When is phytoplankton ready for harvest after overdosing F2 fertilizer?

[ncfalco]

I am currently attempting to culture live phytoplankton for the first time using Algae Barn Ocean Magik live phyto as a a starter culture and Gillards F2 as a fertilizer. In hindsight I should have started with a single strain, but this is my experiment nonetheless. The culture has been going for 8 days and has gotten a bit darker in color. I added 14 oz of Ocean Magik phyto to a 1.5 liter container topped off with salt water mixed to a salinity of 1.025.

When starting the culture I accidentally overdosed the Gillards F2 fertilizer thinking my container was larger than it actually was. I dosed 5ml of F2 to the 1.5 liter container, when I should have dosed 1.5ml according to the instructions.

How do I know if my culture is ready to be harvested? Will nitrates and phosphates read close to 0? Should I let it keep going until I read 0?

Currently the nitrates in the culture top out my Salifert test kit at 100pm. I haven’t tested phosphates, but can if it would be helpful.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

It looks good. At 8 days it should be ready to harvest any time soon. I usually harvest after 5-6-7 days.

I never tested nitrate or phosphate. Or anything else.

 

[ncfalco]

@LordofCinder Thanks for your input. My concern is that if I harvest before the culture is finished, I may be dumping unused F2 fertilizer into my tank. Would you be concerned about this? Maybe the nitrate test kit is giving me a false reading since the culture is so concentrated?

 

[reefkeep]

Also interested in the answer.

 

[Borat]

I dont know what kind of phyto you have in a mix but It does not look good.. by day 8 it should be so dark that you can not see through it even if you shine bright light..

 

[AlgaeDepot]

You definitely don’t want to culture a multi-species blend. You’ll want to culture one species at a time and the most popular is Nannochloropsis and Tetraselmis. If you attempt to culture a blend, you’ll either end up with a crash or one species outcompeting the rest but usually it’s a crash.

It’s ok to mix afterwards for dosing, but definitely not for culturing.

 

[nothing_fancy]

I started a culture with ocean magic that went on for a while, close to a year, no issue. Eventually it will be single strain. The stuff that Poseidon reef sells is a bit better IMO for starter culture. You don't need to test it for anything during the process. Id pull this culture now, strain it, and start again. In the future I would use much less phyto to get it going. For ref I use 350 mil to start a culture in a 3.5 L jar, takes one week to harvest. You might try using around 100 mil to start your next culture in this sized jar.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

What is algae fertilizer? Is there something I substitute for the F2 that will work the same?

 

[Borat]

What is algae fertilizer? Is there something I substitute for the F2 that will work the same?

F2 is THE phyto fertiliser..

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

F2 is THE phyto fertiliser..

I didn't ask that properly, my bad. What specifically is algae fertilizer made up of or is there a basic replacement available at HomeDepot/Ace. I think plant fertilizer will work. Thoughts?

 

[Borat]

I didn't ask that properly, my bad. What specifically is algae fertilizer made up of or is there a basic replacement available at HomeDepot/Ace. I think plant fertilizer will work. Thoughts?

The F2 fertiliser was specifically deaigned for phytoplankton culturing. It is safe to use and a 500ml bottle will last you at least a couple of years. Why look for anything to replace it? Saving a few US&A bucks is just not worth it.