phytoplankton

Culture your own Phytoplankton

melev — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 04:56:28 +0000

Culture your own Phytoplankton melev Tue, 06/30/2020 - 07:56

Live Phytoplankton is very expensive to buy, but growing your own is pretty easy and much cheaper. Flame*Angel from ReefCentral.com has an excellent page that I followed to get my own culture started. I store it in the fridge, shaking it once a day to avoid settling. New batches are ready on a weekly basis.

2013: This page has helped thousands of people over the past 10 years to grow their own, and all the necessary information is provided to help you grow it in the comfort of your home. If you are a breeder of fish fry, you'll need phytoplankton to maintain rotifer cultures, and rotifers are used as the first food newly released fry consume. If you can't source some of these ingredients, you should be able to start a culture using some commercially made phytoplankton on the market. I'd also like to add that I have no idea about human consumption, which apparently some sources have suggested might be a viable alternative. This page is specifically intended for the needs of saltwater aquarium livestock. Back to the article...

The items needed from Florida Aqua Farms (pictured above)

Starting the culture from scratch.

Here is the chart to determine how dense your culture is, once fully mature.

Due to numerous inquiries, instructions are below.

To start off from scratch, fill up two bottles completely, stopping about 1" from the top. It should be saltwater that is 1.019sg - using a refractometer would be ideal.

Using a full disk of Nanochloropsus from FloridaAquaFarms.com, you would scrape the green algae film into your bottle after it has soaked for 24 hours.

Add 1 ml of Micro Algae Grow, also from FAF.

Image A (above) is the stuff I ordered (note I only got one disk, but you should order 2)

In Image B (above) you can see what I was doing. I put 1/2 the disk in each bottle, but I think it would be better to use 2 disks -- one disk per bottle, as recommended by Susan (Flame*Angel).

Set the bottles up with the rigid tubing reaching down to the base of the bottle. It should bubble gently, and not be a rolling boil.

Lighting should be on for 16 hours a day, then in full darkness for 8 hours. I have mine culturing in a closet where it isn't annoying. The first picture in this section shows how the culture bottles are set up in a bucket. I only make two bottles each week now, not three.

In 7 days, it is time to split this culture.

Two new bottles should be filled half way with 1.019 sg saltwater plus 1 ml Micro Algae Grow.

Cap and seal tightly the current batch of phytoplankton and shake it very well, to get all sediment in suspension again. (If you wish, pour one full bottle of phytoplankton through the rotifer screen (or a couple of coffee filters if you don't have that) into a clean container to strain out larger chunks out of the phyto). Pour that phyto into each bottle filling them both up to within ~1" from the top.

Those bottles are now ready to go into your station, starting the process all over again.

The other bottle you cultured should be shaken well, and poured into a clean container. (If you wish to strain this to remove larger stuff, run it through the rotifer screen and then poured into a new clean bottle.) This must be stored in the fridge and is ready to feed to your tank every other day. I pour about 3/4 cup in my 29g and 1.5 cups in my 55g. (If you've never fed phyto before, feed less at first, gradually increasing the amount over a period of two weeks, to allow your tank to adjust to the new feeding. Discussion)

Refrigerated phytoplankton should last at least one month. I use up almost one bottle a week, so about once a month I have one bottle too much, which I give away (and accept a small donation from the grateful reefer occasionally).

You need to shake the stored bottle daily to avoid the cells settling to the bottom of the bottle. Otherwise they will smother each other and die.

It is important to keep everything clean to avoid contamination, including the rigid tubing that pumps air into the 2-liter bottles. That is why I keep using new bottles (rinsed out coke bottles) rather than reusing the same bottle it was just cultured in. You can clean the rigid tubing with vinegar water (or rubbing alcohol), or simply replace it with new tubing once a month. If you reuse your tubing, check the end to make sure it hasn't become clogged.

Feel free to ask if you have any more questions.

