My Phytoplankton and Copepod Culturing Experience

[Steve2020]

17wks ago I started Culturing Nanno Phyto and Tisbe Pods using the Poseidon Reef System (The Phyto Tank). I harvest the Nanno every Sunday and after 16 harvest from the same culture I purchased all is still good. I always exchange a starter culture with the previous weeks starter culture so I always have a fresh starter just in case of a crash. As far as the Tisbe Pod Culture, I was not getting the population increase I was expecting so I ended up harvesting what Pods there where in the tank and decided to turn that tank into a Tetra Phyto Culture. Long story short, when I purchased the Tetra, I first looked at a sample under a microscope and my first purchased Tetra showed a lot of Nanno cross contamination. Not a lot of mobile Tetra. I decided to start my culture with it anyways and after a few harvest it ended up being all Nanno. I purchased another Tetra from a different supplier and again there was cross contamination of Nanno in the Tetra starter Culture. I used it and ended up in the same situation, ALL NANNO.
I did some more research and found a company called Florida Reef Labs and I liked what I saw on their webpage and I emailed them about my past issue with Tetra from the two other suppliers and aske them if their Tetra is contamination free and this was their response "Hello,Our phyto is clean and separate from other species. We scope every harvest and ensure single species. We also never reuse tooling for multiple species of phyto or copepods etc and we never harvest or water change multiple species in the same day. We try very hard to keep lab grade quality by restarting from agar samples every 60 days. Happy reefing…“We strive for 100% satisfaction and positive comments! Please allow us to assist or correct any issues should they ever occur…”Regards,Customer ServiceFlorida Reef LabsWhen tackling a reef tank issue, just remember; “Less is more”"
I ordered a total of 40oz's of Tetra and a 16oz bottle of Tisbe Pods from them and it arrived today. I took samples from the 3 bottles of Tetra they sent ( two 16oz and one 8oz bottle ) and looked under a microscope and was absolutely amazed with the density and mobility of the Tetra and NO cross contamination was seen under the scope.

I have a two container setup that I was culturing Tigger Pods in from Reef Nutrition and because both containers were doing so well I harvested one container and added it to my 255gal reef tank and added some to the other container and cleaned out the harvested container and now will be culturing the Tisbe Pods from Florida Reef Labs in it. The Tigger Pods have been running for for approx 6wks and I harvest some every two weeks.

All Phyto and Pods I harvest are for my tank only and I am not out to sell or give away any.

The main reason for this post is I wanted to give a shout out to Florida Reef Labs. If anyone reading this has had issues with cross contamination from other suppliers or just looking to start a culture or just feed your tank some good Phyto then I would highly recommend Florida Reef Labs.
Last thing, I highly recommend that when you purchase Phyto for culturing purposes that you take a look under a microscope for cross contamination. If I was a betting man, which I am, I would bet there are Reefers on this site that culture Tetra and don't verify under a microscope and may be culturing Nanno without knowing it due to cross contamination.

Nanno on the left after 5 days and Tetra on the right started today.


Tisbe and Tigger Pod culture

 

[Dinkins Aquatic Gardens]

Congrats on your success!

 

[Steve2020]

Congrats on your success!

Thank You!

 

[goody]

What are those containers you are using for the pods? And is the phyto in the pod containers tetra or nanno?

 

[Steve2020]

What are those containers you are using for the pods? And is the phyto in the pod containers tetra or nanno?

I purchased those clear storage bins on Amazon. They are 14x8x8 inches and if filled to 6" they hold 3 gallons. I start with approx 1gal and gradually increase water volume as the population increases. Adding Phyto to them also slightly increases the water level. I drilled a small hole near the top of the bins for the air lines. The Phyto I feed to the Pods in the bins is a combination of the Tetra ( before the culture turned into mostly Nanno ) and Nanno I harvest and about 10 drops of Phyto Feast from Reef Nutrition whenever the water starts to lighten in color.

 

[Gtinnel]

I’ve cultured Nanno in the past but just recently started both Nanno and Tetra. I’ve only been doing both for a couple of weeks and I keep looking at my two cultures trying to decide if they’re the same color, lol. I guess I’m off to Amazon to buy a cheap microscope. Do you happen to know what magnification you use to look at the phyto? I’m trying to decide if a cheap toy microscope will be sufficient.

If my Tetra is contaminated I will definitely get my new starter culture from Florida Reef Labs.

 

[Steve2020]

I’ve cultured Nanno in the past but just recently started both Nanno and Tetra. I’ve only been doing both for a couple of weeks and I keep looking at my two cultures trying to decide if they’re the same color, lol. I guess I’m off to Amazon to buy a cheap microscope. Do you happen to know what magnification you use to look at the phyto? I’m trying to decide if a cheap toy microscope will be sufficient.

