Reef By Steele
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Is color the best indicator of quality phytoplankton?
When I received my first purchase of phytoplankton, it came as a package deal with copepods. The instructions said for best results to dose the phyto daily. I didn’t understand phyto at the time and the product was left unused in my refrigerator. Later I came across a thread of a Reef2Reef member selling phytoplankton. The pictures on his thread were vastly different than what I had received, and reading what he wrote and other threads I had read led me to give it a try. I can say that he is an awesome source and has a great product. I soon purchased some single strains from him and started culturing my own. No matter what I did, or how dark they looked in their cultures, when I would combine them the golds and browns altered the appearance and it seemed much lighter than what I had become accustomed to from him. Through trial and error and crashing many cultures trying to extend them past a certain density I came to the realization that many strains have a tipping point from healthy to gone overnight.
What I have come to learn is that some producers artificially concentrate or use additives to enhance the appearance of their product. So the question then comes to is it better. The answer to that question is something that I believe will spark debate with people having vastly different opinions. I am going to lay out some of my thoughts and observations. Concentrated phytoplankton will have a higher cell count per ml. That itself is a good thing, what a person has to know is how was that concentration achieved. The research I conducted before launching our concentrate led me to 3 main ways to accomplish this, and from reading a competitors label I have deduced a 4th.
1. distillation, you can heat phytoplankton to evaporate the excess water thus increasing the density of cells in a mixture. I believe this process is used to create pastes. I would not consider this a good method for a couple of reasons. The heat would certainly impact the health of the phyto, most likely rendering it “dead” vs live. Also the evaporation process would remove water without removing salt so the salinity would be greatly high. And depending on the heat level, cell wall deterioration or rupture would occur.
2. Centrifugal force. Phyto can be separated from the water through a centrifuge greatly increasing the density of the final product. This however does damage the cells rupturing a majority of the cells do to the level of spin required to separate them.
3. Settling. Many strains of phytoplankton will settle to the bottom in a container if left undisturbed. The the producer will pour off the clear or mostly clear water. Of these three, this is by far the safest and best method to employ. If done properly, there is very little damage if any to the cells. To maintain the highest quality, we monitor the phyto daily and combine as quickly as possible to avoid settled cells from suffocating buried under a plethora of other cells. This is why refrigerated phyto should be shaken at least every 2-3 days.
4. The use of additives that act as a coagulant absorbing excess water I assume. One popular brand lists one such ingredient that I looked up to find it is used in making gelatin.
At @Reef By Steele our concentrated phyto is produced using method 3 and we stringently monitor the process to complete the concentrating at the earliest possible moment rather than a set number of hours or days.
Once you know the method used, you can make at least an informed decision. Prior to our launch I was a purist, we advertise a certain number of strains and that is mixed 1 to 1, and what we still use ourselves. Not because we don’t have as full of a belief in our concentrated product, but because demand is high enough that we don’t want a customer to not be able to get it. Due to the time and space we were limited in production, but with the purchase of a HUGE commercial refrigerator that we can control the temp for optimum conditions, and more vessels to hold them we have been able to quadruple our capacity.
The benefit we see is for the customer that uses large amounts on a continuous basis, maximizing their storage ability and achieving the same results with half the product.
These results include enhanced coral coloration and extension, natural nutrient export as phytoplankton converts nitrates and phosphates during photosynthesis converting it into nutrients, vitamins, fats, and proteins used by many organisms in our tanks including our pods allowing them to reproduce at higher rates and provide a stronger nutritional profile to all the other organisms that eat them.
I have found that a broader selection phytoplankton strains provides more results than more density if fewer strains. We can really see a difference between our tanks reaction to our 10 strain blend than we saw when we started with only 5 strains. I attribute this to the variety of cell sizes, different nutritional contents from protein content, carbohydrates, vitamins, trace elements, and lipids commonly referred to as (HUFA) highly unsaturated fatty acids.
What is Phytoplankton?
Phytoplankton are primary producers and form the foundation of virtually all marine food chains, supporting marine ecosystems and making other aquatic life possible. Phytoplankton is such an important piece of the biome both in the wild and in our aquariums, making phytoplankton an essential component to a balanced reef ecosystem.