1/20/2005

I've been growing phytoplankton for about two years. The first 6 months were a breeze, splitting the cultures to grow more about once a week, following the information listed above.

Then at MACNA XV, I met Darrin of DT's Live Phytoplankton, who pretty much made me doubt my cultures were viable and possibly even contaminated. So I decided to start anew with fresh algae disks, to get the best possible product. From that day forward, I had problems. Some batches would last about 6 weeks of culturing, others barely a month. It was very frustrating.

I ordered new disks from Florida Aqua Farms, new Micro Algae Grow, and tried my best to have the cleanest equipment possible. I was very attentive to the batches, but something would go wrong on a regular basis. I never should have listened to Darrin!

So I turned to Anthony Calfo asking for help. (Umm. He never replied, never noticing my thread.) Lots of people chimed in with their suggestions.

In disgust, I didn't bother making any more for about 2 months perhaps. Then my clownfish started to lay a clutch of eggs every two weeks, and the only way I'll ever rear them is if I have live rotifers to feed them. And to have those, you have to have plenty of phytoplankton on hand. Evan (Quiksilver) has been growing it successfully for months on end, so we talked about his procedure. His routine is very simple, and he doesn't split it for a month or longer. It just doesn't crash!

Four weeks ago, I took a half bottle (1 liter) of his phyto as a starter culture. (You can also follow the guidelines above to start from scratch.) I added tap water mixed with salt to 1.019 specific gravity, until it was filled about 2" from the top of the bottle. I filled a second 2-liter bottle the same way.

5 ml of Miracle Grow All Purpose Plant Food (fertilizer) was added to the bottle. This comes in a bottle in liquid form. If you do several bottles, use 5 ml per bottle. While it is culturing for the next few weeks, there is no reason to add any more. You only dose 5ml to each new bottle you are about to culture.

This mixture is placed in front of a 20w 2' 6500K Normal Output Fluorescent bulb for 16 hours a day and 8 hours of darkness. Rigid airtubing is inserted through the cap of the bottle, and an air pump gently bubbles around the clock.

Since my cultures would crash at 5 days, you can imagine how I held my breathe in anticipation.

Here is what it looked like, two bottles glowing green:

Every day, Evan takes the bottle between both hands and rotates it back and forth quickly for a few seconds to get the sediment in the bottle back into the water column. So I do the same now.

It bubbled for 3 weeks, never crashed and got darker and darker. Here is a bottle of it, next to a small bottle of DT's.

I split the culture about a week ago, taking one bottle and putting it in the fridge for my tank. The other bottle was split into three new bottles, and is doing well. I've added one more item to the newer recipe:

1 ml Kent's Essential Elements per bottle.

So far this is working perfectly, and I'm going to start culturing rotifers in the near future. I just wanted to share the process in case you are thinking about it as well.

Recipe recap:

Starter culture from someone (even DT's would work, I've been told)
Tap water mixed to 1.019 sg
5 ml Miracle Grow Houseplant liquid food, per bottle, per batch
1 ml Kent's Essential Elements

Lighting 16 hours of light, 8 hours of darkness regulated with a timer
Steady bubbling of air via rigid tubing to the base of the bottle
Shaken slightly each day to stir up the solution from the bottom.

Split the culture after two or more weeks, saving half for your tank and half to start new bottles. Repeat forever.

Happy reefing!

3/19/2006: The Phyto Jug

After consuming an entire container of pretzels from Sam's Wholesale Club, I decided to make use of it.

It works great. This will bubble two gallons of phyto, using three lengths of airline tubing to keep the phyto circulating.

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10 Step Phytoplankton Culture

melev — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 02:17:40 +0000

10 Step Phytoplankton Culture melev Tue, 06/30/2020 - 05:17

Susan did a great job putting together a working manual for everyone follow, including myself. After a few years, that resource vanished from the web. This page was originally written by Susan J. Wilson; page last found online on Sept 12, 2006: http://www.sjwilson.net/reef/phytosteps.html Contents placed on my site as reference only, and these are all her words below...

