Minimum amount of phytoplankton I can culture

[KonradTO]

Hi everyone!
I was wandering what is the minimum amount of phyto (nanno) I can culture. I have only a 30g tank and I would like to start dosing some phyto but I don't want to make gallons of phyto when I would probably need only around 1 liter (0.250 g) per month. It is possible to make, let's say, 1 liter only cultures or there would be higher chances of crash? Also at the moment I don't have much stuff in the tank, just some fanworms and pods, but soon I will add some LPS and gorgonians.
Do you think it worth culturing for this small amount?

 

[mrlavalamp]

As long as you follow good sanitation practices (mainly sterilizing your source water and containers) risks of crash should be very low.

I cultured in 1/2 liter containers at first and had no issues, I don't see why you couldn't do 250 ml or even smaller.

I only started doing 1 gallons because I had some good containers come my way, and it is exactly the same amount of work/time to do a gallon as it was to do 1/2 liter.

After the culture is ready, I put the resulting bottles in the fridge for a couple days to let them settle, then pour off the clear water on top and save about 1/3 of it to make a more concentrated phyto solution. This saves storage space and frees up containers for me to re-use when the next batch is ready.

 

[KonradTO]

As long as you follow good sanitation practices (mainly sterilizing your source water and containers) risks of crash should be very low.

I cultured in 1/2 liter containers at first and had no issues, I don't see why you couldn't do 250 ml or even smaller.

I only started doing 1 gallons because I had some good containers come my way, and it is exactly the same amount of work/time to do a gallon as it was to do 1/2 liter.

After the culture is ready, I put the resulting bottles in the fridge for a couple days to let them settle, then pour off the clear water on top and save about 1/3 of it to make a more concentrated phyto solution. This saves storage space and frees up containers for me to re-use when the next batch is ready.

Oh nice, thanks for the tip! I only found threads about people making gallons of it, just couldn't find out why..

 

[G Santana]

I started culturing 1 liter bottles, each bottle lasts me 20 days, so I upped my production to three 2 liter bottles at a time, then I refrigerate them and when I hit the last bottle I start again.
I suggest you do a two liter bottle and take it from there.

 

[elysics]

My tank is half your size and I go through a liter in two to three weeks

1l bottle culture worked but I switched to a 3 liter bottle

 

[KonradTO]

My tank is half your size and I go through a liter in two to three weeks

1l bottle culture worked but I switched to a 3 liter bottle

At the moment I am dosing 5-10 ml every day.. I guess it depends on how much stuff you have in the tank, mine is almost empty, just some fanworms, snails, an hermit and loads of pods

 

[elysics]

At the moment I am dosing 5-10 ml every day.. I guess it depends on how much stuff you have in the tank, mine is almost empty, just some fanworms, snails, an hermit and loads of pods

Right, I have a bunch of sponges and stuff, do 100ml every other day or so

Can always culture pods on the side as well though in a second bottle to use up any excess, can't ever have enough pods

 

[KonradTO]

Right, I have a bunch of sponges and stuff, do 100ml every other day or so

Can always culture pods on the side as well though in a second bottle to use up any excess, can't ever have enough pods

Yeah that is my final aim when the tank is stocked

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

as small of a batch as you want.... Keep it clean, scale down fertilizer additions, and dial back flow/bubbling to the size container you are using... that's my only advice.

 

[KonradTO]

as small of a batch as you want.... Keep it clean, scale down fertilizer additions, and dial back flow/bubbling to the size container you are using... that's my only advice.

At the moment I am trying with 500ml containers, this is the setup

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

looks good. make sure there is some bubbling going on. For plastic sanitizing, i use this stuff: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Star-San-N...w-Beer-Wine-Food-Grade-Sanitize-/291685791752

 

[KonradTO]

looks good. make sure there is some bubbling going on. For plastic sanitizing, i use this stuff: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Star-San-N...w-Beer-Wine-Food-Grade-Sanitize-/291685791752

Yes at the moment I have something like 2 bubbles/sec. I did not sterilize the vessels since they were new, hopefully they will not get contaminated (I am also using air nanoparticles filters for avoiding contamination from the air pump

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

Yes at the moment I have something like 2 bubbles/sec. I did not sterilize the vessels since they were new, hopefully they will not get contaminated (I am also using air nanoparticles filters for avoiding contamination from the air pump

You want enough bubbles to keep the phyto in suspension (but not coming out the lid, lol) and keep from caking on the bottom (where it will die pretty quick if it does).... that's the test.

the new bottles are fine. With that small amount of water, it would not hurt to boil and cool the salt water you're using before using it. Make sure to use the right fertilizer and dosage and either get a pure culture on a slant, or use a newer bottle of commercially made phyto from a reputable source.

