Growing phyto without a starter culture

[seabass]

I guess it's greenish.

vs

 

Probably just my impression watching it progress.  When you look at the material that I screened out, you can see the difference.

vs

 

I suspect that the culture will continue to green up.  If the golden color fades, maybe it would be due to lack of silicate, and the green microalgae would prevail.

[seabass]

10/07/18:

 

[RayWhisperer]

Looking greener.

[seabass]

10/09/18:

 

 

  Yay, a salty phyto culture.

 

While I suppose that it's possible that there was some cross contamination, I made special efforts to prevent this (like a new bottle, cap, and air line for this phase).  I think these experiments have demonstrated how easy it is to culture your own phyto (given that these were started with no culture at all).

 

I might add another 2 ml of f/2 and continue this culture until the end of the week, just to watch it darken up a bit more.  However, I don't have plans to use this in my tank (although I wouldn't anticipate any problems in doing so).  I'm not exactly sure what species of microalgae this is; I assume that it's Chlorella.  I'm currently culturing Nannochloropsis oculata and have no immediate need for a Chlorella culture.

[seabass]

10/11/18:

 

 

[RayWhisperer]

Very green, now. 

 

I know you said you weren't going to use it for a rotifer culture. But I'd be curious if it was small enough for s strain rotifers to consume. Going even further. I'd be interested to see a nutrition profile between two strains of micro algae fed rotifers. This is way beyond what anyone could expect from you, or any member here. Just interesting data, had someone access to the equipment, and the time to do it.

[seabass]

It's too bad that I ditched my rotifer culture to do this experiment.  However, if we assume that it's Chlorella, I would think that you could sustain a rotifer culture with it.  The book Clownfishes does contain much of that information.  I'll see what I can dig up for you this weekend.

[RayWhisperer]

That’d be great. Thanks.

[seabass]

On 10/11/2018 at 3:10 PM, RayWhisperer said:

I know you said you weren't going to use it for a rotifer culture. But I'd be curious if it was small enough for s strain rotifers to consume. Going even further. I'd be interested to see a nutrition profile between two strains of micro algae fed rotifers.

"Chlorella

Chlorella is often cultured as food for marine rotifers. It is primarily a freshwater genus, but some species adapt to a wide range of temperatures and salinities, and can be cultured in fertilizer-enriched artificial saltwater. Chlorella is a nonmotile alga, which simply means that the cells do not move by themselves, but depend upon water currents for mobility. This alga is lower in the omega-3 fatty acid EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) than most other marine algae, but it is still adequate for the base of a clownfish food chain. Chlorella has been the subject of several government-funded studies about ways to feed the world’s masses, because its production per acre is higher than any other agricultural crop. (So if you happen to have a tasty Chlorella recipe, I’m sure your government would like to hear from you.)

 

Nannochloropsis oculata

Nannochloropsis oculata is widely used as a marine rotifer food, and it is my preferred alga. It is easily cultured and is high in both vitamin B12 (needed for rotifer growth and reproduction) and the highly unsaturated fatty acid EPA needed by larval and juvenile marine fishes. This is a dark green alga with a thick, tough cell wall that protects it from possible damage by overstirring during the microculturing procedure. This alga can be digested by rotifers, but its food value for most other animals is low because the cell wall prevents them from digesting it thoroughly."

- Wilkerson, Joyce D.. Clownfishes (Kindle Locations 3686-3699). Microcosm Ltd.. Kindle Edition.

 

People frequently use a blend of Nannochloropsis and  Isochrysis to culture oysters.  Isochrysis is a motile alga which is more delicate than other commonly cultured phyto (and can be damaged by heavy aeration).

 

Tetraselmis is another motile alga, which contains less fatty acids than Nannochloropsis.  It's notably larger than other commonly cultured phyto species.

 

Nannochloris (not Nannochloropsis) tend to out compete other cultured species.  However, its nutritional value is considered good to raise rotifers to be used for a food source and is an easy culture to sustain.

 

Pyramimonas is another motile alga that's can be used to culture rotifers.  Less is known about its nutritional value than other species.  Like Nannochloropsis it contains a tough cell membrane which can be more difficult to digest (but is no problem for rotifers).  Pyramimonas is relatively easy to sustain.

The above information was collected from - Wilkerson, Joyce D.. Clownfishes. Microcosm Ltd.. Kindle Edition.

 

 

As far as size is concerned, Wikipedia states that Chlorella is about 2 to 10 μm in diameter, and Nannochloropsis is about 2 to 3 μm.

[seabass]

So this is the last day for my phyto experiments.  Here's the culture this afternoon. 10/13/18:

 

 

I feel that these experiments have shown that it is possible to grow your own phytoplankton without purchasing a live culture.  While this might not be necessary, it might be a viable alternative for budget reefers.  At the very least, it's demonstrated how you can progress a culture from a very small culture.

 

I would suggest not using water that is directly exposed to outdoor animals (like the bird bath phyto, or Lawnman's client's fountain).  However, the water from my screened-in porch seemed to be able to produce viable phyto cultures (and should be relatively free from harmful virus and bacterial contaminants).  In addition, starting with saltwater made it unnecessary to acclimate a freshwater culture to saltwater.

 

That said, there are plenty of live phyto cultures available online, or even at local fish stores.  Some are blends of various species, and others are monocultures; so you could pick the species that is right for you.  These cultures should be relatively pure and safe to use in your reef tank.

[seabass]

I know I said I was taking this culture down, but I got lazy and left it plugged in (ignoring it for about 2 weeks).  Well anyway, just in case anybody is still interested, here was the culture today (nice and dark).

10/27/18:

 

 

 

I actually did pour it down the drain today.  I unplugged the equipment, and cleaned the bottle and added some bleach water to it (to sterilize it).

 

[RayWhisperer]

That's some dense algae. A success, IMO.