DISCLAIMER
I've been helping people get started with culturing phytoplankton through email so I thought step-by-step instructions might be helpful. However, please note, the instructions below are just how I culture phytoplankton. There are other ways which may or may not produce better cultures. I developed this method because it is cheap, easy and works for me. I am not an expert and will not be held responsible for any consequences resulting from these instructions - good or bad. I've yet to hear of anyone having a problem though.

NOTE June 14 - 2003
I had shut down my cultures for several months while battling a flatworm infestation. After resolving this problem I set up my cultures again and tried a slightly new technique which I've found has resulted in much more dense cultures. As of this date I'm updating the instructions below to reflect the new technique.

STEP 1 - Phyto starter disks and fertilizer

Go to www.florida-aqua-farms.com and place an order for:

two 2oz nanochloropsis disks (product number AA-NCP)
one 8.5oz bottle of micro algae grow (product number FA-MIS)

Florida Aqua Farms is just one place that you can purchase culturing supplies. I don't work for them or benefit in any way from suggesting you use them, I just recommend them because I know they stock these items and ship outside the US. They also sell culture kits and many other culturing supplies. My list includes just the bare necessities but your cultures will be no better with more supplies.

STEP 2 - Culture bottles

While you're waiting for the order to arrive start saving clear 2L pop bottles. You will need two to start with and at least another two a week or so later. When you empty a bottle just put the cap on tightly, don't do anything else with it until you're ready to use it. No more drinking out of bottles allowed in your house!

The best bottles are the ones with the round bottoms. I couldn't find them where I live so I went with the typical dimpled bottomed bottles. Pretty much anything will work but the smoother inside the better, less places for gunk to settle. Bottles can be rinsed and reused but after a while they will get a filmy opaque coating inside and should be replaced. If necessary, you can clean them with vinegar and a bottle brush but be sure to rinse VERY WELL afterwards.

STEP 3 - Hardware

Go to a hardware store and buy:

3' shelf and brackets
3' strip lights for 2 fluorescent tubes, normal output is fine
2 3' fluorescent lights (get the cheapest you can find)
timer (cheap, no need for anything heavy duty)
funnel
small shelf for air pump and gang valves (I made mine with wood I had)
waterproof marker for writing dates on bottles

STEP 4 - Aeration Supplies

Go to a pet store and buy:

about 10' of soft silicone air tubing (regular will do if you can't get the silicone but the softer the better)
2 brass gang valves that have 3 outlets each (if you can only get plastic ones get the best you can find, the cheap ones are too hard to adjust)
2 or 3 3' lengths of rigid tubing small enough to fit inside the flexible airline tubing (note - you may have to order these, they can be hard to find)
air pump with 2 outlets (a cheap one is fine for a small culture center, if you plan to run 6 or more bottles invest in a good one)
a syringe or something for accurately measuring the fertilizer in milliliters

STEP 5 - The culture station

Mount your brackets and attach the shelf.
Attach your lights to the wall to allow the light to hit the middle of the pop bottles.
Set up your small shelf for your air pump and gang valves.
Figure out how you want to set up your gang valves, I adjust mine fairly often so make sure you can get at them and they are stable and easy to tell which tube goes to which bottle (I just smashed the plastic casing off mine with a hammer and nailed the gang valves to the little shelf).
Use some silicone tubing to connect your pump to your gang valves, don't make any really tight corners.
Cut the rigid tubing into one foot lengths but don't set up your bottles or the flexible tubing for them yet (less chance for contamination).

STEP 6 - Culture medium

Culture medium is just new salt water mixed at a specific gravity of 1.020 with some micro algae grow fertilizer (2ml per gallon) in it. You can mix the salt with regular tap water or with RO/DI water, I haven't seen any difference in my cultures either way. I used to use a couple 1 gallon jugs I had to mix up my culture medium but I've recently switched to using an old Instant Ocean salt bucket so I don't have to mix it as often. I drilled it to make a little spigot tap and keep a powerhead inside to keep it mixed. What you use should be determined by how many bottles you plan to run. It can be mixed right in the pop bottles if you like. Do not use tank water or natural sea water, it has to be new salt water (with no micro organisms) and should be kept sealed to prevent contamination.