If my Tetra is contaminated I will definitely get my new starter culture from Florida Reef Labs.

I cheap toy microscope is just fine. I look at mine under 480x and 600x. If culturing Tetra and the Phyto Cells are moving around, and they are fast, then it is Tetra. Nanno is not motile and will look like stationary little green dots.

 

[Mikeltee]

Thank You!

How often do you sterilize your Amazon containers? How big is your display? You are doing it right! I want to dose phyto and pods in my 130g. Considering I'd need about 1g/month, it makes sense just to invest in a poseidon reef system. If I am successful, ill probably follow your lead and do multiple strains.

 

[Mikeltee]

Would you happen to have a link to the storage bins and the light you use for the pods? They appear to get hard plastic. Do you just use one large piece of plexiglass to cover both containers? The pic is a little deceiving.

 

[Steve2020]

Would you happen to have a link to the storage bins and the light you use for the pods? They appear to get hard plastic. Do you just use one large piece of plexiglass to cover both containers? The pic is a little deceiving.

Yes that is one large piece of plexiglass. Picked it up at Home Depo.

 

[Steve2020]

How often do you sterilize your Amazon containers? How big is your display? You are doing it right! I want to dose phyto and pods in my 130g. Considering I'd need about 1g/month, it makes sense just to invest in a poseidon reef system. If I am successful, ill probably follow your lead and do multiple strains.

Sanitized the bins with 99% alcohol prior to starting the cultures. The light is the AI Prime 16HD Fuge LED that I used when I had my fuge setup. I ran it at 10% white only. I followed Reef Nutrition's recommendation to not clean the bins because the pods like the mulm that settles at the bottom and when I harvest by siphoning the pods out and of course some water, to just replace the water that was removed during the harvest. After my first harvest of the Tiger Pods I combined the two bins of Tiger's into one and started a Tisbe Pod culture. My tank at the time was a total water volume of 255gal. My tank was loaded with pods prior to starting the cultures but I wanted to add some more due to I will be getting a couple of Dragonet's and my Diamond Goby feds on the ones that are in the sand.
After culturing Pods for a few months I decided to reinstall my 30gal refugium and I seeded it with the last copepod cultures. I have stopped culturing pods since no need to with the fuge running.
I still culture the Nano and Tetra Phyto. I get 3L from each Phyto tank for a total of 6L. I fill a 16oz bottle of Tisbe and a 16oz bottle of Nano each weekly harvest to have as a backup starter culture in case of a crash which I have been lucky so far with no crashes. Then pour each culture into a 2gal sanitized bucket until the 1.5L mark on my sanitized jugs I have for pouring each culture into. I start my new cultures with 1.5L each of phyto and fresh salt water @35ppt to the fill line on the Phyto Tanks which is approx 3L.
So using simple math each tank I get 101oz minus 16oz for starter culture minus 50oz to start new culture I get 35oz per tank to feed my display tank for a total of approx 70oz per week plus I mix the 2 starter cultures from the previous week so I actually have 106oz to add to the display tank each week. My sump feeds my fuge so the fuge also gets phyto.
My total water volume with the fuge is now 285gal

Attached are the measuring jugs I use for each culture. The work out very nice and easy to sanitize.

 

[Mikeltee]

Thanks a lot for this tutorial. You are the man!

 

[marinebreeders]

Hmmm... I thought Tisbee were diatom eaters, any particular reason why you are only culturing Nanno and Tetra?

 

[Steve2020]

Hmmm... I thought Tisbee were diatom eaters, any particular reason why you are only culturing Nanno and Tetra?

Nano and Tetra are Phytoplankton that I feed my tank nightly. Tisbe is a copepod and I have an extremely large population in my tank as we speak. Hundreds of thousands if not millions. I cultured Tisbe and Tiger pods but felt it was no longer needed in my tank.

 

[marinebreeders]

That's interesting most of the studies show culturing using diatoms for Tisbee and the Tiger Pods Nanno and Tetra. But hey if it is working for you that is awesome.

 

[floridareeflabs]

That's interesting most of the studies show culturing using diatoms for Tisbee and the Tiger Pods Nanno and Tetra. But hey if it is working for you that is awesome.

Hello, Tisbe can and will do well on tetra phytoplankton. They like ditritus so some mulm and waste should be left on bottom at all times after/during harvests and any water changes. If have iso T phyto that is great and can mix with tetra but you can get away with Tetra and flakes of spirulina as they are best suited as bottom feeders meaning it will all settle to bottom.

