Phytoplankton & Filters

[salty27]

Hey folks, I have a dumb question (which I think I know the answer to, but wanted your opinion): When feeding phytoplankton, do you run your protein skimmer or filter? Or do you shut them off for a short period?

[Hara]

shut them off for awhile....

[Devilishturtles]

I shut mine off too.

[lando]

I shut off the pump to my sump (which houses my skimmer) but leave the powerheads on inside the tank to circulate the phyto.

[chase33]

Originally Posted by lando

I shut off the pump to my sump (which houses my skimmer) but leave the powerheads on inside the tank to circulate the phyto.

I usually shut mine off but I'm going to try this.

[MT79]

IMO you want at least some flow in the tank to push the phyto around and make it available to everything. It seems more natural to have flow and food available at the same time. Shutting off your skimmer for a few hours after feeding planktons will help avoid wasting any. Mechanical filters such as sponges, floss etc. will do nothing to the phyto. Phytoplankton generally is too small for it to get filtered out that way.
HTH