The trick here is to chose the way you want to do it, work out how much salt you need to add to make it 1.020 and how much micro algae grow (2ml per gallon) and write it down to make it easier the next time. If well sealed, culture medium can be kept for months. I just mix more whenever I run out. The fertilizer can either be added to the water or directly to the bottles of phyto. I've done it both ways and they seem to work equally well.

STEP 7 - Preparing the starter culture disk

When the order from Florida Aqua Culture arrives:

Open the nanochloropsis disks and put a few drops of culture medium on each so that the tops are very wet (don't touch them unless you wash and rinse your hands first).
Put the covers back on the disks and let them set for 24 hours (air tight isn't necessary but try and have it reasonably sealed to prevent contamination). This process will help loosen the cells from the gel underneath and make it easier to get them into the culture bottles. Some people believe that if you put the disks in moderate light the phytoplankton cells will start to revive. I have always just set them on the culture shelf without worrying about lighting and they always seem to do just fine.

STEP 8 - Setup time

Get a pair of scissors (for cutting the airline tubing).
If you aren't going to drill the bottle tops get a couple tissues.
If you're going to drill the bottle tops go ahead and drill two caps.
Take 2 pop bottles and tear/cut off the labels (as best you can) and rinse them out well in cold tap water.
Fill the bottles to within a couple inches from the top with culture medium.
Wash and rinse your hands and get out your culture disks.
If there isn't any liquid left, put a few more drops of culture medium on them. You can use your finger to gently "finger paint" on the disks to loosen the green cells from the clear gel below or a sterile q-tip (often shipped with the disks).
You need to get as much of the green stuff into the bottles as possible, it's tricky, if you can just squeeze the disk and pour it into the bottles fine, if you have a little plastic cup like the ones that come with some additives it might be easier to pour it into that and then pour into the bottles.
Do not worry if you get a little of the clear gel in or if the green cells have some chunks. The first round of cultures always end up with some "extra stuff" in them. It's harmless and as you propagate more and more you'll eventually get rid of it.
The water will not have much colour to it at all at this stage, you'll probably find it hard to believe this will ever become phytoplankton, that's normal.
If you didn't add the micro algae grow fertilizer to the culture medium you can now add it to the bottles. I add 1ml to each bottle.
Put your bottles on the end your shelf (allowing lots of room for more bottles) and, if you drilled the caps, put them on.
Take your full length of flexible tubing and attach one end to a piece of rigid tubing. Put the rigid tubing into the bottle. Cut the flexible tubing at an appropriate length to reach one of the brass gang valves. You don't want it too tight but you don't want a lot of slack either. Do the same with the second bottle. Set the timer that your lights are plugged into to give your cultures 16 hours of light. The 8 off hours should be dark.
If you didn't drill the bottles put a tissue loosely in the tops of each bottle to keep the dust out. The only time I had contamination in my phytoplankton was when I didn't bother to cover the bottles, it is important.
Adjust your gang valves so that you have an even flow of bubbles in your bottles, you need a fairly strong flow (like a rapid boil, your wife will know) but not so strong that it causes foam - we want to keep the culture moving not create a protein skimmer in them.
That's it, do nothing for 6 to 9 days, expect it to take several days before it even starts to look any different. You will know your phytoplankton is ripe when it stops getting any greener. If you used nannochloropsis disks the culture should be very green with no brown tinge to it and be so dense that you cannot see through it at all, even with the lights shining behind it. First generation cultures from disks will take a little longer than the next generations made from ripe phytoplankton. It can be tricky to know just when it's ready but it doesn't have to be exact. Try to take note after the 6th day to see if it's still getting darker or not but don't let it go past 10 days.

