[Caesar Augustus]

I have seen some posts on feeding it to inverts but who makes it? What is it?
Napoleon

[Bruce]

DT's is a company name. It is DT's phytoplankton. It differs from most other phytoplankton on the market because unlike others, this is actual live phytoplankton.

[Caesar Augustus]

where do you get it and is it that much better than say marine snow?

[jmick01]

This was a reply on live phytoplankton from someone who had talked to an expert.
"Actually according to Dr. Ron Shimek very few coral benefit directly from phytoplankton. The only exception he could think of off hand was goniopora ( flowerpot ). Probably benefit indirectly because it probably increases critters and sandbed fauna."
I dont have the article in ? but will try to find it. I still use dt's but am seriuosly thinking of doing some more looking due to this statement.

JMM

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Remember Fish are alive when we get them, lets keep it that way!!!

[This message has been edited by jmick01 (edited 05-17-2001).]

[ravenmore]

Actually Dt's benefits directly quite a few corals, mainly softies, mushrooms, goniporas(got these from Dr. Ron, I believe). Clams benefit from it also. I've noticed my hammers also expand much more when I dose Dt's.

Another big benefit is that it feeds, as touched on above, various fauna in the tank(my fan worm pop. exploded when I started dosing DT's). Many of these animal have free swimming life phases and, during this phase, contribute to the tank's zooplankton. Their poplulations increase and therefore the amount of zooplankton in the tank increases - this also feeds your corals.

Dt's is very, very usefull stuff. [img]/ubb/smile.gif[/img] You might want to pop over to Dr. Ron's forum on reef central and do some searches on DT's.

-Mike

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I didn't do it. Nobody saw me do it. You can't prove anything.

Website

[This message has been edited by ravenmore (edited 05-18-2001).]

[SPasse]

Napoleon,

DT's phytoplankton is excellent stuff.

As for Marine Snow, well...
http://www.reefs.org/ubb/Forum1/HTML/022585.html

and
http://www.reefs.org/ubb/Forum1/HTML/022649.html

and
http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish/data/foods.asp

Regards,

Scott


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The definition of an expert is a washed-up drip under pressure.
You can see my reeftank at http://www.homestead.com/spasse/

[jmick01]

I will do some more looking just as I said just wanted someone to see what "someone else had posted" about dr.ron's feelings on dt's

JMM

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Remember Fish are alive when we get them, lets keep it that way!!!

[Ninong]

JMM, I don't believe anyone is disagreeing with the statement you posted: "Actually according to Dr. Ron Shimek very few coral benefit directly from phytoplankton."

It is true that most scleractinians reject phytoplankton and that even with the few octocorals that feed on it, it is not their major source of nutrition (except for certain gorgonians). I believe the point that others are trying to make is that DT's is still a valuable addition to a reef tank. Tridacna clams definitely feed on it, as do other filter feeders, feather dusters, etc. Also, the phytoplankton feeds the zooplankton which in turn feeds the corals.

One of the foods that Dr. Ron uses to feed his corals is "golden pearls" by Brine Shrimp Direct. This was one of the food items he had tested in his recent study. He may also use DT's, but I'm not sure about that.

Ninong [img]/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

P.S. - Here is a quote from Dr. Ron's article on Suspension Feeding: "While many aquarists can successfully keep tridacnids, there still is a significant mortality of these animals probably due, in large part, to the lack of sufficient phytoplankton in our systems. Many aquarists have problems maintaining the large feather duster worms, Sabellastarte magnifica, for the same reasons." http://www.aquarium.net/0498/0498_3.shtml

P.P.S. - Yes, Dr. Ron uses DT's heavily in two of his tanks: "Feeding Regime:
Lagoon and low light get « cup of DT's green water every day, and also get Selconed baby artemia 2 days of every three. All tanks get frozen brine shrimp or plankton or Lifeline added daily. About 5-10 cc of this food to each of the Lagoon and Anemone tanks per day, about 2-3 cc to the low light tank. The host anemones in the lagoonal tank get fed about 2-3 lance fish per day. The Stichodactyla haddoni gets 5-20 lance fish (up to about 5 cc volume) daily. Tubastraea and other non-photosynthetic cnidaria in the low light tank are fed diced lance fish every 4-5 days." http://www.reefs.org/library/members...ek_042799.html (Note: This is dated April 1999, Dr. Ron started started supplementing with Golden Pearls since then.)

