should i strain my very first phyto culture?

[ddc0715]

so i got a good dark culture from a friend and it is now time to harvest and restart... im new to this so my questions will be simple

point of fact first----as the culture was mixing i notice alot of some stuff in it. looked like mysis shrimp and/or large pods (maybe) and some other random floating things. that stuff is now settled to the bottle but is clearly light brown any idea what this might be? i asked him if he filtered his phyto and he said no he never stains his cultures and just views the extra stuff as fertilizer. but understands that some in the hobby do strain but not him.

it is clearly dark green today and its been 10 days, so dispite the brown stuff it looks to be a rock solid culture.

1. when i harvest this today should i run it thru a filter sock?

2. if so what micron rating should it be? i have some some spare poly fill, a 50,25,10,5 and 1 micon rated filter fabric on hand that i can choose from.

3. why do some strain phtyo and some do not?

like i said im new to phyto cultureing. heres a video of the floating things. i mean it went from light green to dark green sooooooo.

thanks

 

[Anthony Scholfield]

The video isn’t working. Can’t say for sure. From what you describe it doesn’t sound like something you want in your phyto. Phytoplankton can become contaminated easily. If you were to strain it I would use something completely sterile. If not you run the risk of a crash on your next start up.

The floating stuff could also be dead phyto cells. I would likely let it settle and pour out as much as you can without the debris and try to restart.

Here is a video you may find helpful.



Also, if you are on Instagram I have a series of videos you may find helpful that breaks down my procedure from beginning to end. It will be under the videos tab. It’s @doubleadeejay

 

[ddc0715]

so. this culture has been producing well. I've started my fourth one... but still this brown stuff seems to draw no responses when I ask about it. this only develops in my culture jar (glass).. its nowhere to be seen in my dosing container that gets a mag stir twice a day.

but every culture starts out clean and all three have ended up with this brown ludge in the bottom come harvest day and i stir it up daily.