STEP 9 - The initial cultures mature

After 6 - 9 days:

Rinse out and drill 2 more pop bottles.
Take each bottle of phytoplankton and pour half into another bottle using a funnel. Put one of the half bottles back on the culture shelf - this is for feeding the tank.
Top the other 3 bottles with culture medium. Add 1ml of fertilizer to each bottle if you didn't mix it into the culture medium.
Write the date on each of the 4 new bottles with a waterproof marker.
The new bottles started with mature phyto should mature a little faster than the first ones started from the disks but every culture is different. You should start new bottles with fresh phyto, within a few days of maturing.

STEP 10 - Feeding phyto and continuing the culture

Start with 1/4 cup once a day for a week, then after about a week go with 1/4 cup twice a day. I'm feeding 1/2 cup twice a day but how much you feed really depends on what critters you have eating it, i.e. clams, feather dusters, gorgonians, etc.

You may notice an increase in small feather dusters on your rocks, more sandbed critters and pods, etc. After a while you may find you have less micro algae and have to scrape your glass less. The phytoplankton will, to some degree, compete with other micro algae in your tank. Go with what seems to work best for your tank but start with a small amount at first.

Don't be tempted to use phytoplankton that is too old, it will be at its best for 3 or 4 days after maturing but can be used up to a week. Remember, it's pretty much free from here on in, it's better to give it away or discard it if you have too much.

NOTE: Do not dump discarded phytoplankton in a sink or other drain. Nannochloropsis is both fresh water and marine, there is a chance that it could survive and cause an ecological problem.

Susan Wilson
aka Flame*Angel
www.sjwilson.net/reef
swilson@accesswave.ca

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Proper Feeding Methods

melev — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 22:25:47 +0000

Proper Feeding Methods melev Tue, 11/21/2017 - 01:25

Feeding an aquarium seems simple enough. Buy a jar of flake food, and toss some in, right? Actually, that really isn’t a good idea for a variety of reasons. Hopefully you’ll find the following information helpful for your own specific needs. Foods come in many forms, including sheets, flakes, pellets, frozen, refrigerated, liquid, and live.

Flake food is convenient, easy to dose, and relatively inexpensive. A few things to keep in mind are that it should be kept in a cool dry place, not sitting on the canopy where the heat of your lighting can ruin it. Never pour the food into your tank, as an accident may occur which will dump excessive amounts of flake food into the water polluting the tank. It is better to take a pinch of food, and submerge your fingers in the water while releasing the food in the current. This will allow your fish to eat without gulping down air trying to eat from the surface. Keep in mind that flake foods are known to add to phosphate issues, so if your tank suffers from nuisance algae, it would be better to reduce the amount of flake food feedings.

*Please note there are a variety of types of flake food being made by companies such as Cyclop-Eeze and Brine Shrimp Direct that may be more nutritious than the more common kinds off the shelf.

Pellet food comes in various sizes. Most smaller fish will not eat large or even medium sized pellets, so I buy small pellet foods like Formula One and Formula Two. Pellet food tends to sink but it would still be a good habit to submerge your fingers when feeding to prevent some from floating. Pellets can be used to feed LPS corals, fish, and even your refugium. I’ve observed all kinds of creatures eat pellet food, such as bristleworms and even my mandarins. Avoid overdosing your tank with pellets, as these can end up polluting the water. Again, don’t pour it into your tank or set it on the edge as you may dump the container into the water accidentally.

Sheet algae, referred to as Nori, is an excellent method for feeding herbivores such as tangs. Using a feeding clip, you can affix Nori to the glass and your fish can chew off small pieces over a period of time. If you are keeping tangs, please be aware that these fish graze all day long and don’t do well only being fed once a day. Clipping on some Nori in the morning and then feeding again in the evening tends to result in healthy plump tangs.

