To Refrigerate or Not Refrigerate...?

[Dinkins Aquatic Gardens]

We get a lot of questions about this, so I wanted to put a quick reference thread here. We're about to start adding labels to the bottles, but for now:

REFRIGERATE phyto.

DO NOT REFRIGERATE pods, rotifers, amphipods, or baby brine shrimp.

 

[alabella1]

How cold does the phyto need to be? What if you want to autodose it?

 

[Dinkins Aquatic Gardens]

How cold does the phyto need to be? What if you want to autodose it?

Normal refrigerator temps - high 30s to low 40s. For an autodoser, you can keep a couple days' worth out at a time without any problem. Another thing some people do is use an electric champagne chiller to keep the phyto cold while autodosing!

 

[alabella1]

ya know... I got this old Star Wars mini fridge sitting on a shelf in the garage. Maybe it's time to make use of that badboy!!

As far as the phyto in the fridge goes. How long will it last?

 

[Spare time]

We get a lot of questions about this, so I wanted to put a quick reference thread here. We're about to start adding labels to the bottles, but for now:

REFRIGERATE phyto.

DO NOT REFRIGERATE pods, rotifers, amphipods, or baby brine shrimp.

Interesting as (it seems) most stores refrigerate their copepods. However these are often tigrio pods which makes sense that they can tolerate it.

 

[afrokobe]

Normal refrigerator temps - high 30s to low 40s. For an autodoser, you can keep a couple days' worth out at a time without any problem. Another thing some people do is use an electric champagne chiller to keep the phyto cold while autodosing!

am I ok using one of those beverage fridges? it cools 20F below ambient. Ambient is usually around 72-76. I just don't want to be losing any phyto. I usually store for one month at max.

I've been banned from the main fridge by my SO lol

 

[Dinkins Aquatic Gardens]

ya know... I got this old Star Wars mini fridge sitting on a shelf in the garage. Maybe it's time to make use of that badboy!!

As far as the phyto in the fridge goes. How long will it last?

Hey that's a great idea! Our phyto will last 3-4 months in the fridge.

Interesting as (it seems) most stores refrigerate their copepods. However these are often tigrio pods which makes sense that they can tolerate it.

Yes, Tigriopus can tolerate it. The cold reduces oxygen consumption and ammonia production in the bottle. The other organisms don't tolerate cold very well, so we advise erring on the side of caution.

am I ok using one of those beverage fridges? it cools 20F below ambient. Ambient is usually around 72-76. I just don't want to be losing any phyto. I usually store for one month at max.

I've been banned from the main fridge by my SO lol

My guess is that's fine, just smell it periodically. If it starts to smell worse then you might need to change things up.