Adding Phytoplankton

[Romulox234]

If i started to culture phytoplankton out back, could i pour some into the tank maybe every other day and be able to feed my black and orange sun corals that way and have them grow alot or would i need to still spot feed them?

What would that do to my nutrient levels in my tank, would they skyrocket or would the corals be able to filter it all out so there wouldnt be too much of a problem?

How much should i pour in if i used one of those big 2 liter Coke bottles, maybe 1/8 every other day?

[stunreefer]

Tubastrea spp. will not consume enough food strictly by feeding phyto.

They also won't receive the proper nutrition. IMO spot-feeding is the only way to go, however you can broadcast feed brine and mysis but that will skyrocket nutrients and you need to be prepared to keep them in line. Spot-feeding is much easier to control.

[Romulox234]

Yeah but i read that sun corals do eat phyto in the wild, and i thought that it would also help out the rest of my tank if they were able to filter phyto out of the water,

Could i use DT's to start a phyto culture?

[GreshamH]

Can you point to where you read that please? It is my understanding they do not directly consume phytoplankton but I could very well be wrong :)

[Romulox234]

"The coral needs to get energy from somewhere and this of course means food. As it doesn’t have assistance from zooxanthellae it needs to capture the food. So in the wild it is often in an area of strong currents which will bring food to it, the food being plankton. In the aquarium plankton is in very short supply or missing. Yes, you’ve guessed it; the coral needs to be fed by the aquarist. Failing to feed the coral means it will shrink and die"

Heres is the link, i did a google search and this wasnt the only website i found that said that

http://www.aquaristsonline.com/blog/livestock/corals/the-sun-coral/



But it does say that they cannot soley survive on the phytoplankton, but if added phyto it would also be for th other corals not just for my sun coral,

I think a mix of spot feeding and phyto would help it grow alot

[uhuru]

I think you are confusing "plankton" to mean only phytoplankton. Plankton can be phytoplankton, zooplankton or bacterioplankton, the latter two probably being more appropriate food for any carnivorous coral in your tank. That doesn't discount the importance of phytoplankton, as it feeds the zooplankton, but you might be better off culturing rotifers and baby brine shrimp using your phytoplankton and feeding that to the tank.

I could be wrong. Maybe they do consume phytoplankton too. This is mostly based off my what I know about SPS corals, which have even smaller polyps.

[GreshamH]

FWIW I don't need any assistance of the concept of feeding :) ... I'm well read in that area... it's my job to know this in fact as I help run the Reef Nutrition product line :)

What I need assistance on, and will only accept peer reviewed work as real, is the fact you say they can directly feed upon phytoplankton. I have yet to read that as a confirmed fact, only in hobbyist writings. I'm with uhuru, I think you're confusing the the two terms.

Phyto is great for filter feeders and zooplankton but most corals can not even capture or digest it. IMO it's best to feed a little phyto though as so you boost your micro-fauna/zooplankton as your corals will feed on that.

[Romulox234]

Yeah that is a good point, mayb i did confuse phytoplankton with plankton.

In that case i could start a rotifier culture seeing as how i would like to breed clownfish sometime in the future.

But would corals like zoas and candy canes and acans feed on rotifiers or phytoplankton more?

[aninjaatemyshoe]

While Tubastrea sp. probably do not directly consume phyto, adding phyto to your tank will increase your pod, and possibly mysid, population. I've been adding phyto to my tanks for a couple of years now and I've seen some incredible pod and mysid populations. These can go a good way towards supplementing the diets of your sun corals.

[aninjaatemyshoe]

While Tubastrea sp. probably do not directly consume phyto, adding phyto to your tank will increase your pod, and possibly mysid, population. I've been adding phyto to my tanks for a couple of years now and I've seen some incredible pod and mysid populations. These can go a good way towards supplementing the diets of your sun corals.