rabid frog
Active Member
what should i use to feed my colt and cauliflower coral. Dt's photoplancton or marine snow?
marine snow or dt's
- Thread starter rabid frog
- Start date
phoenixrising
Member
Another alternative to either of these is my new favorite coral food, aptly named "Coral Heaven". Works wonders in my tank! I still use DT's every now and then though just for good measure.
phoenixrising
Member
It is against board policy for me to list the web address. Do a search on the internet and you'll find it right away. I wish this site would start carrying it! 
rabid frog
Active Member
Has anyone had any dealings with black powder?? The lfs said is good stuff..
rabid frog
Active Member
Well I bought the Dt's but the guy also told me that he uses the Black powder stuff and said his tank does really well with it, just wanted to know if anyone else uses that stuff. Thanks for the help btw.
nm reef
Active Member
I prefer using Dt's phytoplankton ... never used Marine Snow or any of the other available alternatives. I've had success with the product any have never had the urge to experiment with other products...here is a long quote with info on the DT's...
The Missing Ingredient for a More Successful Mini-Reef Aquarium
Phytoplankton are very important to marine organisms, because as primary producers in the oceans, phytoplankton are crucial to the development and survival of if not all, marine animals at some most, if not all, marine animals at some level. But what are phytoplankton? The term phytoplankton is made up of two roots "phyto' - pertaining to plants, and "plankton' - meaning basically "floaties in the ocean." It is just a fancy word for tiny floating plants (such as diatoms and dinoflagellates) which serve the same role in the food chains of the oceans as grass and shrubs serve on land; namely small things eat them, which are in turn eaten by bigger things and so on down the line. Many coral reef animals feed directly on phytoplankton, and even those that do not, rely ultimately on the nutrition gained from phytoplankton and other marine algae eaten by other organisms. Some essential nutrients provided by marine algae, phytoplankton in particular, cannot be synthesized by animals, and are therefore extremely important components of a healthy diet.
The most important of these nutrients are the class of lipids known as long chain Omega-3 fatty acids. The two Omega-3 fatty acids of primary interest are the highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA for short) DHA (docosahaxaenoic acid) & EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) which come almost exclusively from marine algae. One of the major breakthroughs in the aquaculture of marine animals was the discovery that these fatty acids were an essential part of the diet, and without them, nutritional deficiencies or arrested development are common problems. For example, newly hatched brine shrimp (Artemia) are a simple and easily cultured food for the larvae (juveniles) of many marine organisms, but because these shrimp lack sufficient quantities of EPA & DHA, most larvae fed exclusively on baby brine die off a few days after they start feeding. The widespread success of culturing and breeding many marine animals has come only since the discovery of the importance of including these fatty acids in the diet. DHA has been shown to be important in the normal growth and development of the central nervous system, and in particular the brain, eyes and reproductive organs, while EPA is important to cardiovascular health and plays an essential role in certain immune responses.
Among the common symptoms of EPA/DHA deficiency in marine animals are: 1 ) Sudden fright syndrome - shock, convulsion or even death when the animals are frightened; 2) poor vision, and reduced ability to locate prey; 3) worn or mysteriously eroding fins; 4) poor growth rates or sudden massive die offs during early development; 5) low egg viability or infertility; and 6) high mortality and disease rates, particularly when under stress (e.g., shipping or acclimation). By "enriching" food items such as Artemia with phytoplankton prior to feeding them to the marine animals being raised, the amount of EPA & DHA is often increased to the point that die-offs and developmental problems previously encountered are completely avoided.
Despite the fact that phytoplankton form the basis of marine food webs in general, and are an essential component of the diet for many reef creatures (such as fan worms, sea apples, corals, clams, sponges and tunicates), they are probably the least common element included in feeding an aquarium. It is easy to feed flake, freeze-dried or frozen prepared foods to the fishes and large invertebrates in the aquarium, and virtually every aquarist does so. It is a little more difficult to feed live zooplankton to the animals in the aquarium, although newly hatched or live adult Artemia are becoming more widely used all the time. Unfortunately, although these are the most widely available zooplankton, as describe above, brine shrimp are not nutritionally complete as food items without being enriched, after feeding on phytoplankton, however, they make an excellent source of nutrition for most reef animals, both fish and invertebrate.
Phytoplankton are not important only as a nutritional supplement, of course. Many reef-dwelling animals for sale in pet shops are filter feeders which specialize on eating these floating algae, but until recently phytoplankton was not easily available to feed them. The poor record of survival in aquaria for many of these animals is most likely a direct consequence of their starvation without phytoplankton being introduced regularly to the aquarium. Even animals which contain symbiotic zooxanthellae, such as corals and giant clams, cannot gain 1 00% of their nutritional requirements from light alone, For example, researchers on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia showed that 75% of the phytoplankton (2-50 um) passing over the reef was captured and eaten by giant clams (T. gigas); furthermore, juvenile clams were found to obtain 65% of their energy from filtering phytoplankton rather than photosynthesis - obviously providing phytoplankton to an aquarium is likely to have great benefit for such animals.
The benefits of phytoplankton to most reef creatures is great. With the availability of DT's Marine Phytoplankton, you can now give your reef tank every opportunity to succeed by providing this important food source to your animals.
