it was a 6 gallon so a few capfuls would quickly have that effect) and it would clear the tank of phyto in an hour or two)

This was a brown feather duster with a feather span of about 2-3 inches.

So I bought some Reef Nutrition because it said "live" on the bottle. The funny thing was that every time I dosed with the Reef Nutrition phyto, the duster would duck his head quickly back into the tube every time the stuff hit the water. I mean as soon as I saw the green stuff touch his feathers he would duck back into the tube as if the stuff really bothered him.

I finally checked the ingredient list (the stuff said "live" on the bottle so I thought it really was live, and I found that they put citric acid, a preservative, in the bottle). You see stuff preserved with citric acid all the time. Now I realized why the duster was ducking his head back in the tube so fast when he tasted it -- he was tasting acid!

I finally realized that this stuff was not working and got some DTs but it was too late. You can't really tell when feather dusters are gaining or losing weight.

So not only did I lose that duster, but I lost some smaller dusters that were really cool that I had for a while. DTs rocks -- the other stuff really sucks, in my experience.


do you know if reef nutrition's other products contain acid as well, specifically their oyster feast and roti feast?

[bubbly]

I have heard good things about their roti feast product -- I don't want to slag all their products, and I don't know what's in the roti feast.

I don't think the citric acid would be a problem in a larger tank -- I think the only issue with that was that I was dumping the stuff into a 6gallon tank so the duster was getting the stuff straight.

I also think that their phyto couldn't be "live" as it was preserved. I read that someone had dusters come out all over the place after using Roti Feast -- I think as long as you have good circulation and the citric acid has time to disperse and react with the alkalinity in the tank there's no problem.

People dose their tank with vinegar all the time or vodka, so a little citric acid is not going to hurt the tank -- you don't want a feather duster catching any vodka in the face either.

I was just ****ed because the DT's phyto was such a superior product and they promised me a live phyto, which did not work to sustain the feather duster.

Their oyster feast may be fine as well -- I used DTs, but not long enough to really find out what the results were.

I do want to try their roti feast because it may be better than culturing my own (I will try that as well)

[bubbly]

I can't believe they censored me trying to say that I was po'ed -- with the asterisks there it looks like I was trying to say something much worse.

[TheH]

Reef Nutrition Oyster Eggs is basically shredded oyster muscle. This is written on the bottle: guaranteed to contain at least two shredded oysters.

[jwatson31]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14550956#post14550956 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TheH
Reef Nutrition Oyster Eggs is basically shredded oyster muscle. This is written on the bottle: guaranteed to contain at least two shredded oysters.

so does that mean it is not as beneficial since its not really eggs, just the oyster itself?

or does that just mean that its overpriced and i could essentially just buy some canned oysters and blend it myself?

[moumda]

Imo if you're going to culture phyto you should culture rotifers as well. They make a great food for sps and you have a use for the phyto you culture.

[bsagecko]

Is there a way to grow zooplankton........

I thought phyto indirectly feed corals by increasing natural zooplankton levels in a tank.......am I wrong?

I also have a feather duster that I want to start phytoing as well as looking into some deresa clams which I have kept before and got out of because my local supply of phyto went down the tubes.......

Culturing rotifers seems to be a huge PITA and I rather stick to oyster eggs if they are just as good which looks like I will be going with the DT since Reef Nutrition doesn't seem to be actually eggs..........

Any other info/ dosing ideas would be great......

Thanks
Zack