Culturing phytoplankton question

[TJ Merrells]

I've recently started culturing my own live phyto using rodi water, fritz rpm salt and f2 fertilizer.

My bottle of f2 cane without instructions so I've been dosing 1.5 ml per gallon.

I'm using brand new glass jars for the culture and I cleaned them with vinegar water prior to use.


I recently did a harvest, bottled some phyto but I'm noticing less than a week after bottling all the cells are settling very quickly to the bottom of the bottle and the water is very clear. I do shake my bottles up daily and once I do the bottles settle very quickly again and the water is clear.


Wondering if I could get any advice on this matter.

Thx

 

[Saltyreef]

Sounds like you need to increase your airflow.
Are you using a rigid airline that reaches to the bottom of the jar?

Your airflow should be enough to keep your phyto in suspension for the whole culture cycle.

 

[boacvh]

w/o seeing setup I would suggest upping the flow

 

[DeniseAndy]

You mean that the bottled stuff you removed from the culturing station settles when you have it refrigerated for dosing in to the tank? This happens with the cultures that are not grown out to heavy density. Mine do this too. Just not leave the solution clear. May want it to grow out more before harvesting.
Just shake it up or pour off some of the liquid (clear), then shake up.

 

[Eldredge]

It sounds like you might be talking about the Phyto that you have already harvested.

Some species like Tetraselmis tend to settle faster than others. If they are settling more quickly than they did initially, they may have died.

I would expect the cultures to be good for more than a week even at room temperature. If you are storing the bottles with warmth and light, they may keep reproducing and crash when the nutrients run out.

 

[Saltyreef]

You mean that the bottled stuff you removed from the culturing station settles when you have it refrigerated for dosing in to the tank? This happens with the cultures that are not grown out to heavy density. Mine do this too. Just not leave the solution clear. May want it to grow out more before harvesting.
Just shake it up or pour off some of the liquid (clear), then shake up.

Wow thank you for reading!!! Something most of us fail to do on a daily basis ;Bookworm

You are 100% correct.
This also happens when you dont invert daily.

 

[ffmurray]

I’m trying to figure out how to do all this when I’m gone for several days at work. Anyone ever use a magnetic stir bar and mixer? Thinking I could have it on a smart outlet and gently mix a couple times a day. Any ideas?

 

[DeniseAndy]

I actually created my own stir bar set up for a mixing station I was feeding my gorgs. It was not too hard, but need the correct equipment. I do not think I took pictures though. Sorry.

 

[TJ Merrells]

Sounds like you need to increase your airflow.
Are you using a rigid airline that reaches to the bottom of the jar?

Your airflow should be enough to keep your phyto in suspension for the whole culture cycle.

Yes rigid airline to the bottom and bubbles like boiling water

 

[ZoWhat]

Been brewing phyto in my fish room...what? 3 years now.

I cultivate three strains of phyto; tet, nanno and iso .... all in separate 2gal ice tea containers with a spigot on each container (pic above)

I run my lights 24/7 so all 3 strains darken up in a matter of 3 days. Doing light on off cycles is unnecessary. Use of mirrors below and along back to evenly spreads light 24/7.... hitting the container at multiple angles.

So once 2gals of each strain is dark, I use the spigot to pour out what I need and dose 'what was poured out' directly into the tank 1hr b4 lights out. It's an every night process

Once the 2gals of each strain gets low, I refill each separate container with 1.020 new salt. I only use a splash of f/2 bc its loaded with Phosphates.

I mainly use Potassium Nitrate powder I get off Amazon to feed the phyto strains....1 tablespoon per 2g new mix. I like that it also doses potassium in my DT thru the use of phyto consuming KNO3.

I keep this process ongoing for months at a time.

I do have 3 separate toilet brushes to individually keep the internals from caking up. I clean scrub each container right b4 new SW goes in. Suuuuper critical not to cross contaminate a single drop of 1 strain into another's cultivating container

Every 2 mos I take an 8oz sample of each when it's dark to store 3 strains in 3 completely separated containers in the fridge in case if a brown out crash.... meaning when 1 strain dies out to brown and i have to start the batch over with what's saved in the fridge.

