Collecting wild plankton

[Ghost25]

I recently started dosing nanochloropsis, after hearing many good reviews. It's hard to say exactly how much it's doing but my corals are happy.

I became interested in all the other plankton present in the ocean. Plankton nets are used by marine biologists to sample plankton, so I built my own. I bought some 25 micron nylon fabric, cut it into shape and used some E6000 to glue it into a funnel shape. More E6000 to attach the wide end to a small bucked with the bottom removed. I used a hose clamp and a strip of silicone tubing to attach the collection container to the other end. The E6000 bonds are very strong. Went out to the Pacific and dragged the net through the water for a bit. The plankton concentrate has a rather strong smell, saline and iodine. I dosed some in my reef tank, just for fun. Maybe a bad idea, but we'll see. I have the stuff to culture plankton. Maybe I'll give that a go next.

 

[Peace River]

Your post reminded me of a book on my bookshelf entitled "Zooplankton of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts: A Guide to their Identification and Ecology" 2nd ed.

Additionally, I also seem to remember Martin Moe talking about his challenges with collecting zooplankton and the challenges that he had with compromised wild-caught zooplankton collecting (e.g. unwanted pests that wiped out fry).

Good luck with your adventure!!!