Fresh foods, available at your local grocery store, asian market or fish market can be useful as well as varied. When shopping, buy saltwater-based product, such as squid, octopus, scallops, shrimp, clams and more. It is not recommended to use freshwater-based livestock as food for saltwater species. If you have doubts, consult your local club or ask online before you make what could be a fatal mistake. Fresh food should be thorougly washed, and be specific and ask if the food has any preservatives or if it has been pre-cooked. If either of these have occured, it would be wise to pass on that selection. Here is my home-made frozen food recipe.

Other fresh foods others have used are broccoli, romaine lettuce, and orange slices. Each of these contains vitamins that may be beneficial to some herbivorous fish, but is not found in the ocean. Be sure to wash these foods well to remove any pesticides that may poison your fish. Some are using broccoli to feed tangs, and blanch the florets in boiling water for 15 to 20 seconds to kill any parasites before offering this now-tender food to their fish. Fresh vegetables can be secured to a piece of rock with rubber bands or clipped to the glass with a food clip.

Frozen foods are always available at your local fish store (LFS). You can buy frozen brine shrimp, bloodworms, mysis, squid, scallops, krill, silversides, plankton and more. Some are sold in bars; others are sold in bubble packs where a cube can be used one by one. If you purchase Formula One and Formula Two, using one cube of each would provide some meaty food and some vegetable-based food to your livestock. Even though it comes in a cube doesn’t mean you have to use all of it that session. Cutting it in half, for example, allows you to tailor the amount of food being used. Cyclop-Eeze in frozen form is highly regarded food strong in HUFA fatty acids that fish need, and they love it. When purchasing frozen foods, consider what fish & corals you have, buying what they usually get in nature if possible. Krill, silversides and shrimp are all meaty foods that are used to feed anemones, eels, some LPS corals and even certain fish. Keeping some in the freezer guarantees that you’ll have food on hand when you need it.

Frozen foods should be thawed prior to being added to the tank, and is easily dissolved if left in a small dish filled with some tank water. Within 10 to 15 minutes it is ready to use. Frozen foods should never be left out on the counter, and if discovered later to be fully thawed or even room temperature, it would be best to dispose of it rather than risk poisoning your livestock. I wouldn’t risk it myself, and neither should you.

Liquid foods are available and usually designed to feed filter feeders such as sponges and feather dusters. However, in recent years various plankton-based foods have come to market allow us to target corals, fish fry, as well as the pods in our system. LiquidLife BioPlankton and CoralPlankton is one such food that is kept in the freezer and yet stays in liquid form and can be fed to the tank late at night when coral polyp extension is at its greatest. Knowing your system’s total volume of water is very important because that is how you’ll determine how much food to dose. Too much will pollute the system, and not enough will prove ineffective with poor results.

Another liquid food used is Phytoplankton, whether it is purchased at the LFS or homegrown by the hobbyist. Phytoplankton has made my soft corals perk up, and micro-fauna in our tanks feed upon it. When buying it, be sure to check the expiration date, and smell it for freshness. If it smells spoiled, it is. Dosing it every other day is sufficient, and will result in good pod growth in your reef for some fish such as wrasses and mandarins to feed upon. When feeding phytoplankton, I’ve always turned off the protein skimmer for an hour to keep the food in the water longer.

Live foods may be bloodworms, brine shrimp, ghost shrimp, rotifers and small feeder fish. Some fish need live food at least at first, and some demand it as long as they live. Ghost shrimp can be released in a tank for a Lion Fish to consume, as it gets hungry. Newly hatched brine shrimp can be fed to dwarf seahorses. Rotifers are fed late at night for SPS corals to consume, and for newly hatched clown fish fry. Hatching brine shrimp is quite simple, and offering newly hatched baby brine shrimp to your livestock can be quite nutritious as the yolk sac is still attached at that point. If you feed the baby brine shrimp some phytoplankton six hours before you harvest them, they will be ‘gut-loaded’ and provide even more nutrition to your reef.

