Supplement and phytoplankton question

Our tanks are not the ocean and doesn't have the same amount of forgiveness. The ocean can evidently even handle gobs of oil and she still rebounds!

I wasn't making any claims on the matter, just saying my personal preference is to use live over dead.

 

from personal experience of Brightwell products

if you want to choose 2 items from the range on the link

I would go for Restor - which is a blend of ammino acids, fatty acids and Omega 3
this product did seem to help in a couple of instances I had of LPS bleaching during changes in lighting
I also like to dose this product after fragging corals etc

Vitamin C is another that I have found beneficial to soft corals and would be my 2nd choice from the range offered on the link

use both products with caution, stay within the suggested dosages, and naturally monitor your water quality during/ after use

products on the list I have used but would suggest you avoid are

Koral Color - as in my experience, it does not do anything for anything - no noticeable difference when dosed

also the link for Ammino Omega - the image is Calcion - which is a liquid calcium supplement , Calcion is fine IMO if you need to increase calcium levels, but if the product they sent is Ammino Omega , then you do not need this product

other ones I would avoid in your situation

Coral Ammino - very concentrated solution of Ammino acids, I use this occasionally in my SPS tank when coral colors seem to be fading due to running ULNS

Liquid reef , an all in one supplement for calcium/ alkalinity - think Purple Up but the Brightwell version - if you need supplementation for calcium and alkalinity there are better ways - the Brightwell product Reef Code A and B would be a better option for those parameters IMO

 

Vitamin C is the BOMB!

 

While our tanks are not even remotely close to the ocean, we can take clues from what scientist have found with plantkon studies in terms of fileter feeders. Its a very valid and relavant point in this discussion, and any discussion on cora/filter feeding.

The simple fact is, live has no real added benefits and does have negatives. It's not going to last much longer in your tank, the filter feeders cannot tell the difference, it looses its nutritional value quicker, and it costs more. But don't get me wrong, not all non live phytoplankton is created equal. I'm not going to weigh in on that as being employed by one of the major players in that area, its easy to claim bias

FWIW you live for lionfish, I live for "feeding my reef" I found the subject so close to my heart, I got out of the wholesale side of MO and I made it my career 8 years ago

 

I feed phytofeast, a dead phytoplankton product, to my tank. I have xenia, jasmine polyp, acans, and ricordea mushrooms along with the normal fitler feeder hitchhikers such as fanworms and horseshoe worms. Since starting the product my pod population exploded, I was luck to seen 1 or 2 before and now I can see them crawling all over rocks glass substrate etc. The corals have all grown nicely and expand fully and the filter feeders have all spread and grown in number, even the horseshoe worms. My ammonia and nitrite remains 0 and my nitrates actually improved from where they used to be 5-10ppm to now they remain 0-2.5ppm (tank is only 5 months old so I am pretty sure the reduction in nitrates is unrelated to the phyto but still it did not pollute my tank). I DO NOT run a skimmer only a HOB filter with some carbon and phosguard and lots of liverock. It is a 46gallon tank and I dose 1/2-1 teaspoon 2-3X a week.

Im not saying it will or wont work for you but thats my personal experience with it.

 

I'll admit bias myself, as I worked for Aqua Tech. I've worked some shows with you in the past. I wasn't stirring a debate, but listing a preference. A personal preference is never wrong, because it is just that and nothing more.

Making your own phyto is the cheapest method. There's nothing like turning your closet into a mad scientist laboratory.

 

Personal preference is built on something though, which was what I was after.

But it's obvious you don't want to go there, so no harm, no foul.

 

Oh right, you were a sales rep for MV @ MAX, right? Kinda recall that now, but I cannot put a face to the name.

 

I'm not sure which you are either. I can't stand toe to toe with you on research data, but MV can. The data you have to support dead, he has to support live. But doesn't RN still sell phyto-feast live? Why sell it if it's an inferior product. Why say on your site that both your live and dead product are equally as good for your aquarium?

I hope I'm not deflecting from the OPs original topic.

 

If you reread what I wrote, I did not say live is any less effective in aquaria, just that is has disadvantages (It's not going to last much longer in your tank, the filter feeders cannot tell the difference, it looses its nutritional value quicker, and it costs more). There's people with the perception, such as yourself, that live is better and given it was the second product in our line, it's a legacy product. We produce and sell more marine phytoplankton concentrates then every other producer combined. There is a reason we are the #1 go to source on the planet for phytoplankton.

If your just going to sit on "your preference" as the basis for your input, there is no discussion to be had here. I'm sure you respect that.