New to Phytoplankton Culturing

[Bear Claw]

I have been wanting to start a phytoplankton culture for a long time now and I finally going to do it. Anyone that has done this I would love to hear some tips and especially what equipment you would recommend starting with. I looked at the kit on BRS but that is out of my price range. My tank is not very big and I don't see the point in getting a large reactor. Thank you!

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

I have been wanting to start a phytoplankton culture for a long time now and I finally going to do it. Anyone that has done this I would love to hear some tips and especially what equipment you would recommend starting with. I looked at the kit on BRS but that is out of my price range. My tank is not very big and I don't see the point in getting a large reactor. Thank you!

I am gonna tag along too, as I just started myself. So far, I have a culture of nanno and tet. I have them in separate containers because I was told one will kill the other. Good luck with yours!

 

[Bear Claw]

I am gonna tag along too, as I just started myself. So far, I have a culture of nanno and tet. I have them in separate containers because I was told one will kill the other. Good luck with yours!

Thank you! I would love to hear what you bought to start your cultures.

 

[DaJMasta]

It's not hard to do and cultures tend to be fairly forgiving in terms of just letting them be and delaying the harvest, there's also not a hard cap on how much you can add to a system, you just run into salinity creep issues with it.

One vessel would need to be harvested and transferred to another container to feed from, since feeding directly from a growing culture increases contamination risk quite a bit, but if you have enough consumption, having a second culture harvested on an alternating schedule is a more reliable way, since if one crashes you still have a backup.

A huge number of options for equipment exist, and even the very basics are plenty sufficient, so you'll need:
A culture vessel - completely clear and easy to clean are a plus, having a lid is important for keeping contaminants out
A source of agitation - hard airline and a small airpump is plenty, but circulation in the culture is important
Light - fairly bright is good, on a timer is fine (especially for ambient light pollution), but 24h is fine too, and if you have a sunny window, that will also work
Fertilizer - a two part f/2 based formula is probably best, but there are single solution mixes
Fresh saltwater - doesn't have to be 35 ppt, I usually run 30 ppt, but it's gotta be clean and mixed prior to use
A starter culture - of whatever species you like, there are a number of pretty good choices, doesn't have to be much volume. One species per culture vessel.
A way to sterilize the next culture vessel/equipment - I use a small amount of bleach in some water, it is imperative that you sterilize your equipment before starting a culture (professional operations fill culture vessels with seawater, cover them, and then sterilize them completely to minimize airborne contaminants), so even if you only have a single growing culture, have a spare vessel/airline that can be used when the other is dirty and needs cleaning

And that's basically it. No heat is required, no topping off is required. Peoples' methods vary, but with a 18 or so hour photoperiod in front of a Finnex Stingray 2, my one gallon cultures take about a week to grow out, I start them with about a 1/6th to 1/8th by volume of the previous culture, 5 mL in total of fertilizer (about 2.5mL of each part), and the remainder of clean 30 ppt seawater. I aerate pretty heavily, but not so much that it is really noisy or spatters out of the vent holes in the lid. They will get nearly opaque in any reasonably thick container under these conditions.

 

[Pistondog]

1. 2 liter soda bottle is cheapest. , rinse well
2. Hole in top for 1/4 inch air tubing to reach bottom, cut end of tube at 45 deg.
3. Add 6 oz, Phyto culture, nano or tetra is easiest, buy from @Eldredge.
4. Fill with fresh saltwater 1.018 to 1.026 sg. to within 3 or 4 inches of top.
5. add 1 to 2 ml if F2 phyto fertilizer
5. turn on air pump, 2 bubbles per second at least. run constantly
6. Get a pink horticulture LED bulb or lamp, run 12 -16 hours/day.
7. after 6 or 7 days ready.
8. Harvest, save 10% to start next batch.

I use wide mouth jugs i can get my hand in to clean.
I think the biggest failure points are (not) starting with a clean vessel, and a lot of starter culture to out compete anything else.
What did I miss?

 

[Gtinnel]

I have been culturing nanno and now tetra for a little while but I still consider myself relatively new.
For containers I now use 1g glass jars that I originally bought pickles in. Being glass they’re easy to clean and having a large opening I can easily get my hand in them to clean them. I have an airline going into each one to keep the phyto moving. When I harvest I mix up some fresh saltwater to 1.020 fill the clean container half way up, and take the original culture and split it in half (adding half to the new culture and keeping half to feed the tank) and add 3ml of f/2 fertilizer. It takes about a week before I harvest again.
For a light I am using a clip on work light with a full spectrum grow bulb that I bought at Walmart. It’s definitely nothing special.

 

[Gtinnel]

3. Add 6 oz, Phyto culture, nano or tetra is easiest, buy from @Eldredge.

I agree with the buy from @Eldredge part too. I bought my starting cultures and my fertilizer from him.

 

[Bear Claw]

It's not hard to do and cultures tend to be fairly forgiving in terms of just letting them be and delaying the harvest, there's also not a hard cap on how much you can add to a system, you just run into salinity creep issues with it.

One vessel would need to be harvested and transferred to another container to feed from, since feeding directly from a growing culture increases contamination risk quite a bit, but if you have enough consumption, having a second culture harvested on an alternating schedule is a more reliable way, since if one crashes you still have a backup.