I only experience 1-2 individual crashes a year among the 3 strains. But that's why I keep a 60 day batch of all 3 in the fridge for backup.

When I go to save a new 60 day batch, the previous 8oz batch gets thrown into the DT to use it. Just keep rotating stock on 8oz backups, lol

HTH


.

 

[ffmurray]

Been brewing phyto in my fish room...what? 3 years now.

I cultivate three strains of phyto; tet, nanno and iso .... all in separate 2gal ice tea containers with a spigot on each container (pic above)

I run my lights 24/7 so all 3 strains darken up in a matter of 3 days. Doing light on off cycles is unnecessary. Use of mirrors below and along back to evenly spreads light 24/7.... hitting the container at multiple angles.

So once 2gals of each strain is dark, I use the spigot to pour out what I need and dose 'what was poured out' directly into the tank 1hr b4 lights out. It's an every night process

Once the 2gals of each strain gets low, I refill each separate container with 1.020 new salt. I only use a splash of f/2 bc its loaded with Phosphates.

I mainly use Potassium Nitrate powder I get off Amazon to feed the phyto strains....1 tablespoon per 2g new mix. I like that it also doses potassium in my DT thru the use of phyto consuming KNO3.

I keep this process ongoing for months at a time.

I do have 3 separate toilet brushes to individually keep the internals from caking up. I clean scrub each container right b4 new SW goes in. Suuuuper critical not to cross contaminate a single drop of 1 strain into another's cultivating container

Every 2 mos I take an 8oz sample of each when it's dark to store 3 strains in 3 completely separated containers in the fridge in case if a brown out crash.... meaning when 1 strain dies out to brown and i have to start the batch over with what's saved in the fridge.

I only experience 1-2 individual crashes a year among the 3 strains. But that's why I keep a 60 day batch of all 3 in the fridge for backup.

When I go to save a new 60 day batch, the previous 8oz batch gets thrown into the DT to use it. Just keep rotating stock on 8oz backups, lol

HTH


.

That’s some wisdom, thanks! Any ideas on how to pull this off if I’m gone for work for 4 days?

 

[DeniseAndy]

Been brewing phyto in my fish room...what? 3 years now.

I cultivate three strains of phyto; tet, nanno and iso .... all in separate 2gal ice tea containers with a spigot on each container (pic above)

I run my lights 24/7 so all 3 strains darken up in a matter of 3 days. Doing light on off cycles is unnecessary. Use of mirrors below and along back to evenly spreads light 24/7.... hitting the container at multiple angles.

So once 2gals of each strain is dark, I use the spigot to pour out what I need and dose 'what was poured out' directly into the tank 1hr b4 lights out. It's an every night process

Once the 2gals of each strain gets low, I refill each separate container with 1.020 new salt. I only use a splash of f/2 bc its loaded with Phosphates.

I mainly use Potassium Nitrate powder I get off Amazon to feed the phyto strains....1 tablespoon per 2g new mix. I like that it also doses potassium in my DT thru the use of phyto consuming KNO3.

I keep this process ongoing for months at a time.

I do have 3 separate toilet brushes to individually keep the internals from caking up. I clean scrub each container right b4 new SW goes in. Suuuuper critical not to cross contaminate a single drop of 1 strain into another's cultivating container

Every 2 mos I take an 8oz sample of each when it's dark to store 3 strains in 3 completely separated containers in the fridge in case if a brown out crash.... meaning when 1 strain dies out to brown and i have to start the batch over with what's saved in the fridge.

I only experience 1-2 individual crashes a year among the 3 strains. But that's why I keep a 60 day batch of all 3 in the fridge for backup.

When I go to save a new 60 day batch, the previous 8oz batch gets thrown into the DT to use it. Just keep rotating stock on 8oz backups, lol

HTH


.

What are the spigots made of? The stainless steel or are they plastic? Just looking to upgrade my system to larger vessels. Thanks!