 

[Mikeltee]

@Steve2020

Hey bro. I got my phyto setup going. I just want to verify that you start each week with 1.5l of your harvest? That seems excessive as the Posideon manual states 250ml. You harvest at 7 days, correct? If I use a 1.5l starter, use 1l for pods, and save 250ml for a crash, that leaves me with 250ml for my tank each week.

I thought about doing a HOB refugium for my sump to culture pods but the biggest I can do us 3g and I don't think that is big enough. What do you think?

In couple weeks I plan to get the other strain of phyto from Florida Reef Labs and another tank from Posideon. I see you purchased 60oz. Did you use all 60 as your starter? Do you suggest that or should I get 2 of their "culture" kits which state are good for 1.5l each?

 

[Mikeltee]

Hello, Tisbe can and will do well on tetra phytoplankton. They like ditritus so some mulm and waste should be left on bottom at all times after/during harvests and any water changes. If have iso T phyto that is great and can mix with tetra but you can get away with Tetra and flakes of spirulina as they are best suited as bottom feeders meaning it will all settle to bottom.

Using the bag method and a poisideon system, do you recommend not changing the bag for a few harvests?

 

[Steve2020]

@Steve2020

Hey bro. I got my phyto setup going. I just want to verify that you start each week with 1.5l of your harvest? That seems excessive as the Posideon manual states 250ml. You harvest at 7 days, correct? If I use a 1.5l starter, use 1l for pods, and save 250ml for a crash, that leaves me with 250ml for my tank each week.

I thought about doing a HOB refugium for my sump to culture pods but the biggest I can do us 3g and I don't think that is big enough. What do you think?

In couple weeks I plan to get the other strain of phyto from Florida Reef Labs and another tank from Posideon. I see you purchased 60oz. Did you use all 60 as your starter? Do you suggest that or should I get 2 of their "culture" kits which state are good for 1.5l each?

My goal with Phyto was to get a nice dense harvest. When I first started culturing I only did Nano in one tank and pods in the other. Started with the 250ml starter pack. The culture never got the deep green I was looking for. I kept on just adding 250ml of the Nano harvest to start the next culture but still the same results. I then decided to convert the pod tank into a Tetra Phyto tank and decided to start with 60oz of Tetra as a starter culture which was a little more than 50% of the 3L the tank holds at the mark on the tank and there was a big difference in density compared to the Nano culture. I then decided to add 1500ml of the Nano harvest to start the next Nano culture and the density of the next Nano harvest showed a big increase. The big kicker on where I am at now is I decided to change the 2 part fertilizer that came with the kit to using the F2 fertilizer from Mercer of Montana and what a huge difference in density I harvest now. I follow the Mercer of Montana instructions now.
I just did a harvest this morning. Below are some photos. of the harvest and what the tanks look like with 1500ml to start the culture.
I also added a photo of the previous weeks emergency starter culture that I just pulled out of the fridge. As you can see the Tetra settles more than the Nano. I give them both a shake every night. This is 14hrs after the shake. The other photo of the emergency starter culture is after I gave them a shake. The Tetra is still very much alive an motile which was verified under a microscope.

I harvest every Sunday so yes every 7 days.

Don't forget to give your harvest a shake every 24hrs.

Nano Culture

Tetra Culture

Nano and Tetra blend.

Jars with tags are the new starter cultures for emergencies. 16oz each. The bottles are 88oz of the blend.

New culture started this morning with 1500ml starter phyto per tank. Nano on left and Tetra on the right.

Previous emergency starter cultures 14hr after being shaken. Tetra on the left.

Same previous starter culture as above but after giving it a shake.

 

[Mikeltee]

Wow that is some straight nasty goop! Well done! I just ordered some Mercer of Montana f2 off Amazon. I don't see instructions. Do you add 4ml/week at once?

I am going to follow your lead and use 1.5l of my first harvest for the next batch and will switch to the new fertilizer if it gets here this week.

I have a plan for copepods. Do you think this will work?

Every Saturday, siphon 1l from the Pod Phytotank with a turkey baster. I'll siphon from the bottom at first to get some of the nasty out, but ill make sure not to remove too many pods. Add that 1l to my display. Then I'll add 1l of my phyto harvest to top off the PhytoTank. The plan would be to do this for a month or so until there is too much crap at the bottom. At this point I'll sieve them and do a water change and use 1l fresh phyto. If I get the nasty goop like you have, I'll probably have to use less phyto. I suppose I can gauge it by how clear it gets by the end of the week.

I'm still on the fence with using these phototanks to raise pods. I really like what you did with the Amazon tubs. If I had a spare light hanging around, I'd probably just do it and use this second PytoTank for FL Reef Labs Tetra.

Thanks for paving the way for me. This is going to allow for copious amounts of harvest without much experimentation. A daily shake of the harvest is not something I considered. Thanks for the tip!