Phytoplankton

Bear Claw · Jan 22, 2024

I am starting the culture right now and I was going to use the reef nutrition 6 oz bottle of phyto. It says it is concentrated so can I still use the whole thing or should I use only some of it? I am making a 2 L culture. It says it is 1-15 microns.

The_Paradox · Jan 22, 2024

If it’s your first time I would use whole bottle for sure. You can start with as little as you want it just takes more time and fertilizer giving it a chance to grow something you don’t want.

Bear Claw · Jan 22, 2024

The_Paradox said:
If it’s your first time I would use whole bottle for sure. You can start with as little as you want it just takes more time and fertilizer giving it a chance to grow something you don’t want.

I went ahead and did it and it is super dark green, almost black. Should I remove some and add saltwater until it is a lighter shade of green?

Bear Claw · Jan 22, 2024

I think I might start from scratch and get a single species, more diluted starter culture. Hopefully the stuff I have is still usable.

Steve2020 · Jan 22, 2024

Bear Claw said:
I think I might start from scratch and get a single species, more diluted starter culture. Hopefully the stuff I have is still usable.

I was just going to recommend that you start a single strain. When culturing a multi strain product usually one species will dominate the culture. Usually that species that dominates is Nannochloropsis.

The_Paradox · Jan 22, 2024

You can confirm your culture is viable and what species with a microscope pretty quickly. Most of the ones I see that are not labeled end up being Tetraselmis.

Mr. Mojo Rising · Jan 22, 2024

Personally I never had luck with the reef nutrition bottle. Try to find a single species, nannochlorosis is the easiest and most commonly available. I usually have my water at about 1.020, and I add just a little phyto until there is just a tint of green in the water. And of course, all your equipment should be sanitized before starting.