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phytoplankton. who's growing?


gogo

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hello you fine folks of nano reef. i've been growing phyto for a few years now, only growing nanno. tetra. and iso. all from florida aqua farms. recently i ordered their dunaliella and started culturing it...i've noticed some significant changes in my system, both positive and negative...

i'm wondering if anyone here grows and uses phyto regularly?

post-67473-0-78478300-1371453715_thumb.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...
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I'd actually welcome any info you have to share on culturing phyto...

great....do you culture any?

currently i'm culturing dunaliella sp. and nannochloropsis occulata....i have some 'tetraselmis', but i think it's contaminated, it looks more like nanno.... i cycle through the two over a week, using parastaltic pumps dosing about 450 mls of five day culture to my 2.6 gallon invert vase.

i also hand feed when i think it's needed. usually the swamp(tetra).

i use twolitrebottles to culture with. never harvest before day five, don't let your cultures go past day nine, the more light the better, the less heat, the better.....one drop of fert per hundred mls....i use faf ferts that came with the plankton kit....the small bottle goes a long way for me..

i use the same fsw for my plankton as i do for my tank... sometimes if fsw is tight,i use old tank water, top it up with tap to ohtwofour and nuke it in a pyrex glass for six minutes...this kills most problems...even the new water gets nuked...

every few weeks i havest a few small samples to refrigerate, they come in handy if you feel something is wrong...or if a culture crashes...ive taken a half ounce duna culture back to a full twolitre. duna is less picky than nanno... isochrysis is great when it wants to play, then it justs crashes and parties over...there is no such thing as green iso cultures, apparently they're all contaminated with nanno...my iso cultures were a beautiful golden green, almost brown in less light..

i hope that at least some of this was usefull... anymore questions, or perhaps corrections, im always trying something new wiht this hobby.

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Polarcollision

No cultures currently--just questions at this point if you don't mind. I really appreciate your reply with so much info included. I'd like to keep plankon feeders in my temperate aquarium but have zero experience culturing the plankton. Currently I change out all the water each week directly from the Sound which comes with lots of plankton. It perks up the tiny fanworm and barnacle hitchhikers on the rocks, but there's not enough plankton to sustain a tubworm or sponge, much less the hydroids I'm eyeing. I bought this marine plankton culturing book but I'm still a little lost in knowing what plankon to culture, or if it even matters? (I assume you're culturing to feed a tropical reef?)

 

Since you're culturing 3 different types of plankton - there must be a benefit to that... but what is it?

 

How much time out of your day/week do the cultures take?

 

It seems like you maintain a couple bottles culturing in different stages, and the aquarium gets fed from them during days 5-9 of the cycle, correct?

 

Ha! See? total noob. :-)

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No cultures currently--just questions at this point if you don't mind. I really appreciate your reply with so much info included. I'd like to keep plankon feeders in my temperate aquarium but have zero experience culturing the plankton. Currently I change out all the water each week directly from the Sound which comes with lots of plankton. It perks up the tiny fanworm and barnacle hitchhikers on the rocks, but there's not enough plankton to sustain a tubworm or sponge, much less the hydroids I'm eyeing. I bought this marine plankton culturing book but I'm still a little lost in knowing what plankon to culture, or if it even matters? (I assume you're culturing to feed a tropical reef?)

 

Since you're culturing 3 different types of plankton - there must be a benefit to that... but what is it?

 

How much time out of your day/week do the cultures take?

 

It seems like you maintain a couple bottles culturing in different stages, and the aquarium gets fed from them during days 5-9 of the cycle, correct?

 

Ha! See? total noob. :-)

the plankton culture manual is a great help. ive cultured most everyting from that book. i would try one culture for sure.. florida aqua farms sells phyto in petri dishes, and it's quite easy to culture, you need a light bulb or two, i use two cfls13w, and can produce a gallon a week..

it's very easy to culture...you could probably start a culture straight from the ocean. if you ever get a chance to harvest teh 'greener' water, you could probably set it up under a light , add a few drops of liquid plant fert. and wait it out..

i feed for my worms and my flame scallop.

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Polarcollision

There must be something I'm doing wrong cause I grabbed some sea water to try culturing it right from the Sound and all that happened was a VERY stinky, gag-worthy mess. LOL I'll give it another try with better equipment. Thanks again for the inspiration and info!

 

Do you have a thread of your aquarium?

 

the plankton culture manual is a great help. ive cultured most everyting from that book. i would try one culture for sure.. florida aqua farms sells phyto in petri dishes, and it's quite easy to culture, you need a light bulb or two, i use two cfls13w, and can produce a gallon a week..

it's very easy to culture...you could probably start a culture straight from the ocean. if you ever get a chance to harvest teh 'greener' water, you could probably set it up under a light , add a few drops of liquid plant fert. and wait it out..

i feed for my worms and my flame scallop.

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There must be something I'm doing wrong cause I grabbed some sea water to try culturing it right from the Sound and all that happened was a VERY stinky, gag-worthy mess. LOL I'll give it another try with better equipment. Thanks again for the inspiration and info!

 

Do you have a thread of your aquarium?

no, no thread. i wouldn't know where to start... i think i've maxed out my upload of 10 mbs and everything i do needs a photo to explain.

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  • 2 months later...
EL CHUPACABRA

http://www.photobucket.com

Upload

turn organize switch on, move photos from "your bucket" to a private album, turn organize switch off.

go to private album, click desired photo

click on the link to img on right side and it will be copied to your clipboard.

Paste link to your reply on nano reef. Easy free photo hosting.

B)

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BattleAthletics

What the #### chupa! Your not allowed to leave your thread! *cracks whip* GO ON AN GIT BOY!

 

WHO THE HELL LET CHUPA CHUP OUT OF HIS THREAD!?!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've cultured Phyto many times. My current batch has been cooking for a couple of weeks and I have split about 3 batches.

what species are you growing met? what are you using for ferts?

i've been working on a tek for NR for a while using all sorts of nutrient solutions, organic and inorganic.

one day i'm gonna post it.

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Nannochlopsis.

I'm using super concentrate Phyto food from ANF as the fertilizer.

20131203_095324.jpg

 

 

i need to try some other brands. i haven't tried that one. thanks baby.

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I have limited experience but really the only supplement that I've used that made a difference was iron.

 

I turned the light green tint culture in the tisbe pods bag from Algagen into a dark green one using no tech.

 

I put it in the window sill that received direct sunlight in a 32oz clear gatorade container and swirled it every so often. I split it in another container and never had it crash using this method and the water never smelled foul.

 

Before I tried iron if it was anything like it was for my freshwater planted tanks, using too much iron caused algae growth which seems to be applicable for this too. I used Seachem Flourish Iron but any should do the same.

 

I was growing this to raise freshwater shrimps that had a marine larval stage but alas the shrimps died so I never really grew more than those 2. The same culture is still "alive"after 6+ months.

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i use algagen pods once in a while, they pack their pods with nannochloropsis, and yes the culture will bloom when exposed to light.

 

i haven't used seachems iron, but i have used kents iron and manganese with decent results.

if you're looking to convert your nanno from fresh to salt, or salt to fresh, do a slow drip... you'll find nannochloropsis will convert easily.

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I dont even bother anymore. I buy 32 Oz of live nano and tetra for $30 and it last a month conveniently in my fridge.. Why bother with pumps and lights and utility bills and extra work.

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I dont even bother anymore. I buy 32 Oz of live nano and tetra for $30 and it last a month conveniently in my fridge.. Why bother with pumps and lights and utility bills and extra work.

Do you just do a squirt here and there or do you actually measure out an ounce a day?

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