Phytoplankton Discussion - Your Experience!

[alabella1]

For the price, I think it is a worthwhile investment to make your own. I got the kit from

https://poseidonreefsystems.com/products/phytotank-complete-kit

I've had pretty good success making my own and dosing it to my DT using a third tank from them with the dosing attachment.

 

[Reefer Dan]

I grow and mix (after harvesting) my phyto consisting of:

• Isochrysis
• Rhodomonas
• Tetra (chui)
• Chaetoceros
• Thal

I built my own culture station out of diy jars and a metal rack. I use my phyto to dose my tank (feeds some corals, coco worms, etc), copepod culturing, & baby brine shrimp enrichment.

 

[enlighten]

Started my own culture! Tet, Nanno, Iso, and Porphy from Algae Research Supply!

Going to add more media every few days until the jars are full. Wasnt too much to get started, hoping to mix and have live phyto on hand for my reef tanks and maybe to start a pod culture.

One thing at a time, let me see if i can get all 4 strains to stationary phase and harvest within a few weeks!

 

[Derrick0580]

I had great luck with my poseidon jars and their bags. Once I ran out I tried bags from amazon and kept losing cultures of phyto and pods. Guessing there was something on the bags during production causing it. Once I went to bare jars I had success once again. Even made my own knock off which turned out better imo than their jars. Alas I was getting more phyto than I could ever use and stopped culturing all together.

 

[mucky1957]

Im in the UK. I bought some phyto from a friend of mine ( sorry..don't know the strains used ) and my ph dropped like a stone ( it was around 1.0 and now is at 0.03 ) and cleaned out all the green hair algae and the red dragons breath algae withing about 3 weeks. Not convinced about any coral growth but having got rid of the nasties I'm not too bothered.

 

[Narideth]

I ended up buying phyto and pods for a few months, but then realized that I could save a significant amount of money by culturing my own.

My first tigger pod culture crashed, but my second attempt with tisbee has been successful so I need phyto to not only feed them but I also like to dose it in my tanks. I have sooo many beautiful tiny bright red feather dusters that just seem to gobble it up.

I purchase and culture nanno from Mercer of Montana, and will likely refresh the stock around every 6 months. I just got a fresh batch in and verified the nanno via microscope - it was much more concentrated than the last batch I'd grown myself. As someone I was reading said, it's easy to grow green water but without a microscope you can't verify you're growing what you think you are.

My culture after 6 months still had nanno in it, but was mixed with other sorts of green algae, which may be an unavoidable contamination. Either way, maintaining a batch for 6 months of savings felt like a really good accomplishment to me for my first time culturing.

I batch in 2 liter wide-mouth plastic containers for both pods and phyto since I don't need a huge amount for my nano tanks, and I use the stock light from my Evo 13.5 repurposed as a grow light.

I'm curious how everyone handles sanitizing their equipment, this seems to have a wide variety of opinions, experience and results.

 

[enlighten]

...

I'm curious how everyone handles sanitizing their equipment, this seems to have a wide variety of opinions, experience and results.

Same, boiling saltwater was a pain. Even after cool down, my salinity was not right. I guess boiling a side of rodi would help? I used 90% isopropyl to wipe all containers and equipment, wonderinf if i need an air filter on my intake for the pump?

 

[Narideth]

Same, boiling saltwater was a pain. Even after cool down, my salinity was not right. I guess boiling a side of rodi would help? I used 90% isopropyl to wipe all containers and equipment, wonderinf if i need an air filter on my intake for the pump?

Well, I was heating my water as well, but I've seen people who claim it doesn't work, and since I had a fresh batch I decided to go without the heating round. I do also wipe down everything with 91% alcohol though, thoroughly in and out but I don't use a filter for my pump. The last batch came through really nicely so I think I'm going to keep trying it that way for a bit.

 

[enlighten]

Well, I was heating my water as well, but I've seen people who claim it doesn't work, and since I had a fresh batch I decided to go without the heating round. I do also wipe down everything with 91% alcohol though, thoroughly in and out but I don't use a filter for my pump. The last batch came through really nicely so I think I'm going to keep trying it that way for a bit.

I would prefer to skip the boiling method if someone would be able to provide an alternative or it was agreed this part was unnecessary

 

[Reefer Dan]

I ended up buying phyto and pods for a few months, but then realized that I could save a significant amount of money by culturing my own.

My first tigger pod culture crashed, but my second attempt with tisbee has been successful so I need phyto to not only feed them but I also like to dose it in my tanks. I have sooo many beautiful tiny bright red feather dusters that just seem to gobble it up.

I purchase and culture nanno from Mercer of Montana, and will likely refresh the stock around every 6 months. I just got a fresh batch in and verified the nanno via microscope - it was much more concentrated than the last batch I'd grown myself. As someone I was reading said, it's easy to grow green water but without a microscope you can't verify you're growing what you think you are.

My culture after 6 months still had nanno in it, but was mixed with other sorts of green algae, which may be an unavoidable contamination. Either way, maintaining a batch for 6 months of savings felt like a really good accomplishment to me for my first time culturing.

I batch in 2 liter wide-mouth plastic containers for both pods and phyto since I don't need a huge amount for my nano tanks, and I use the stock light from my Evo 13.5 repurposed as a grow light.

