are these two cultures dead/dying?

[leonardomanzano]

Im fairly new to growing phyto! one thing most videos don't really go over is how to know if your culture is dead. Are these two cultures dead/dying? or do you need more pictures/videos? if so What should I show?

this culture was made with new saltwater using the "instant ocean" salt mix at a salinity of 1.019 SG, I added a few mL of fritz F2 fertilizer.

the big jug I started two days ago and the smaller one I started yesterday with the little live phyto I had in my oceanmagik bottle


Was I meant to add a lot more phyto to the initial culture? I thought it would be like regular cell division where you could just add 1 and have it keep dividing until it reaches a plateau

 

[leonardomanzano]

Bump

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

That stuff has different strains of phyto mixed in, but culturing it doesnt work (not for me at least) since the strains will fight for dominance (and some strains have different culturing requirements)

Try to find a pure strain of homemade phyto, like nannochloropsis for example, which is the most commonly cultured strain at home. I usually check the online classifieds, people culture it and sell it, and its easy to culture at home. I think there are a few on this site that sell it too, check the classifieds.