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Irrational Exuberance!

[Ninong]

Well, since Ravenmore did it, I guess I'll do it, too. [img]/ubb/wink.gif[/img]

An excerpt from a January 2001 post by Dr. Ron on the subject of DT's phytoplankton ~~

"So... bottom line...

Phytoplankton is a good thing to add. Live phyto is better than dead - it stays in the water column longer and is a "natural" type food, with all the natural components intact. Dead phyto - cryopastes and off the shelf stuff - are basically cellular debris. They will feed a lot of things very well, but they are already partially decomposed, so they may be good foods simply because they boost tank bacterial levels. These, in turn, go to feed other critters.

Not all things eat phytoplankton. It is a good bet nothing with a "large" mouth does. However, anything with an active feeding filter would likely get some nutrition, and maybe a lot of nutrition from DT's. Would they potentially get more out of some other alga or algal mix. Sure enough. Can we buy other mixes over the counter. Nope.... So at this point, I think DT's is the best option we have."

[Biomanjcs72]

Napoleon, DT's are what happen when you go three or four days without a beer. [img]/ubb/lol.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/lol.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]

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JCS
You're trying to scare me with threats of hell?? you're forgetting I was married for three years.

[ravenmore]

here's Dr. Shimek's response to my inquiry on his forum about Dt's. (I altered the following to identify who said what - as the original formatting was lost in the cut and paste):
__________________________________________________ _________

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by ravenmore
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Ravenmore: Wanted to ask you about another aquarium product, DT's Phytoplankton.

Rshimek: I am a REAL fan of this product; its appearance on the market was darned near the best thing since sliced bread. It is a highly nutritious phtyoplankton source, and it lives up to the claims of the manufacturer.

The thing about this product that is great is that it takes some of the complication out of the life of an aquarist. Here is a high quality, concentrated food source that is easy to use and beneficial to your critters. Gotta like it.

Ravenmore: Specifically, is it really still "live" phyto and, if so, what animals benefit from it?

Rshimek: It has to be kept refrigerated, but when that is done it remains alive and nutritious for a long time. I think Rob Toonen has found that it basically is good for about 6 months.

The animals that benefit from it are suspension-feeders requiring small foods.

So: Tridacna (all of these clams need to feed, but feeding is especially important for small ones); feather duster worms, non-zooxanthellate clams (i. e. flame scallops, thorny oysters); some soft corals (Dendronephthya, etc.); some stony corals such as Goniopora. A lot of filter feeders can use it.

Ravenmore: I'm kind of wondering if, even though it may not feed some corals directly, it would feed animals in the tank and dsb that have a planktonic phase in their life cycle that, during this phase, WOULD feed the corals?

Rshimek: Absolutely correct! It definitely goes to feed polychaete larvae in my tanks, and probably the planktonic larvae of a lot of liddle bugs.

Now... DT's can be improved I think. And the producer is trying many things to make it better. While the producer of the product is doing it to make $$$, he is also very concerned about producing a high quality product - and that means a lot of "tweaking" and reformulations. All of which benefit us .

Can you raise phytoplankton on your own? Certainly. And I urge you to do just that. Raise some types other than what is found in DT's so that you can offer your animals a more balanced diet.

You can also use DT's to feed rotifer or other zooplankton cultures, etc. etc...

__________________________________________________ ______

Anyway, that's it - hope Dr. Shimek doesn't mind me cutting and pasting his words here, but I thought it would help. [img]/ubb/smile.gif[/img]




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I didn't do it. Nobody saw me do it. You can't prove anything.

Website