Effects Of Too Much Phytoplankton

Ive been thinking about starting my own phyto culture so i dont have to constantly buy DT's every month or two, im going to start off with 4 2L soda bottles and culture it from the DT's i already have in the fridge. This culture would only be too feed my tank, since thats the case i was planning on feeding my tank phyto every day from the cultures.

Would there be any negative side effects to doing this? such as hair algae outbreak or byprosis outbreak or would all my corals just be really really happy and grow like crazy?

Anybody try this before i would like to hear about your results
Thanks,

 

Just like with any feeding, too much will cause more algae, higher nitrates and higher phosphates. You have to find the balance for your filtration system. I feed phyto to my tank about once an hour accept for a few hours at night (even the best reef keeper has to sleep sometime.) There is certainly an amount you can do every day though, and your corals will be very happy to catch phyto every day.

 

It would be very difficult to utilize DT's as a starter culture IMO as it's a mixture of 3 different species. If you don't have access to a centrifuge, you'll be adding a lot of nutrients to your tank. Depending on what kind a filtration you have, this might be a big deal or it might not be.

 

I will be perfectly honest with you, I do not see any significant growth in my coral. I have gone to once a month with phyto or oyster. My LFS buddy had told me he didn't see much change and also only added phyto once a month. I say, don't waste your time.

 

Most corals feed on zooplankton and not on phyto, the phyto will feed pods/juvenile pods in your tank which is what your corals are likely to be eating. It will benefit any tubeworms or clams in your tank.
Growing phyto from your DT's would be more ideal if 3 species are present, one will out compete the others and should dominate, this algae will be the one which prefers the environmental conditions you will be exposing it to.
I don't think it is neccessary to use a centrifuge to culture some phyto for your home system. The only reason you would want to use a centrifuge is to concentrate your phyto after it has grown. If you grow your phyto till it is dark green then it should be strong enough.
Heres a good link that got me started: Melevsreef.com - Phytoplankton

I didn't use a light box, just indirect sunlight from my window. I did an experiment, one 2L soda bottle in direct sunlight and one just against the wall next to the window (indirect sunlight) I found my phyto grew a lot better with indirect sunlight I think the direct sunlight was causing it to get too warm.
I used saltwater made up with tap water, 4 drops of kents essential elements and a few drops of babybio plant fertiliser. My next experiment will be to set up another 2 bottles, both with indirect sunlight, but add a pinch of sodium bicarbonate to one as a carbon source.
I was using phyto to feed rotifers to feed my fish larvae.

 

Phytoplankton is very essential in nature as it starts the feeding cycle but in a fish tank i dont its that critical. I've been debating on the phytoplankton issue for a while.

I do use zooplankton on a regular basis. I like it better because the extra zooplankton is eaten by the Anthias, clown and the damsel.

 

It's useful for feathers... I never could keep these for more than a month until I started dosing DT Phyto and the 3 I have had now have been around for several months. I credit the phyto.

I also dose my pod farm with it...

 

Thanks for the replies,

As for me ive noticed very significant growth after feeding phyto, i had a 3 polyp nuclear green zoa colony that grew to about 20-30 polyps in 2 months after regular feeding of coral food and i also credit the phyto, ive seemed to notice in my tank that feeding phyto has helped the corals grow more, where as the zooplankton ive tried feeding was just too big and i dont think any of my corals ate it at all.

I plan to use a culture directly in front of a window but after what invert phil said ill put one off in the corner and see how it works,

Was it sort of behind wall near the window or just completely away from it off somwhere?



As for the nutrient issue ill just have to see i think my sump and skimmr can handle it but ill adjust as necessary if im not happy with the results or theres an alage outbreak

 

Another question ive read that theres food you can feed the phyto, is this necasery or would the sunlight be suffiecient?

 

It was behind the wall next to the window, as close to the window as possible.

Phyto needs nitrate, phosphate, potassium, a carbon source and sunlight. A low level NPK plant fertiliser like one for pot plants will work great. These fertilisers also contain iron which if unoxidized or in high amounts can be poisonous so only add a small amount.
I also used essential elements which is a mix of trace elements including potassium, again in small amounts.