Problems with phyto and pod cultures

[Joe31415]

I picked up the phyto and pod kit from Poseidon Reef Systems and have been having some issues.

First the easy part. The copepods appear to be growing and multiplying and have successfully made it through a few water changes, so that's good. However, there's more and more long green (hair?) algae forming in the jar. Mostly accumulating on the pod nest. Is that normal? Is it something I should be cleaning (or picking some of it off)? Just ignore it?

As for the phyto, I've managed to crash three batches now. All three have done the exact same thing. They get a brighter and brighter shade of green for a few days, then I'll wake up one morning to find the jar is yellow and gets lighter and lighter in color each day. I followed the directions exactly as written. When it crashed, I ordered new starter culture from him and the same thing happened. Then I ordered some phyto and f2 from Mercer of Montana, again, same thing.
All three times I even tried adding another dose of fertilizer, but it didn't make a difference.

I assume it's just a coicidence, but it seems to crash about a day after I notice the water getting a bit low and top off with RODI.

Any thoughts on what I'm doing wrong?

 

[Lasse]

For the pod - i do not see any problems with green algae in the jar

for your phyto culture - have you looked for contamination by pods or other small phytoplankton eaters?

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Joe31415]

for your phyto culture - have you looked for contamination by pods or other small phytoplankton eaters?

I'm not sure how I would do that (check for (or introduce) pods). I'm assuming whatever is causing the issue is something I'm doing since it's happened three times with three different cultures from two different places (two from Poseidon Reef Systems one from Mercer of Montana).

Having never done this before, I have no idea how green the culture is supposed to get and part of me wonders if it's multiplying too fast and crashing because it's too dense. I doubt that's it but I may try using less phyto next time.
The current batch went from bright, almost neon, green one day to yellow the next day and within hours the liquid was clear(ish).

 

[jx.reef]

For the phyto, it sounds like the culture became too dense and crashed. I know the instructions call to harvest every 7 days but I would target maybe every 5-6 days (at least a day before it turns yellow)

 

[fryman]

You shouldn't need to topoff a phyto culture. It needs to be covered and there should be very little evaporation.

Adding rodi top off could be adding bacteria. I've found rodi or saltwater that's been sitting awhile can get contaminated and is usually not good for phyto unless you sanitize with bleach or UV. Most people just use freshly made rodi and newly mixed saltwater which should have minimal growth and usually is ok for easy strains like nannochloropsis or tetraselmis.

It could also be the amount of fertilizer you add. If you follow typical dosage instructions f/2 should last about 6 to 8 days depending on density. If it runs out the phyto will turn yellow.

 

[dmsc2fs]

The current batch went from bright, almost neon, green one day to yellow the next day and within hours the liquid was clear(ish).

start pulling some of the phyto out when you start hitting the darker shades of green and store the containers in your fridge. When you turn yellow you know it was 1 day too long. Reseed with the phyto you pulled out and when you get 1-2 days before your last yellow stage you can harvest 1/2 and top off the container with FSW and a dose of fertilizer.

 

[Lasse]

I'm not sure how I would do that (check for (or introduce) pods)

You need to check with a magnification glass or microscope

The current batch went from bright, almost neon, green one day to yellow the next day and within hours the liquid was clear(ish).

Still can´t exclude that you have introduce something that eat the algae. Bacteria or some type of pods

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Joe31415]

For the phyto, it sounds like the culture became too dense and crashed. I know the instructions call to harvest every 7 days but I would target maybe every 5-6 days (at least a day before it turns yellow)

I'm not even making it that far. I seem to hit peak greenness after 2 or 3 days, then it's quickly downhill.

You shouldn't need to topoff a phyto culture. It needs to be covered and there should be very little evaporation.

It's not a ton, but after a few days the jar is usually down about an inch or so. It's covered, but there's a lot of air moving through it.

Most people just use freshly made rodi and newly mixed saltwater which should have minimal growth and usually is ok for easy strains like nannochloropsis

I'm fairly certain the batch I have running right now is crashed, I'll try mixing up some fresh salt water with new RODI for the next batch and see what happens.

 

[Aquius]

I'm not even making it that far. I seem to hit peak greenness after 2 or 3 days, then it's quickly downhill.


It's not a ton, but after a few days the jar is usually down about an inch or so. It's covered, but there's a lot of air moving through it.

I'm fairly certain the batch I have running right now is crashed, I'll try mixing up some fresh salt water with new RODI for the next batch and see what happens.

Could this be it?

 

[Joe31415]

Welp, it's been a month and at the moment I have half a mason jar of phyto in my fridge and a [most likely] crashed culture going right now.

I'm doing everything I can think of to help this and I'm still getting cultures that appear to get more and more dense tunil about day 3. If I don't split it when it's bright neon green, I be almost certain it'll be an ugly, pale yellow within 24 hours. *Sometimes* adding fertilizer to it or giving the jar a shake to kick the setiment off the bottom will fix it, but not usually.

I'd guess, even trying to split this every few days, I still end up with about half the batches crashing. I've got a little left to try one more batch (that half a mason jar I mentioned), then I'm out and I'll have to decide if I want to throw more money at this project and buy some more.

Also, WRT the pods. The podnest still has a ton of algae on it. I've just been picking off what I can each time and it seems to be doing fine.