I need help with culturing phyto

[York1]

Ok I have been growing phytoplankton for a little over a year now. I have had great success with iso galbana. Always dense and no crashes. When I try to grow nannochloropsis or tetraselmis not so lucky. I might get a couple of good harvests but they always crash. Some times they crash in day or two.

All of the jars and equipment are cleaned with alcohol and then rinsed with RO water. I run the iso at a salinity of 1.025-1.026. I have tried the nanno and tetra at salinity of 1.019 up to 1.025. Salinity doesn’t seem to matter with them. I use 6ml of F2 in each batch. I run the lights 24/7. I mix the water in a bucket that is only used for the phyto cultures and cleaned with alcohol between uses.
I am at a loss why I cannot get nanno or tetra to grow. Any help would be appreciated.
Picture for reference

 

[Noxsolaris]

I don’t have advice. Just wanted to say that is a cool looking setup. Hope you get the advice you need.

 

[New&no clue]

What lights are you using?

 

[York1]

What lights are you using?

Cool White 6000K flexible led strips

 

[JGT]

What size are those jars? 6ml of F2 seems like a lot. I use .75 ml for a 2 liter jar.

 

[Chris Spaulding]

I culture ISO and Nano my Lights are on for 16 hours and off for 8. Np in the last year

 

[York1]

What size are those jars? 6ml of F2 seems like a lot. I use .75 ml for a 2 liter jar.

1 gallon I honestly do not remember where i got 6ml from but it has been working with Iso

 

[York1]

I culture ISO and Nano my Lights are on for 16 hours and off for 8. Np in the last year

I had some issues when i started with temps varying day to night which is why i went to 24/7

 

[JGT]

Maybe too much for nano. Worth a shot trying less. Would do 2ml and see if you have any luck. I have mine in an unfinished basement where temps are pretty cold and a basic desk lamp on for lighting 16 hours and no issues.

 

[York1]

I appreciate all the input. I am gonna change a few things with light and F2. Hopefully that will help

 

[York1]

Ok new lighting that will also make cleaning the jars easier. I also adjusted how much F2 used. I guess Ill know in about a week

 

[Derrick0580]

@Anthony Scholfield is a good guy to get with about this. He helped me through my nano woes! I have the poseiden reef phyto/pod setup. I use their bag liners but maybe try wiping down with 70% alcohol and letting it dry without rinsing with ro. Might be reintroducing some type of bacteria doing that. Basically every time I harvest and restart I wipe down countertop with alcohol, wear rubber gloves and wipe those down as well as everything that is involved in the process like rigid tubes, lids, etc. I make my water at 1.020 and use 250 ml of my batch to restart with 2 ml of f2. My lights are on the 16 on 8 off schedule. Until I started getting this meticulous about the sanitation I was only having about 50% success rate with batches failing.

 

[Anthony Scholfield]

I concur what others have suggested concerning nanno and tetra. I culture both. It sounds like you have made some good adjustments.

2ml F2 is good for nanno and tetra in that size container.

24/7 light is not ideal, the 16 on, 8 off is better.

High temps is what you need to worry about. Lower temps are okay and it’s my understanding that the nutritional profile will be better at lower temps. High temps can cause crashes.

I also second using 70% rubbing alcohol on all surfaces and letting it evaporate without rinsing with RO. 70% has more water in it thus letting it sit on surfaces longer which breaks through films to kill more unwanted things. Contamination is your biggest enemy in this game.

If you have more questions you can always DM me if you like. I also have a video series on Instagram about culturing phyto @doubleadeejay.

This video on YouTube may be helpful if you have an hour to kill lol
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