Another Phytoplankton Culture Tutorial

[DmitryB]

And this is why you always split your starter culture into multiple batches. As you can see one of the three is quite contaminated and didn't grew as dense as the other two.

I will start the next batch with No. 1 or 3 depending on which looks better up close.

How long can you keep a starter culture in the fridge?

 

[EnterName]

And this is why you always split your starter culture into multiple batches. As you can see one of the three is quite contaminated and didn't grew as dense as the other two.

I will start the next batch with No. 1 or 3 depending on which looks better up close.

How long can you keep a starter culture in the fridge?

This will probably depend on the plankton species and overall purity. I would say a week or two if you shake it every day at least once. You will lose cells in the process so growing a new culture may take a bit longer than a fresh starter, but it should work.

Certain cultures are so sensitive I wouldn't recommend storing them at all. Grow them, split them, dose them, but never store them. Nannochlorpsis salina and oculata are robust though.