Powdered foods such as Golden Pearls or ZoPlan can be used to feed livestock food in microscopic increments. One thing to know is that you can overfeed with these foods, causing massive algae outbreaks or making your skimmer overflow relentlessly. Both of these things have happened to me, so use these foods judiciously. If you have a tiny measuring spoon from a Salifert test kit, know that one tiny spoonful of Golden Pearls is plenty for a fully stocked 55g reef tank. Three little spoons may result in cyano bacteria for three weeks! Oops.

Vitamins benefit your livestock, and one herb mostly recommended is garlic. A few drops of liquid garlic oil are all that is needed, soaking into the food for 10 minutes. It stimulates a response in the fish to eat, and seems to boost their immune system. Selcon is very high in HUFA’s and available at many LFS. Spirulina powder is another good vitamin-based powder that you can add to their food. Vitamin C has been used with good results, by simply rubber banding a wedge of an orange or broccoli floret to a rock in the tank for the fish to nibble upon. Other vitamins are recommended for fish that are sick or malnourished.

Feeding Tips:

Always wash your hands well before feeding your tank, rinsing your hands well to remove all traces of soap, lotions and meds. Don’t touch anything other than the food and your tank – don’t pet your dog on the way to the tank!
Never feed directly from the container. Put the necessary amount in a small plastic container to avoid accidentally dropping in too much or spoiling the rest of the food by getting it wet.
Always thaw your food before feeding it to the tank.
Don’t overfeed. The food should all be consumed within 5 minutes of being added. Your tank water should not change colors typically, unless it is a product designed to cloud the water (Roti-Rich, for example).
Target-feed livestock at the right time of day or night. Anemones are easier to feed at night because the fish are at rest. Feed them small chunks of meaty foods, nothing larger than a lima bean. Anemones should not have to expel waste (a blob of slimed food) if they are fed properly every 3 days. Too much food will simply be rejected, so why do it?
Use a feeding dome for corals that need time to eat. Open brain corals, candy cane, hammer and frogspawn can all eat meaty foods, but need time before nocturnal creatures steal it away. Using nets or the top of a 2-liter bottle can work nicely. If you plan to leave the dome over the coral for more than one hour, drill small holes in it or cut slits so that current can flow through the feeding dome to avoid stagnated water / oxygen depravation.
If you hatch brine shrimp, they should be captured via a brine shrimp net. The water that they hatched in should not be introduced into the tank, nor the egg casings.
Turn off the pumps if you are target-feeding foods that you need to stay in place. If you want the food to flow through your entire tank, leave the pumps on.
Turn off the return pump from the sump when you feed so the food stays in the display tank where your livestock is, rather than feeding the aptasia (glass anemones) in the overflow and sump. Set a timer or use an alarm as a reminder to turn the pump(s) back on one hour later.
Phytoplankton should be fed every other day to avoid polluting the system. If you’ve never fed with it before, dose your tank in small amounts, increasing the amount slightly with each feeding until you reach the proper amount for your tank. This may take up to two weeks to reach that level, but in this way your bio-load will adjust and adapt to this feeding regime and keep things balanced. Phytoplankton feeds soft corals, feather dusters, and clams, as well as the pod population in your tank & refugium.
Use a turkey baster to target feed with thawed mysis or similar foods.
Always mix powdered foods in some RO water or tank water prior to pouring it into your tank. Pour it in slowly in an area of high flow.
Pouring in quite a bit of food into your tank at one time usually assures that all your fish will get a meal vs. feeding in smaller amounts. The more active / aggressive fish will get the majority of the food and timid ones will miss out if you feed in tiny portions.
Remove excess food found in your tank if uneaten after 5 or 10 minutes.
When out of town, prepare servings in individually marked containers so your tank sitter won’t overfeed and pollute the water. Type up some written instructions for quick reference and reminders.

Remember that a reef tank is a closed system and thus a delicate balance to be maintained. Whatever you put into the system will come out later, either through the fish, the protein skimmer or via nuisance algae. Try to determine the proper feeding regime for your tank, and adjust it as necessary.

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