Phytoplankton Cultures

Does anyone have any experience with Phytoplankton Cultures
and is it worth making you own green water versus buying 2 fishes phytoplan
?

Here are some links that discuss DIY phyto.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-07/ds/index.php
http://www.sas.org/E-Bulletin/2001-1.../labNotes.html

There is also something else that I've noticed that takes the culture
station a step farther
and that is a Phytoplankton Reactor...A.K.A. ....
A Culture in a tube that is Automatically fed to the tank.
http://www.aquacave.com/detail.aspx?ID=513

Is there any Value to culturing your own ?

TIA,
Chris

There is value if you like raising stuff, and tinkering
with it, otherwise you will find it more trouble than it's
worth. It also helps to have a good microscope.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



TheRock wrote on 10/27/2006 4:43 PM:
Does anyone have any experience with Phytoplankton Cultures
and is it worth making you own green water versus buying 2 fishes phytoplan
?

Here are some links that discuss DIY phyto.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-07/ds/index.php
http://www.sas.org/E-Bulletin/2001-1.../labNotes.html

There is also something else that I've noticed that takes the culture
station a step farther
and that is a Phytoplankton Reactor...A.K.A. ....
A Culture in a tube that is Automatically fed to the tank.
http://www.aquacave.com/detail.aspx?ID=513

Is there any Value to culturing your own ?

TIA,
Chris

"TheRock" wrote in message news:vbu0h.22$Gg5.6@trndny02...
Is there any Value to culturing your own ?

I tried and for me - it is not worth it.

There is a disadvantage, that is for sure...
You never know when to harvest algae because
amounts of it and conditions are not repeatable
(read: unknown). Than when you harvest too early
than you will pour a lot of nutrients with culture
water and feed hair algae. If you harvest too late
than you feed reef with starved, dead algae - less
nutritional value.

Cost, time and effort is greater than buing bottle
fresh concentrate algae from aquaculture sources.

I am not talking about this dissolved DT stuff...
I am talking about dark green stuff dense as honey.

You buy one bottle, pour the content into several
ice-cube trays, freeze it and than you have huge
and cheap supply of food for filter feeders...

http://www.reed-mariculture.com/reefnutrition/

"Pszemol" wrote in message ...
I am not talking about this dissolved DT stuff...
I am talking about dark green stuff dense as honey.

You buy one bottle, pour the content into several
ice-cube trays, freeze it and than you have huge
and cheap supply of food for filter feeders...

http://www.reed-mariculture.com/reefnutrition/

This is the better deal:
http://www.reed-mariculture.com/microalgae/
One bottle will supply a whole reef-club :-)
Or one user for a long, long time under the
condition it will get frozen and used over time.

"Pszemol" wrote in message
...
"Pszemol" wrote in message
...
I am not talking about this dissolved DT stuff...
I am talking about dark green stuff dense as honey.

You buy one bottle, pour the content into several
ice-cube trays, freeze it and than you have huge
and cheap supply of food for filter feeders...

http://www.reed-mariculture.com/reefnutrition/

This is the better deal: http://www.reed-mariculture.com/microalgae/
One bottle will supply a whole reef-club :-)
Or one user for a long, long time under the
condition it will get frozen and used over time.


Interesting ! So what do recommend from the buffet ?
Nannochloropsis, Isochrysis , Tetraselmis ... I guess I don't need to be
able to pronounce any of them : )

How's that 58 gallon algae problem going anyway ?
Did you try out a new skimmer yet ?

Chris

"TheRock" wrote in message news:tLw1h.3121$mX4.1255@trndny03...
Interesting ! So what do recommend from the buffet ?
Nannochloropsis, Isochrysis , Tetraselmis ... I guess
I don't need to be able to pronounce any of them : )

nanochloropsis are very small cells,
tetraselmis are the biggest...
The best is the mixture.
If you can afford only one, than pick the nanochloropsis.
This is the species in DT Phytoplankton and it was just
fine but not concentrated enough for the price they wanted.

How's that 58 gallon algae problem going anyway ?
Did you try out a new skimmer yet ?

Doing water changes so far and limiting feeding...
Not decided on new skimmer yet.
I think I will try some phosphate removal thingies first.
What do you think ?