I'm curious how everyone handles sanitizing their equipment, this seems to have a wide variety of opinions, experience and results.

This is how I do my phyto (including sanitization):


Also have a video on tig pods if you wanna see that on the same channel.

Same, boiling saltwater was a pain. Even after cool down, my salinity was not right. I guess boiling a side of rodi would help? I used 90% isopropyl to wipe all containers and equipment, wonderinf if i need an air filter on my intake for the pump?

I use an electric kettle to boil the water and use this calculator for salinity.. it’s been pretty consistent https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/DirectSaltCalculator.php

I would prefer to skip the boiling method if someone would be able to provide an alternative or it was agreed this part was unnecessary

The alternative is bleaching and then quenching the bleach. This method is more common for large volumes.

 

[KTTX]

I culture Tetraselmus in three one gallon jars so one is always ready to harvest. Tetra was chosen due to the belief it's easier for pods to eat with a less formidable cell wall, and it's mobility makes it easier to scope and determine it's viability. I add 300 mls per day to my 135g system and use it to culture Tisbe pods. No idea if all this effort does anything but I began it as a treatment for dinoflagellates.

Did it help with your dinos?

 

[crazereef]

I get mine local, 3 different varieties (according to seller) Ive been dosing for 3 weeks, havent noticed a change in pod population or coral colors.

 

[TWYOUNG]

Did it help with your dinos?

Really hard to say bc I also dosed nutrients, several bottled or powdered bacterias, AF Lifesource, pods, and sodium silicate. Also added dirty water and rock from my old FOWLR tank. It's a process lol! I first dealt with prorocentrum then SCA. Each time I was able to get a diatom bloom within a week and dinos were gone within a month thereafter.

 

[Stephers]

I would prefer to skip the boiling method if someone would be able to provide an alternative or it was agreed this part was unnecessary

You're absolutely going to want to sanitize for Iso and porp. I personally think bleaching is way easier. I bleach the mixed saltwater + fertilizer to 5ppm, wait 30 minutes to an hour, and then neutralize it with sodium thiosulfate solution.

 

[enlighten]

You're absolutely going to want to sanitize for Iso and porp. I personally think bleaching is way easier. I bleach the mixed saltwater + fertilizer to 5ppm, wait 30 minutes to an hour, and then neutralize it with sodium thiosulfate solution.

Is there a resouce i can follow directions on howmtp do this process? I do think my iso and porph cultures failed. I see growth in the tet and nanno but not in those. This would explain it.

 

[tzabor10]

Mine is from a LFS. Dose 2-3 times a week. I keep it in mason jars and add some reef roids , shake and dump in. I add some straight from the pouch to an 1 gallon glass jar with fertilizer. Airpump from Eheim Easy to grow with lights. I might be lazy but use a dishwasher to clean the jars. Can you grow BAD things from improper sterilization?

 

[enlighten]

Mine is from a LFS. Dose 2-3 times a week. I keep it in mason jars and add some reef roids , shake and dump in. I add some straight from the pouch to an 1 gallon glass jar with fertilizer. Airpump from Eheim Easy to grow with lights. I might be lazy but use a dishwasher to clean the jars. Can you grow BAD things from improper sterilization?

There is some ufos in my first culture I did a while back. Unidentified Floating/Flowing Objects xD Though I do think the majority is nanno. I grew it from the Algae Barn mix they sell.

I took a look at it under my old elementary microscope.

 

[Vjames]

Hello all! I want your input to discuss all things phyto! Please share your experience buying, using, and culture phytoplankton!

Some topics of discussion:

• Where do you buy your phytoplankton?
• What strain/variety do you prefer to use? To culture? Do you mix?
• What vessal or container do you use to culture, light, setup?
• What do you use the phyto for? Copepods, coral, etc?
• Any other thoughts or discussion on phytoplanton would be great

Much appreciated!

Hello, Enlighten! I found out that the best way to buy pods is to find someone locally who culture pods and phyto. I don't think it is worth paying shipping for small stuff plus you can see what you are buying. Also buying Reef Nutrition tiger pods is not a great way to seed your reef, instead buy apex pods.

 

[Stephers]

Is there a resouce i can follow directions on howmtp do this process? I do think my iso and porph cultures failed. I see growth in the tet and nanno but not in those. This would explain it.

This is what I do for all of my phyto cultures. Knock on wood, I haven't had a single crash thus far:
After harvest and cleaning everything (the container etc.), I put the fresh saltwater in with the fertilizer. I then add 5ppm of bleach.
Use this calculator to figure it out: https://www.publichealthontario.ca/...th/water-quality/chlorine-dilution-calculator

I let it bubble and wait 30 minutes to an hour.
After that, I add in the sodium thiosulfate to dechlorinate. Here's a calculator you can use to make up the stock solution and figure out the dosage: https://www.koiphen.com/forums/koicalcs.php?do=calcstdose
Here's the powered Sodium thiosulfate:
Amazon link here


I then immediately add in the phyto for the culture and all done.

ETA: I use 70% isopropyl alcohol for everything along the way. I wipe the syringe tips with it before dosing the fertilizer and sodium thiosulfate too.