Nutritional Value of Phytoplankton
Phytoplankton is an abundant source of macro- and micronutrients. You will find protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, lipids, and trace elements. One of the most important nutrients contained within phytoplankton cells are lipids, in particular Omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids, often referred to as highly unsaturated fats (HUFA), are absolutely essential for the health and coloration of marine invertebrates and fish. Of these fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid or EPA (found generally in green-colored phytoplankton species) and docosahexaenoic acid or DHA (found generally in brown-colored phytoplankton species) are of critical importance to marine life, with DHA proving to be the more essential of the two. This is why our phyto buffet incorporates 5 brown strains, 4 green strains, and one red strain added for improved coral coloration.
When dosing phytoplankton in an aquarium, in order to obtain maximum nutrition, dosing multiple species with various nutritional profiles is important. A good dosing regimen for a reef aquarium is a
MINIMUM of one strain of a high-EPA (e.g., Chorella) and one strain of a high-DHA algae (e.g., Thalassiosira wiesflogii) to ensure that the aquarium inhabitants receive proper nutrition.
What Consumes Phytoplankton?
Whether in the wild or in aquariums, phytoplankton is a perfect food for: Corals, clams, feather dusters, scallops, tunicates and sponges, copepods, tube-worms, sea squirts, and other suspension-feeding invertebrates. In aquariums, regular dosing of phytoplankton increases the health, coloration, growth, and polyp extension of corals. It also increases the development and vibrancy of your marine life, and boosts zooplankton populations. Which increases the probability of establishing copepod colonies in your aquarium.
Maintaining Water Quality
Phytoplankton can play a major role in water quality and nutrient recycling through their consumption of nitrogenous wastes. Phytoplankton consume nitrogen and phosphorous to perform photosynthesis. In an aquarium environment, adding LIVE phytoplankton will reduce your nitrate (NO3) and phosphate (PO4) levels as the living phytoplankton consume these nutrients for photosynthesis.
Not only will live phytoplankton help reduce NO3 and PO4 levels, but through photosynthesis the phytoplankton help balance pH levels by increasing dissolved oxygen levels in the aquarium while simultaneously reducing carbon dioxide levels.
How drastically can phytoplankton affect water quality? It turns out, quite a lot! In fact, because phytoplanktons are so effective at nutrient uptake and because of their capacity for exponential growth, phytoplankton are sometimes utilized at municipal water treatment facilities to remove primary nutrients from sewage and wastewater. So, if phytoplankton can tackle sewage, just imagine the work that phytoplankton can do in your aquarium!
Outcompeting Nuisance Algae
A further benefit of dosing live phytoplankton in an aquarium is to help reduce or prevent nuisance algae growth (e.g., hair algae, bryopsis, cyano, etc.). Nuisance algae in aquariums consume the same nutrients as live phytoplankton to grow and survive. If live phytoplankton is dosed regularly and consumes these nutrients, the nuisance algae will eventually wither away.
What to Look for in a Quality Phytoplankton Product?
There are a lot of phytoplankton products on the aquarium market, and there is a lot of misinformation about what constitutes a quality phytoplankton product. If you are looking for a quality phytoplankton product that will give your reef the benefits of maximum nutrition, optimal water quality, and help reduce nuisance algae growth, then here's what you need to look for:
- MULTI-SPECIE BLEND
***For proper nutrition, you need to dose a MINIMUM of TWO species of phytoplankton.***
- EPA & DHA (GREENS & BROWNS)
**It is critical to dose BOTH high-EPA (typically "green") and high-DHA (typically "gold or brown") species.***
- LIVE (in contrast to concentrates, pastes, or cryopreserved)
***In order to receive the benefits of nutrient consumption, the product must be LIVE.***
- NO PRESERVATIVES, GELS, BINDERS, OR OTHER ADDITIVES
***Avoid products with additives that could be potentially harmful to your reef.***
If you are interested in a steady supply of phytoplankton and or zooplankton, you can purchase regularly, set up a subscription, or culture your own. There are costs and benefits to evaluate to determine which is right for your personal needs. With a set up like our Custom Culturing Kits a person can be successful with the proper instruction. My favorite reefer @Ocean_Queenie has successfully cultured two strains of phytoplankton and a nice population of Apocyclops copepods on her first attempt using this Kit.
Check out our selection at www.reefbysteele.com
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