invert Posted April 12, 2003 Share Posted April 12, 2003 I was thinking the other day is there any way to get a phytoplankton culture going without using starter culture. The reason for this is I live in England and we are way behind you Americans in this hobby. I have looked every ware to find a live phytoplankton culture but I can only find kents dead stuff. So if there is any other way please tell me as I am getting really frustrated. Thanks Link to comment
tinyreef Posted April 12, 2003 Share Posted April 12, 2003 The reason for this is I live in England and we are way behind you Americans in this hobby. i'd seriously doubt that, there are numerous "advanced" aquarists from england and scotland i've seen on the various forums, here and elsewhere. (speaking of which, where's sahin been lately?) try www.instant-algae.com, www.aquaculturestore.com, www.mariculturetechnology.com, or seahorse.org for some leads. there's a disproportionate amount of english on that board it seems : jk , considering the admin's an american. those ranchers should definitely know some other sources. i think verytricky (his handle) is in london as well as a number of others. altho they also order from the usa i'm sure there are some sources there. it all depends on $$$ or sterling/euro/whatever. hth edit: sorry, fixed thoses pesky hyperlinks, thanks Link to comment
invert Posted April 12, 2003 Author Share Posted April 12, 2003 Woops that kind of came out wrong. What I meant is that if you go into an English lfs and mention things like nano-reefs and phytoplankton you will not get a very detailed response. I agree there are lost of English aquarist out there that have a great knowledge of marine aquariums but the common knowledge in England is just pants when it concerns the more advanced stuff. Also it’s so expensive over here. You can pay £40 for a small patch of 12 brown zoo’s. Those links were very helpful it seems that I can order it and get it shipped over here. The links don’t work because of the full stops at the ends so if anyone wants to visit them just type them in the navigation bar. I’m still curious if there is any other way to get it started from things in the tank? Thanks tiny reef for the links I will see what I can get hold of sorry for the statement with no reasoning. Link to comment
LiQuiD Posted April 12, 2003 Share Posted April 12, 2003 Your best bet would be to get it shipped to you and not try to grow it in your tank yourself. Even when dosing with phyto, you need to be carefull not to overdose accidently or you will have an algae outbreak. Yes, you could grow it in the tank with out a culture but you may end up with this http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...=&threadid=9098 Sorry Xavier, but he needed to see what could occur by trying to grow it in his tank. What are you trying to feed? The Kent stuff may be dead, but so is some of the best stuff like Liquid Life's BioPlankton. Both have multiple algaes in them with different micron sizes for different feeders. DT's only has one size. DT's may be "live" phyto but if what you are trying to feed needs a larger or smaller micron sized algae, you would not accomplish what you are looking to do. Just because it is "live" doesn't mean it is better. I normally feed my fish flakes and the flakes are dead but give good nutritien. As long as the the proteins and fatty acids are being ingested by what you are trying to feed, that's what matters. The best thing to do if you have many filter feeders is to make a mix of DT's, Pearls, Snow, PhytoPlex, & BioPlankton and add drops of the mix for the ultimate in variety of algae species and micron sizes. This may be a little expensive which again is why I asked what you are looking to feed. Link to comment
invert Posted April 12, 2003 Author Share Posted April 12, 2003 I think that I have a way with words. lol:D What I meant was, is there anything in the tank that I could remove into a culturing system to propagate the phytoplankton. Not propagate it inside the aquarium. Liquid there are three reasons why I would prefer live phyto. 1. I don’t want to have to go and buy it all the time. 2. There’s less chance of it fouling the tank. 3. It doesn’t clump together like it does when it’s dead. I will be using the phyto for feeding non-photosynthetic nano-reef. I plan on keeping a range of non-photosynthetic corals and filter feeding inverts. I think I remember you mentioning that you really liked these animals. So I am aiming for the lower micron sizes preferably under 6 but hey anything is better than nothing. Thank anyway for the help liquid. Link to comment
Paul G Posted April 12, 2003 Share Posted April 12, 2003 Don't know about culturing from tank contents, but this Co. sells all you need to start producing live Phyto and a whole load of other stuff Cellpharm Link to comment
LiQuiD Posted April 12, 2003 Share Posted April 12, 2003 If you do do it yourself, this may help. http://www.garf.org/news13p2.html#green However, it may change your mind into just buying it. If you do decide to go for it, get your cultures here, http://www.rotifer.com they are the best around. Also, this will help you out with it http://www.instant-algae.com/reeftanks/culturing.htm Good luck with the green water. Link to comment
invert Posted April 13, 2003 Author Share Posted April 13, 2003 I think for now I will buy the phyto and in the future experiment to see if there are any other ways of starting cultures without buying starter cultures. I think it must be possible because people get phyto blooms in there aquariums so there must be a way of removing something from the tank and culturing phyto from it. Thank liquid and paul G for those links I will look into ordering me some phyto. Link to comment
Dave ESPI Posted April 13, 2003 Share Posted April 13, 2003 "English ? Pffff why would I need to learn that? I'm never going to England." Homer J Simpson Florida aquaculture supply. They have it all. www.aquaculture-supply.com Argent Labs. FDA APPROVED drugs for mariculture and Aquaculture equipment. email@argent-labs.com 1-800-426-6258 some places sell dry packed starter :Greenwater: kits. On a side note invert, 80 % of the gut digest planktons is NOT plant material. you will need a wide range of holo, zoo, and chemiplanktons to support a tank depending on what corals you pick. By all means, growing your own is far cheeper, but it really is a huge undertaking, and is a PITA. Even I gave up trying after some success for a few months..... partly due to my very short fuse when it comes to patience and the total tenacity of the plankton harvest process. HTH Link to comment
invert Posted April 14, 2003 Author Share Posted April 14, 2003 well here is a list of the stuff I am aiming to keep. (all are nonphotosynthetic. tubastraea-sun coral black and various oranges dendrophyllia-turret coral pink balanophyllia-turret coral yellow studeriotes-christmas tree coral white minabea- red scleronephthya- various colours dendronephthya- various colours and sp chironephthya- various colours siphonogorgia-red nephthyigorgia-red orange and purple diodogoria- red and yellow iciligorgia- red/white sea fans- various- (have to look into which sp are toxic when they die) swiftia- orange and red echinomuricea- yellow/white menella- pink/purple guaiagorgia- purple/blue districhopora- various colours red epizoanthus- red parazoanthus axinellae- yellow sponges- various sp and colors cerianthid anemone- colour= what ever I can get hold of tunicates- various sp and colours sea squirts- various sp and colours hope that all spelt correctly lol. Link to comment
Dave ESPI Posted April 15, 2003 Share Posted April 15, 2003 Hoep Uyo Leik Doin' Watah Changez d00d lol. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.