How many of you are auto dosing phyto? What does that look like?

[Daniel@R2R]

How many of you dose phyto via auto doser? What would a system like that look like? I'm thinking it's probably pretty basic and maybe I'm overthinking it. What are you guys doing?

 

[Saltyreef]

How many of you dose phyto via auto doser? What would a system like that look like? I'm thinking it's probably pretty basic and maybe I'm overthinking it. What are you guys doing?

Following along.
Seems like it would be hard to feed directly from the culture jar in between cycles when the fertilizer is fresh but i think ive seen it done.

I would probably incorperate a small mini fridge with a refillable reservoir inside, run the dosing lines into the fridge or mount the whole doser inside and top off with freshly harvested phyto as it feeds.

Good thing live phyto is good for a few days unrefrigerated unlike some perishable aquatic foods.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Good thing live phyto is good for a few days unrefrigerated unlike some perishable aquatic foods.

This is one of the things I was wondering about. I'd rather avoid a mini fridge setup, so I was thinking perhaps if the reservoir could be refilled every few days (once a week would be awesome, but not sure if I'm in "wishful thinking" territory here), maybe it would work with just an airstone or a magnetic stirrer.

 

[Saltyreef]

This is one of the things I was wondering about. I'd rather avoid a mini fridge setup, so I was thinking perhaps if the reservoir could be refilled every few days (once a week would be awesome, but not sure if I'm in "wishful thinking" territory here), maybe it would work with just an airstone or a magnetic stirrer.

Ive had fresh phyto unrefrigerated for upwards of a week without any putrid smell.
Fresh broccoli smell the entire week
I think it could be done you would just need to figure out if the logistics are doable for you.

 

[G Santana]

I think one problem would be keeping the phyto suspended.

 

[PeterC99]

Following to see if this can be done...

 

[Pistondog]

Not so hard to manually dose 30ml each morning.

 

[clifg]

I have the Poseidon reef systems set up. Start the culture with reef nutrition phyto live. Have a kamoer X1 hooked up directly to the grow tank to does 30 ml daily. It's been wonderful for my acros especially.

 

[ImaFlippinDolphin]

Tbh this is in my humble opinion, similar to feeding frozen...probably shouldn't automate. However, I do understand why.

 

[ZoWhat]

Not so hard to manually dose 30ml each morning.

Morning?

I've always been taught to feed phyto right before the lights go out.

Phyto gets eaten by Pods that only come out in the middle of the night.

Then the fattened-up Pods full of phyto get eaten by fish and coral.


.

 

[ImaFlippinDolphin]

Morning?

I've always been taught to feed phyto right before the lights go out.

Phyto gets eaten by Pods that come out at night. Then the fattened-up Pods full of phyto get eaten by fish and coral.


.

My lights come on at noon, I feed live phyto in the morning while pods and polyps are out, having said that I also feed fish(nightly) and 3x week corals right before lights out

 

[Anthony Scholfield]

Someone already mentioned it but i will second the poseiden reef systems culture set up. Its what i use.

I do stick to manual dosing though. Automated seems like it could get tricky. Contamination in culturing or keeping the phyto more viable in cold storage being my two main concerns.

You can check out my phyto and pod culturing journey over on the instagram if ya like. @ doubleadeejay

 

[MBruun]

I feed 3 times a day, in the return chamber, using a DD-h2ocean p4 pro standard doser - just after lights on, 4 hours later, just before lights out.
Having two 8 liter jugs under my stand, switching weekly, dosing from one while the other grow dark.
I also feed a Rotifier culture every second hour, that overflow rotifiers in the return chamber.

I belive phyto dosing keep my reef healthy
- nutrient export
- lots of pods, and rotifiers
- feeding corals (like Goniapora and some lps)
- adding saltwater daily
- in my tank, empty the skimmer daily and evaporation are in balance with added saltwater so that the salinity are stable

 

[Megability]

I feed 3 times a day, in the return chamber, using a DD-h2ocean p4 pro standard doser - just after lights on, 4 hours later, just before lights out.
Having two 8 liter jugs under my stand, switching weekly, dosing from one while the other grow dark.
I also feed a Rotifier culture every second hour, that overflow rotifiers in the return chamber.

I belive phyto dosing keep my reef healthy
- nutrient export
- lots of pods, and rotifiers
- feeding corals (like Goniapora and some lps)
- adding saltwater daily
- in my tank, empty the skimmer daily and evaporation are in balance with added saltwater so that the salinity are stable

They grow dark?

 

[MBruun]

They grow dark?

By grow dark i mean the phyto culture grow from light green to dark green.
After one week of dosing from the left jug, I take the remaining phyto out, clean the jug, add the phyto and new saltwater and fertilizer, and switch the jugs to dose from other jug that has been growing for a week

 

[sixty_reefer]

How many of you dose phyto via auto doser? What would a system like that look like? I'm thinking it's probably pretty basic and maybe I'm overthinking it. What are you guys doing?

this worked well for two years non stop with the same culture before I had to move the tank, the results of dosing phytoplankton and rotifers on a constant feed for a long period of time where astonishing. Corals had a crazy growth and surreal polyp extension. The bacteria was well feed and strong. The refugium was full of life and now lived well feed. Wanted to create an article on it to help more readers but the thread never got enough exposure I believe.

How to automate a phytoplankton culture

Giving that we love tech and use any excuse to reduce labour in our tanks I will give you below the diagram to automate a phytoplankton culture. There’s no need to split cultures weekly, just set it up and forget it. It’s really simple and it worked for me for two consecutive years without...

www.reef2reef.com

Continuous phytoplankton|rotifers reactor 24h food supply

Hi guys this is a little project I’ve been working on for a few months and now looking for your views on this subject. It all started with me getting a few non photosynthetic corals (gorgonians) and got me thinking in a way we’re I could give them a constant supply of food. The project started...

www.reef2reef.com

probably the best system out there for live phytoplankton and rotifers automatic dosing. It’s possible someone on here used the idea to commercialise a automated rotifers culture based on this thread.

 

[Just a Wrasse.]

Ive had fresh phyto unrefrigerated for upwards of a week without any putrid smell.
Fresh broccoli smell the entire week
I think it could be done you would just need to figure out if the logistics are doable for you.

I usually forget to put it back in the fridge...

 

[Scallopking]

here is my setup. Mini fridge drilled hole in top, 32oz phyto in a 1000ml flask. Magnetic stirrer running 24x7. Dose 3 tablespoons per day, 44ml in two separate times, 9p and 9a via my doser. Insulated the lines to try and keep from getting too warm. Feeds right into the return area to broadcast feed the DT.