Why Phyto?

Is there a reason that so many folks dose phyto to a tank?

I have not dosed phyto to mine and I cannot see any benefit. Corals don't eat it, according to most research that I have read.

I have thriving copepods. There are several types of feather duster worms, large and small that came in on live rock that I added over 9 months ago that seem to be doing just fine.

So, what's the deal? Is there really any benefit to adding phyto to the food regimen in most reef setups, or is it something that only a few organisms require?

 

it depends on how clean your water is and what you are keeping. if you have exceptionally clean water, then I would recommend adding it semi regularly IF you want an increase in pod production and/or you have feather dusters (not the mini ones, I mean like coco worms or soft tubed).


I happen to have 3 soft tubed and one coco. I also have pristine water. In my case, I have confirmed in the past if I don't dose phyto my worms won't live more than 2 months or so (repeatable results).

But, I feel most folks water isn't so clean, nor do most folks have many dusters.

So, for most folks, dosing phyto isn't necessary at all.

 

Seconded ;D

 

It's all about the natural food chain in your system. Phyto is basically the lowest in the food chain. If you are skimming heavily, the phyto will deplete over time and pod production will decrease. Also ff you have filter feeders like clams and feather duster, dosing phyto will help. Otherwise, it is not a necessity.

 

I think it greatly helps sponges too.

 

I have several non-photo corals in my tank. I have tunicates, sea apple, cucumbers, sun corals, etc in my tank. These animals require regular dosing of live phyto in order to survive.

I do something that many people will argue with me over also...every couple months I get a bottle of LIVE phyto and turn off my skimmer and UV sterilizer for several days. I add at least 3/4 bottle of the live phyto in the tank at one time. I then let my tank look like crap and get a phyto bloom on my glass. After a couple days of this I turn everything back on and filter it through. My corals and clams LOVE it (even my photo ones), and I get a big boom of pods so my fish are happy. My glass will be covered in pods and my fish and snails eat those up. Then for a long while every time I clean my glass, I release the phyto back into the water.

My water is pristine condition all the time, so my tank and filtration can handle that stress. I have not done that in a bit because none of the stores in my area have the live phyto at the present time, so I have to dose every couple days small amount

 

You know though, with this Algae Turf Scrubber I built, you actually have to fight off pods & bugs so they don't eat up your algae mat. Once a week your required to rinse/scrape off old algae growth from your screen to allow the undergrowth to receive light for its own growth. Rinsing is with freshwater....to kill the pods!!
The reservoir where your water flows into, is where all the action happens. Last weekend I shined a light in there & there were hundreds of pods swimming around. The reservoir water flows directly into the fishtank.

 

Interesting idea Shackmel. Let's see some sea apple pics!

 

how do you define "pristine condition"?

 

In my mind, pristine is just basically testing negative and levels remaining stable for a prolonged period of time (years). No fluctuations or swings.

I will post sea apple pics soon. He is a pretty thing! (even though it looks like a big heart to me) Very bright red, blue and yellow colors. The other thing I think is very pretty IMO is my psychedelic cucumber. He is yellow, and pink, I love it when I feed my cucumber and sea apple...they take their tentacles and one by one put them in their "mouth" and suck the food off it. "Tentacle licking good"

will actually try to get a video of them doing that....my camera does video recordings but have to figure out how