I've keep a few generations going if you're careful to sanitize things between batches and keep things clean... Just treat the phyto and the bottle like an open cut... keep it clean, don't touch it with unsanitized things.

 

[KonradTO]

You want enough bubbles to keep the phyto in suspension (but not coming out the lid, lol) and keep from caking on the bottom (where it will die pretty quick if it does).... that's the test.

the new bottles are fine. With that small amount of water, it would not hurt to boil and cool the salt water you're using before using it. Make sure to use the right fertilizer and dosage and either get a pure culture on a slant, or use a newer bottle of commercially made phyto from a reputable source.

I've keep a few generations going if you're careful to sanitize things between batches and keep things clean... Just treat the phyto and the bottle like an open cut... keep it clean, don't touch it with unsanitized things.

Thanks for the advise! For now it's more for the fun of it but if it works without too much hassle for few months I might use an automatic doser for my tank

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

Thanks for the advise! For now it's more for the fun of it but if it works without too much hassle for few months I might use an automatic doser for my tank

probably the way to automatic dose to a tank for any length of time is to get mini fridge or wine chiller. Keep the phyto in the fridge/cold in suspension with mag stirrer or pump or air pump right before dosing...

You could only really dose it warm for a few days--at the end of the batch maturing--otherwise you'd be dosing (uneaten) fertilizer to your tank with the phyto...

the calculated dose of the fertilizer when you grow phyto has the goal of giving the phyto what it needs to grow out, but then be gone/used up when the phyto matures--so that you're not dosing fertilizer to your tank.

 

[KonradTO]

probably the way to automatic dose to a tank for any length of time is to get mini fridge or wine chiller. Keep the phyto in the fridge/cold in suspension with mag stirrer or pump or air pump right before dosing...

You could only really dose it warm for a few days--at the end of the batch maturing--otherwise you'd be dosing (uneaten) fertilizer to your tank with the phyto...

the calculated dose of the fertilizer when you grow phyto has the goal of giving the phyto what it needs to grow out, but then be gone/used up when the phyto matures--so that you're not dosing fertilizer to your tank.

So maintaining the density at almost peak is not possible for long term? I resemble to remember a thread from an user here which was running a continuous system.. Nevertheless if I understood correctly if kept refrigerated nanno can last for more than a month so I would just need to keep in a mini fridge and keep filled with fresh stuff constantly right?

 

[ariellemermaid]

I’m currently growing way more than I need. I just throw away the excess. All it costs is a little dilute saltwater and a few ml of fertilizer. Not a huge deal at all.

 

[Doctorgori]

..scaling down the F/2, a lil goes a long way…I sorta pre-load new SW with the right amt of fert and store in DARK containers.
Also with small tanks make sure the phyto uses most of the fert (peaks) b4 dosing…
Honestly Im too paranoid to dose for that reason…

 

[Borat]

this mini-station cultures 1.5L of phyto every 7-10 days.... the cube is about 30cmx30cmx35cm so very compact...

 

[Borat]

As long as you follow good sanitation practices (mainly sterilizing your source water and containers) risks of crash should be very low.

I cultured in 1/2 liter containers at first and had no issues, I don't see why you couldn't do 250 ml or even smaller.

I only started doing 1 gallons because I had some good containers come my way, and it is exactly the same amount of work/time to do a gallon as it was to do 1/2 liter.

After the culture is ready, I put the resulting bottles in the fridge for a couple days to let them settle, then pour off the clear water on top and save about 1/3 of it to make a more concentrated phyto solution. This saves storage space and frees up containers for me to re-use when the next batch is ready.

Containers just need to be tall enough.. wide/short containers lead to less CO2 exchange when bubbling and acclumulation of phyto at the bottom of container. This is why I use these 700ml tall water bottles - they are perfect in this respect..

VOSS Still Artesian Water Glass Bottle​