I’m starting a phytoplankton culture with the long-term goal of supporting live brine shrimp and copepods, using the phyto as their primary food source. This serves two purposes: first, to provide my reef and its inhabitants with fresh, live nutrition; and second, to eventually maintain a stable enough pod population to responsibly keep a dragonet. My aim is to have a fully established live-food ecosystem before introducing the fish.
This thread will act as a running log of the entire process for anyone who wants to follow along.
Supplies Used
• Aquatop Breza AP-30 air pump
• 3/8" air hose
• 3/16" rigid plastic tubing
• Vessels
• Phytoplankton starter culture
• F/2 fertilizer
• 100 ft LED light strip
• Airline control valves
The Vessel
For the first vessel, I repurposed a 2-gallon glass jar that previously served as a terrarium. One advantage of using this jar is that it already had lighting installed, which saves a bit of setup work. However, reusing a jar like this comes with potential risks, and it’s important to consider them before committing to the build.
The existing bulkhead fitting and nozzle will add some convenience to the system, but they also introduce possible failure points. A compromised seal could easily result in two gallons of green “liquid salad” on the floor. After a thorough inspection and leak test, I’m confident the seal on this jar is solid enough for now—but I’ll still be monitoring it closely. In the future, I may switch to fully sealed glass jars, but for the moment, I’m sticking with this setup.
Sterilization
To prep the jar, I scrubbed and rinsed it thoroughly with 99% isopropyl alcohol. Once cleaned, I dried it with a paper towel and allowed it to sit for approximately 24 hours to ensure all alcohol had evaporated before adding any water.
This thread will act as a running log of the entire process for anyone who wants to follow along.
Supplies Used
• Aquatop Breza AP-30 air pump
• 3/8" air hose
• 3/16" rigid plastic tubing
• Vessels
• Phytoplankton starter culture
• F/2 fertilizer
• 100 ft LED light strip
• Airline control valves
The Vessel
For the first vessel, I repurposed a 2-gallon glass jar that previously served as a terrarium. One advantage of using this jar is that it already had lighting installed, which saves a bit of setup work. However, reusing a jar like this comes with potential risks, and it’s important to consider them before committing to the build.
The existing bulkhead fitting and nozzle will add some convenience to the system, but they also introduce possible failure points. A compromised seal could easily result in two gallons of green “liquid salad” on the floor. After a thorough inspection and leak test, I’m confident the seal on this jar is solid enough for now—but I’ll still be monitoring it closely. In the future, I may switch to fully sealed glass jars, but for the moment, I’m sticking with this setup.
Sterilization
To prep the jar, I scrubbed and rinsed it thoroughly with 99% isopropyl alcohol. Once cleaned, I dried it with a paper towel and allowed it to sit for approximately 24 hours to ensure all alcohol had evaporated before adding any water.
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