Phytoplankton and zooplankton

[FloatinBy]

I need help understanding what all I need to put in my tank in regards to live food sources. A month ago i recieved Live phytoplankton (premium) from Mike's Phyto and dose per directions (1ml per 15gal) i target feed then broadcast what ever is left in syringe every other day per the directions. I also put in a bottle of reef feast from him (mix of rotifers, brine shrimp, tisbe and tigriopus pods) as well as 2 bottles of brine shrimp) i put in sump after lights out as well and put one bottle of brine shrimp into my cheato reactor hoping theyd find a home in there and not all be eaten right away. Its a 100gal tank and currently i have 2 clowns, a blue green chromis, a hawkfish, long spine urchin, a hamer, a frogspawn, a birds nest, and a candy cane coral. And a CUC. I also have a yellow tang but his in QT as i just recently purchased him. So my question is, what should I add for zooplankton and phytoplankton? Thanks in advance for the help

 

[mcarroll]

I'm not sure I'd be putting all that in your tank – how old is this tank?

Was the tank started with real, actual live rock?

Typically you want to feed your fish high quality food and then their pee and poo literally do the rest....feeding the corals and such.

Going beyond that is definitely an expert move that not too many experts even engage in.

Your corals certainly do not require it.

 

[FloatinBy]

I won that stuff in a raffle so figured id use it. I thought phyto and zooplankton would be beneficial to the ecosystem in general tho

 

[FloatinBy]

I feed with rods food and mysis shrimp

 

[FloatinBy]

I'm not sure I'd be putting all that in your tank – how old is this tank?

Was the tank started with real, actual live rock?

Typically you want to feed your fish high quality food and then their pee and poo literally do the rest....feeding the corals and such.

Going beyond that is definitely an expert move that not too many experts even engage in.

Your corals certainly do not require it.

So i got tank used. Originally rock was covered with shrooms so i removed the old rock and put new cured rock into tank. Replaced half then waited month and half and replaced the other half but has been in take for well over 6 months as well as roughly 2-2.5in sand bed. Just want to make as healthy as an enviornment that memics real world.

 

[mcarroll]

So i got tank used. Originally rock was covered with shrooms so i removed the old rock and put new cured rock into tank. Replaced half then waited month and half and replaced the other half but has been in take for well over 6 months as well as roughly 2-2.5in sand bed. Just want to make as healthy as an enviornment that memics real world.

Gotcha on the raffle. Those things can be beneficial, but they were promotional – they aren't something everyone needs. (And like most things, they can be overdone/done wrong.)

Six months is still a very young tank (it's previous age almost doesn't matter), so the best thing you can do it to take your time and allow the microscopic life in the tank to grow and catch up to the visible life you've been adding.

Mostly all they require is no interference – time. If you feed the fish and otherwise take care of the tank basics (nothing fancy!!) they will mature. Adding too much livestock at once or systematically removing too many nutrients are the two main ways you can go wrong. Stay in the middle!

 

[Chef Tommy]

If you are dosing phyto you could also add pods that consume that for food. I just started that a week ago & pods appear to be multiplying [emoji4]

 

[FloatinBy]

The chromis came with tank...the cliwns have been in there for like 3.5months and i just added the hawkfish 3 days ago. So there was at least 2-2.5mnth gap between adding cliwns and hawkfish. Plus i do at least a 4week QT with all need fish. My paramaters are good. Ammonian, nitrAte and nitrIte are zero cept my pisphate is 0.25. I thought micro organisms wouls be beneficial and figured couldnt hurt no? Should i add copopods? Thought they where good. I do see some in the cheto reactor so i know they are there just dont knoe hoe many bc i didnt see a ton just a few.

 

[Chef Tommy]

I like the pods in the tank, I think they are beneficial as they do consume detritus and food for my corals. It's a fun addition imo and offers live food for the inhabitants of our reefs. Love this hobby, I enjoy the refugium too and will be switching to Triton. Just placed order for all my baffles to build a new sump. The pods are gonna love the new big fuge which is going to be about 10 gallons for my 75 Reef [emoji4]

 

[mcarroll]

switching to Triton

What does this mean to your setup and how you take care of things, exactly?

(If possible, looking for the answer in your words.)

 

[mcarroll]

So i got tank used. Originally rock was covered with shrooms so i removed the old rock and put new cured rock into tank. Replaced half then waited month and half and replaced the other half but has been in take for well over 6 months as well as roughly 2-2.5in sand bed. Just want to make as healthy as an enviornment that memics real world.

