# Auto dosing phyto



## someguy (Sep 7, 2009)

I am looking to dose phyto/zoo with a dosing pump. I know some brands recommend refrigeration so what products would be suitable to leave out? Even better if you have personal experience doing this.
Thanks in advance.


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## goobafish (Jan 27, 2015)

I auto-dose my own zooplankton/phytoplankton with my pump. I have a variety of copepods and rotifers as well as non-viable nanno, tet, t-iso and parvo. I dose it out of a 2 litre bottle. The dosing container should not be air-tight, and it is best that it pumps frequently (every hour or two) in order to keep water motion in the culture. If not, you can run an air pump and a small bubble in the container.


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## Rookie2013 (Jan 17, 2013)

goobafish said:


> I auto-dose my own zooplankton/phytoplankton with my pump. I have a variety of copepods and rotifers as well as non-viable nanno, tet, t-iso and parvo. I dose it out of a 2 litre bottle. The dosing container should not be air-tight, and it is best that it pumps frequently (every hour or two) in order to keep water motion in the culture. If not, you can run an air pump and a small bubble in the container.


Dave do you have to refrigerate phyto if you are dosing it?


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## goobafish (Jan 27, 2015)

Rookie2013 said:


> Dave do you have to refrigerate phyto if you are dosing it?


No, I dilute it to a point where it doesn't require refridgeration, the pods eat it as the week goes on and it becomes less concentrated.


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## someguy (Sep 7, 2009)

Is it possible to refrigerate a batch and use a portion each week to make a diluted bottle to dose with? And repeat by making a new diluted bottle every week until the main refrigerated bottle is done? I just don't see myself buying phyto every week


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## goobafish (Jan 27, 2015)

That's exactly what I use, it stays good up to 3 years in the freezer. I dose 5ml of zoo/phyto every two hours. The zooplankton however has to be grown and harvested, or purchased to dose.

To be clear, I'm auto dosing zooplankton, which requires phytoplankton to survive. The majority of the phytoplankton is consumed by the zooplankton before it hits the tank. If I was auto dosing phytoplankton I would have a lot of problems with my skimmer and glass messing up


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## goobafish (Jan 27, 2015)

A little update, I have increased the dosage to 4ml every hour after some amazing growth and polyp extension on my corals. The zooplankton consume the phytoplankton in the bottle within a day or two, so I have to keep it fed with phyto from the fridge. It is wonderful because I am getting all the benefits of the phyto without the drawbacks of directly dosing it (algae-covered glass, overskimming).


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## goobafish (Jan 27, 2015)

I am now dosing 5ml/hour 24hrs a day. My coral growth has exploded, especially my LPS. It keeps my Dendros and Sun Corals open all day.


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