"Pszemol" wrote in message
...
"TheRock" wrote in message
news:tLw1h.3121$mX4.1255@trndny03...
Interesting ! So what do recommend from the buffet ?
Nannochloropsis, Isochrysis , Tetraselmis ... I guess
I don't need to be able to pronounce any of them : )

nanochloropsis are very small cells,
tetraselmis are the biggest...
The best is the mixture.
If you can afford only one, than pick the nanochloropsis.
This is the species in DT Phytoplankton and it was just
fine but not concentrated enough for the price they wanted.

How's that 58 gallon algae problem going anyway ?
Did you try out a new skimmer yet ?

Doing water changes so far and limiting feeding...
Not decided on new skimmer yet.
I think I will try some phosphate removal thingies first.
What do you think ?

I only have experience with 2 types of phosphate removers...
Two Little Fishies Phosban and Kent Phosphate sponge.
I tried the Phosban per a conversation we had here a while back about
ferric oxide hydroxide -vs- soluble Aluminum...blah blah blah.
They both work pretty good but I think I prefer Kent's product.
I have Phosban in the sump now and I've seen lower phosphate levels prior.
But perhaps the tank is a bit more dirty these days.

Hey you can try one of those PhosBan Reactor 150's from Two little Fishies
for $40 and let us know how well it works !
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewIt...product=TL4311

Chris

"TheRock" wrote in message news:02z1h.3622$OK3.2598@trndny09...
Doing water changes so far and limiting feeding...
Not decided on new skimmer yet.
I think I will try some phosphate removal thingies first.
What do you think ?

I only have experience with 2 types of phosphate removers...
Two Little Fishies Phosban and Kent Phosphate sponge.
I tried the Phosban per a conversation we had here a while back about
ferric oxide hydroxide -vs- soluble Aluminum...blah blah blah.
They both work pretty good but I think I prefer Kent's product.
I have Phosban in the sump now and I've seen lower phosphate levels prior.
But perhaps the tank is a bit more dirty these days.

Hey you can try one of those PhosBan Reactor 150's from Two little Fishies
for $40 and let us know how well it works !
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewIt...product=TL4311

Thanks, Chris - I was going to rig something "DIY"
out of the old tap water filter by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals
but with the price below $40 I am not that motivated anymore ;-)

Pszemol wrote:
"TheRock" wrote

How's that 58 gallon algae problem going anyway ?


Doing water changes so far and limiting feeding...


Hi Pszemol,

Are you using "Phyto Feast" or "Instant Algae" in your system?

If it's Instant Algae then your algae bloom problem just might be
related; here's my thinking:

1. Instant Algae is a non-viable product. As such, adding it to your
system amounts to pure nutrient import. IOW The product is either eaten
by your animals or it decomposes. Compare that to a live product like
Phyto Feast which will presumably continue living and taking up
nutrients until it's eaten. Obviously either product will import
nutrients into your tank but my point is that a live product will be
much more effective at buffering the availability of those nutrients to
nuisance algae such as you're experiencing.

2. Instant Algae products are intended for use in commercial hatchery
operations. These are way different from a home aquarium in just about
every way other than they both contain water and animals. In
discussions on this topic with Ron Shimek he made and emphasized the
point that one of the most important considerations in feeding phyto in
a home aquarium is avoiding, as much as possible, the introduction of
excess nutrients from the culture's 'fertilizer'. It strikes me that
this probably isn't considered nearly so important in a hatchery.

You might consider testing the Instant Algae for nutrients. If that's
not feasible you could also do some before and after testing on your
tank; don't feed any phyto for a week or so and test your nutrient
levels; then do a normal phyto feeding and test again. Assuming that
the levels are up you could continue testing periodically (daily?)
while not feeding to get a sense of how quickly the nutrient levels
drop off.

Of course, if you're using Phyto Feast or another live product then
most of what I've said here doesn't apply.


Nutritiously yours,

Alex

"Tidepool Geek" wrote in message ups.com...
Of course, if you're using Phyto Feast or another live product then
most of what I've said here doesn't apply.

This new 58 gallon tank is running for the 6 months
without ANY phyto feeding.

My experience was with using algae products for
my experiments with rotifers cultures and maroon
clown larvae.
Algal concentrates are centifuged to remove most
of the culture medium - what you get in the bottle
is mostly algal cells, no water they were growing in.