Phytoplankton And Plankton

nano_reef_ubergeek

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I want a natural system in my tank with phytoplankton, plankton ... the problem is that I'm worried that the powerhead will kill them. I have no filter on my tank now, so that's not a problem. My tank is getting cloudier and cloudier,so I need to put something in there to eat the algae or whatever is making the water cloudy.

Do aquariums sell live plankton?


-_-
 
I'm not quite sure how you would go about growing and have phyto reproduce in your display tank, I'm not even sure it's possible.


The best thing to do would be to culture it outside of the tank, and then add it to the tank periodically. LFS do sell "live" phyto (most notably DT's live phytoplankton), but it's not something you can use to culture with. If you wanted to go the culture route, you would have to have a pure, sterile culture to work from. Most commonly used type of phyto wouldprobably be Nanochloropsus. Very nutritious.
 
That's pretty depressing .... I was hoping to have a natural system in my tank and not worry about having a filter or feeding the coral artificially.

sometimes people talk about adding rotifers, maybe I could add those if I thought that the powerhead would not kill them. I realize that the rotifers are usually only added to help fish spawn.

Basically what it comes down to: it's hard to raise your own fish, extremely difficult --- if there is no plankton for the larvae to eat.
 
That's pretty depressing .... I was hoping to have a natural system in my tank and not worry about having a filter or feeding the coral artificially.

sometimes people talk about adding rotifers, maybe I could add those if I thought that the powerhead would not kill them. I realize that the rotifers are usually only added to help fish spawn.

Basically what it comes down to: it's hard to raise your own fish, extremely difficult --- if there is no plankton for the larvae to eat.

Rotifers would probably be the same deal. In order for rotis to live successfully and reproduce they need food to eat (phyto like nano is best). I think one of the biggest problems you would run into wouldn't necessary be with the powerhead or filtersbut rather the volume of water. When you have a culture running, you often have to sub culture it or simply remove a good portion of the culture nearly everyday otherwise the culture can crash.

I don't think a tank full of greenwater and little white dots would look too great anyways :p
 
it's a new tank with just one domino damsel and 3 lbs. of live rock .... I don't have a filter, just a powerhead. Because I read that some people do get by without a filter and I thought that I would try to have plankton in the tank. But I've gone 2 weeks with no filter, so ..... I guess will need to start filtering the water -- it just keeps getting more green day by day ....

the water does test ok .... but I worry about the little domino just the same.
 
it's a new tank with just one domino damsel and 3 lbs. of live rock .... I don't have a filter, just a powerhead.

The live rock is your filter

Because I read that some people do get by without a filter and I thought that I would try to have plankton in the tank. But I've gone 2 weeks with no filter, so ..... I guess will need to start filtering the water -- it just keeps getting more green day by day ....

the water does test ok .... but I worry about the little domino just the same.

Do a water change if the tank is cycled, which I assume it is as you have a fish in there?

How big is the tank? Assuming it is approx 6/8 gallons with only three kilos of live rock?

Seffie x
 

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