The Missing Ingredient for a More Successful Mini-Reef Aquarium
Phytoplankton are very important to marine organisms, because as primary producers in the oceans, phytoplankton are crucial to the development and survival of if not all, marine animals at some most, if not all, marine animals at some level. But what are phytoplankton? The term phytoplankton is made up of two roots "phyto' - pertaining to plants, and "plankton' - meaning basically "floaties in the ocean." It is just a fancy word for tiny floating plants (such as diatoms and dinoflagellates) which serve the same role in the food chains of the oceans as grass and shrubs serve on land; namely small things eat them, which are in turn eaten by bigger things and so on down the line. Many coral reef animals feed directly on phytoplankton, and even those that do not, rely ultimately on the nutrition gained from phytoplankton and other marine algae eaten by other organisms. Some essential nutrients provided by marine algae, phytoplankton in particular, cannot be synthesized by animals, and are therefore extremely important components of a healthy diet.
The most important of these nutrients are the class of lipids known as long chain Omega-3 fatty acids. The two Omega-3 fatty acids of primary interest are the highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA for short) DHA (docosahaxaenoic acid) & EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) which come almost exclusively from marine algae. One of the major breakthroughs in the aquaculture of marine animals was the discovery that these fatty acids were an essential part of the diet, and without them, nutritional deficiencies or arrested development are common problems. For example, newly hatched brine shrimp (Artemia) are a simple and easily cultured food for the larvae (juveniles) of many marine organisms, but because these shrimp lack sufficient quantities of EPA & DHA, most larvae fed exclusively on baby brine die off a few days after they start feeding. The widespread success of culturing and breeding many marine animals has come only since the discovery of the importance of including these fatty acids in the diet. DHA has been shown to be important in the normal growth and development of the central nervous system, and in particular the brain, eyes and reproductive organs, while EPA is important to cardiovascular health and plays an essential role in certain immune responses.
Among the common symptoms of EPA/DHA deficiency in marine animals are: 1 ) Sudden fright syndrome - shock, convulsion or even death when the animals are frightened; 2) poor vision, and reduced ability to locate prey; 3) worn or mysteriously eroding fins; 4) poor growth rates or sudden massive die offs during early development; 5) low egg viability or infertility; and 6) high mortality and disease rates, particularly when under stress (e.g., shipping or acclimation). By "enriching" food items such as Artemia with phytoplankton prior to feeding them to the marine animals being raised, the amount of EPA & DHA is often increased to the point that die-offs and developmental problems previously encountered are completely avoided.
Despite the fact that phytoplankton form the basis of marine food webs in general, and are an essential component of the diet for many reef creatures (such as fan worms, sea apples, corals, clams, sponges and tunicates), they are probably the least common element included in feeding an aquarium. It is easy to feed flake, freeze-dried or frozen prepared foods to the fishes and large invertebrates in the aquarium, and virtually every aquarist does so. It is a little more difficult to feed live zooplankton to the animals in the aquarium, although newly hatched or live adult Artemia are becoming more widely used all the time. Unfortunately, although these are the most widely available zooplankton, as describe above, brine shrimp are not nutritionally complete as food items without being enriched, after feeding on phytoplankton, however, they make an excellent source of nutrition for most reef animals, both fish and invertebrate.
Phytoplankton are not important only as a nutritional supplement, of course. Many reef-dwelling animals for sale in pet shops are filter feeders which specialize on eating these floating algae, but until recently phytoplankton was not easily available to feed them. The poor record of survival in aquaria for many of these animals is most likely a direct consequence of their starvation without phytoplankton being introduced regularly to the aquarium. Even animals which contain symbiotic zooxanthellae, such as corals and giant clams, cannot gain 1 00% of their nutritional requirements from light alone, For example, researchers on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia showed that 75% of the phytoplankton (2-50 um) passing over the reef was captured and eaten by giant clams (T. gigas); furthermore, juvenile clams were found to obtain 65% of their energy from filtering phytoplankton rather than photosynthesis - obviously providing phytoplankton to an aquarium is likely to have great benefit for such animals.
The benefits of phytoplankton to most reef creatures is great. With the availability of DT's Marine Phytoplankton, you can now give your reef tank every opportunity to succeed by providing this important food source to your animals.
grouperhead
Active Member
How much does a bottle of DT's go for?
Bo
Bo
rabid frog
Active Member
I bought mine today, for a 3.75 oz bottle cost me 8 bucks. Plus I am still wondering about the black powder??
phoenixrising
Member
LFS about $36 or thereabouts for the 30 oz bottle.
nm reef
Active Member
The "Black Powder" is a Mark Weiss product that I have no experience with. Actually I've never used any of the products from Mark Weiss...but I have seen reference to them as "snake oils" and some folks have tried in vain to determine what exactly is in those products(with limited success). I've seen comments that the "Black Powder" you are asking about does seem to work...but appears to be addictive....remove the product and corals go into decline rapidly. I have no first hand info or knowledge so I'll leave it at that...but personally I prefer to avoid products with outragious claims and limited content information.
rabid frog
Active Member
thanks bro btw whats your email addy maybe we could hook up in lubbock with micheal tx he lives up there, could get some good frag swaping going.