 

[ZoWhat]

Everything is plastic. Got them at Target like 2 yrs ago

 

[BuddyBonButt]

Been brewing phyto in my fish room...what? 3 years now.

I cultivate three strains of phyto; tet, nanno and iso .... all in separate 2gal ice tea containers with a spigot on each container (pic above)

I run my lights 24/7 so all 3 strains darken up in a matter of 3 days. Doing light on off cycles is unnecessary. Use of mirrors below and along back to evenly spreads light 24/7.... hitting the container at multiple angles.

So once 2gals of each strain is dark, I use the spigot to pour out what I need and dose 'what was poured out' directly into the tank 1hr b4 lights out. It's an every night process

Once the 2gals of each strain gets low, I refill each separate container with 1.020 new salt. I only use a splash of f/2 bc its loaded with Phosphates.

I mainly use Potassium Nitrate powder I get off Amazon to feed the phyto strains....1 tablespoon per 2g new mix. I like that it also doses potassium in my DT thru the use of phyto consuming KNO3.

I keep this process ongoing for months at a time.

I do have 3 separate toilet brushes to individually keep the internals from caking up. I clean scrub each container right b4 new SW goes in. Suuuuper critical not to cross contaminate a single drop of 1 strain into another's cultivating container

Every 2 mos I take an 8oz sample of each when it's dark to store 3 strains in 3 completely separated containers in the fridge in case if a brown out crash.... meaning when 1 strain dies out to brown and i have to start the batch over with what's saved in the fridge.

I only experience 1-2 individual crashes a year among the 3 strains. But that's why I keep a 60 day batch of all 3 in the fridge for backup.

When I go to save a new 60 day batch, the previous 8oz batch gets thrown into the DT to use it. Just keep rotating stock on 8oz backups, lol

HTH


.

I get a slight build up on the bottom of my jars, is that normal? The center of my jar is higher than the edges, so that's where the buildup is taking place. Although my tetra cultures are green and healthy looking

 

[DeniseAndy]

Yep. Just clean them out every so often and give good alcohol rinse, rinse tap, dry and should be good to go again. Mine will sometimes crash if too much build up (or whatever the reason and build up is in the jars).

 

[bozo]

Been brewing phyto in my fish room...what? 3 years now.

I cultivate three strains of phyto; tet, nanno and iso .... all in separate 2gal ice tea containers with a spigot on each container (pic above)

I run my lights 24/7 so all 3 strains darken up in a matter of 3 days. Doing light on off cycles is unnecessary. Use of mirrors below and along back to evenly spreads light 24/7.... hitting the container at multiple angles.

So once 2gals of each strain is dark, I use the spigot to pour out what I need and dose 'what was poured out' directly into the tank 1hr b4 lights out. It's an every night process

Once the 2gals of each strain gets low, I refill each separate container with 1.020 new salt. I only use a splash of f/2 bc its loaded with Phosphates.

I mainly use Potassium Nitrate powder I get off Amazon to feed the phyto strains....1 tablespoon per 2g new mix. I like that it also doses potassium in my DT thru the use of phyto consuming KNO3.

I keep this process ongoing for months at a time.

I do have 3 separate toilet brushes to individually keep the internals from caking up. I clean scrub each container right b4 new SW goes in. Suuuuper critical not to cross contaminate a single drop of 1 strain into another's cultivating container

Every 2 mos I take an 8oz sample of each when it's dark to store 3 strains in 3 completely separated containers in the fridge in case if a brown out crash.... meaning when 1 strain dies out to brown and i have to start the batch over with what's saved in the fridge.

I only experience 1-2 individual crashes a year among the 3 strains. But that's why I keep a 60 day batch of all 3 in the fridge for backup.

When I go to save a new 60 day batch, the previous 8oz batch gets thrown into the DT to use it. Just keep rotating stock on 8oz backups, lol

HTH


.

Was wondering if you had a link to the kno3 you use. How much do you add after each split?

Thanks