So it's basically a brand-new tank.
(6 months only seems like a lot at the beginning....even at "only" ten years old like my system, 6 months is trending strongly toward zero% of the time.)

One of the most important things for a new tank is to grow the bio-load very slowly – feeding is obviously a part of this.

In keeping with that rule of thumb, "extra" feeding routines should really be avoided during this phase of the tank as it's very easy to "over feed". The microbial web in your tank is so under-developed that algae is extremely likely to bloom and to have little competition to slow it down or stop it.

When you do increase the bio-load, make the increases SMALL and space them out by weeks. (Even months is OK.) Likewise for the food inputs you make...they should match the small magnitude of livestock additions. I'm sure you get the picture.

(It's too bad you got rid of the seasoned rock, but it sounds like at least you replaced it with real live rock vs dry rock. Though I do understand getting rid of the mushrooms.....wish I'd never introduced them to my system as a "beginner coral". Terrible idea.)

 

[Chef Tommy]

Triton is s dosing program which requires a large fuge for the nutrient export. The program also creates a system that will require minimal water changes or none at all.

 

[FloatinBy]

Other then corals (zoas, birds nest, hammer, frogspawn, and a candy caine) which i dont feel is all that much in a 120gal total system, unless im wrong. The chromis came with the tank as did 3 of his friends but they disnt survive the move. The clowns i put in roughly three months later. Then the hawk fish almost 3 months after the clowns. So i feel im goin fairly slow. I added 3 cotals at once after a coral swap and 2 about 2 weeks prior to those. I dip all corals and QT all fish for 4 weeks then they can go into DT. So my cool yellow tang is just chillin in QT for another 3.5weeks. So i feel a fish (or 2 if small) a month or so is ok no? Like thats not to fast right?

 

[FloatinBy]

No algea blooms. I do have to scrap glass about every 2 weeks or so. I have a cheato reactor thats going like crazy and is currently funding my addiction (love) of this new hobby of mine. Every week i have to thin it out and i make enough on selling it to LFS that i support buying stuff with said credit. Its kinda nice to habe a self sustaining source to found tank, even if only for a few months or so but hopefully longer

 

[mcarroll]

No algea blooms.

That's good!

 

[FloatinBy]

So it's basically a brand-new tank.
(6 months only seems like a lot at the beginning....even at "only" ten years old like my system, 6 months is trending strongly toward zero% of the time.)

One of the most important things for a new tank is to grow the bio-load very slowly – feeding is obviously a part of this.

In keeping with that rule of thumb, "extra" feeding routines should really be avoided during this phase of the tank as it's very easy to "over feed". The microbial web in your tank is so under-developed that algae is extremely likely to bloom and to have little competition to slow it down or stop it.

When you do increase the bio-load, make the increases SMALL and space them out by weeks. (Even months is OK.) Likewise for the food inputs you make...they should match the small magnitude of livestock additions. I'm sure you get the picture.

(It's too bad you got rid of the seasoned rock, but it sounds like at least you replaced it with real live rock vs dry rock. Though I do understand getting rid of the mushrooms.....wish I'd never introduced them to my system as a "beginner coral". Terrible idea.)

This is why i got rid of the rock. Top to bottow side to side front to back of nothing but these ugly shrooms. I removed half then added new rock waited month or so removed other have and added more rock. I dosed with Dr. Fosters bacteria in a bottle both times bc idk just figured couldnt hurt.

 

[mcarroll]

This is why i got rid of the rock. Top to bottow side to side front to back of nothing but these ugly shrooms. I removed half then added new rock waited month or so removed other have and added more rock. I dosed with Dr. Fosters bacteria in a bottle both times bc idk just figured couldnt hurt.

You won't get a less-care reef than that!

(You also won't keep any stony corals.)

 

[FloatinBy]

But soo ugly lol IMO anyways

 

[FloatinBy]

So should i continue ysimg my phtoplankton bc i have it? And i wanna add some differeny corals. I live my frogspawn and hammer but eant some stoney corals as well. Its a 3ft deep tank and i have T5s currently. Im new so help me here with nomenclature. Frogspawn, hammers and candy canes are softies? What is a birdsnest considered? And what are some realitively easier hardier corals to add some contrast

 

[FloatinBy]

Sorry for spelling errirs. Using my phone and have fat thumbs lol