A huge number of options for equipment exist, and even the very basics are plenty sufficient, so you'll need:
A culture vessel - completely clear and easy to clean are a plus, having a lid is important for keeping contaminants out
A source of agitation - hard airline and a small airpump is plenty, but circulation in the culture is important
Light - fairly bright is good, on a timer is fine (especially for ambient light pollution), but 24h is fine too, and if you have a sunny window, that will also work
Fertilizer - a two part f/2 based formula is probably best, but there are single solution mixes
Fresh saltwater - doesn't have to be 35 ppt, I usually run 30 ppt, but it's gotta be clean and mixed prior to use
A starter culture - of whatever species you like, there are a number of pretty good choices, doesn't have to be much volume. One species per culture vessel.
A way to sterilize the next culture vessel/equipment - I use a small amount of bleach in some water, it is imperative that you sterilize your equipment before starting a culture (professional operations fill culture vessels with seawater, cover them, and then sterilize them completely to minimize airborne contaminants), so even if you only have a single growing culture, have a spare vessel/airline that can be used when the other is dirty and needs cleaning

And that's basically it. No heat is required, no topping off is required. Peoples' methods vary, but with a 18 or so hour photoperiod in front of a Finnex Stingray 2, my one gallon cultures take about a week to grow out, I start them with about a 1/6th to 1/8th by volume of the previous culture, 5 mL in total of fertilizer (about 2.5mL of each part), and the remainder of clean 30 ppt seawater. I aerate pretty heavily, but not so much that it is really noisy or spatters out of the vent holes in the lid. They will get nearly opaque in any reasonably thick container under these conditions.

Thank you so much! This is incredibly helpful! A couple of questions. Where would you buy a starter culture? Would ambient light from my QT work or do I need to put it in sunlight or with a grow light? What species is the best to start with and is the best all-around species for reef tanks? What is your recommended f2 fertilizer and where can you buy it? Thank you for all the help!

 

[tzabor10]

I started last month. Harvesting about a gallon in 10 days. I have 1 gallon mason jugs. But 2 liter bottles would work. We have grow lights for plants on a 12 hour photoperiod. Bought an Eheim air pump but wish I got a cheaper one from Petco. To control the air just pinch the air line with a clothespin. Add phytoplankton and a little fertilizer and it goes on its own. I add about a pint 3 times per week. If you can, restock with new phytoplankton every so often. They are blends to start, but one variety will dominate the whole thing. Sanitize in the dishwasher. Buy the fertilizer from Amazon, plankton from Algae Barn. Good luck

 

[Bear Claw]

1. 2 liter soda bottle is cheapest. , rinse well
2. Hole in top for 1/4 inch air tubing to reach bottom, cut end of tube at 45 deg.
3. Add 6 oz, Phyto culture, nano or tetra is easiest, buy from @Eldredge.
4. Fill with fresh saltwater 1.018 to 1.026 sg. to within 3 or 4 inches of top.
5. add 1 to 2 ml if F2 phyto fertilizer
5. turn on air pump, 2 bubbles per second at least. run constantly
6. Get a pink horticulture LED bulb or lamp, run 12 -16 hours/day.
7. after 6 or 7 days ready.
8. Harvest, save 10% to start next batch.

I use wide mouth jugs i can get my hand in to clean.
I think the biggest failure points are (not) starting with a clean vessel, and a lot of starter culture to out compete anything else.
What did I miss?

Thank you so much for the recommendations! Two questions. Would I need an adjustable air pump to get the ideal bubbles per second or would an air stone work? Would you recommend the bulb over sunlight?

 

[DaJMasta]

Thank you so much! This is incredibly helpful! A couple of questions. Where would you buy a starter culture? Would ambient light from my QT work or do I need to put it in sunlight or with a grow light? What species is the best to start with and is the best all-around species for reef tanks? What is your recommended f2 fertilizer and where can you buy it? Thank you for all the help!

Residual light may keep things alive but growth will be slow, moderate to intense light is best (this could be a hardware store fixture or something too, spectrum isn't so important).

There are a number of places that sell cultures, but even a single strain live phytoplankton would work. In the US, Algae Research Supply and Carolina (biological supply), both can supply small quantities cheaply. You could also do 'inactive' starters like Florida Aqua Farms' algae discs.

For species, I hear Isochrysis most regularly recommended for growing copepods and feeding larvae, but it's not the most robust. In my experience, Tetraselmis is the most robust, but will settle to the bottom (needs higher aeration to be fully suspended, shake before dosing), but Nannochloropsis, Nannochloris are fine enough choices too. Porphyridium isn't hard to grow, but in my experience froths a bit and needs some extra cleaning, and if you want to add a sillicate additive too, a diatom like Chaetoceros or Thalassiosira (also foams a bit) would be relatively common, widely accepted choices.

I've been using Fritz f/2 two part becuase I grow a lot and it comes in gallon jugs cheaply, but so long as it's guillard f/2 based, it will perform very similarly, and every algae supplier will have their house brand too.

 

[Pistondog]

Thank you so much for the recommendations! Two questions. Would I need an adjustable air pump to get the ideal bubbles per second or would an air stone work? Would you recommend the bulb over sunlight?

Sunlight works, might be better if bright enough.
Get an air restrictor, inline valve, or try the pump unrestricted,
That phyto really wants to grow.

 

[DaJMasta]

+1, bubbles per second isn't a great measure because you want more than that, especially for something like tetraselmis, but air valves are cheap and are good for balancing between multiple vessels and getting flow you're happy with. Look for a low boil, a rolling boil is probably too much for noise/splatter concerns, but the phyto definitely can take it and benefits from the churning.

 

[Bear Claw]

What are your guys thoughts on the PhytoTank CL System with phytoplankton and copepod growing kit? It's very expensive but does look nice. Or is doing it homemade better? Thoughts?

 

[Pistondog]

I have 4 or 5, the leds burn/ short unless you keep everything perfectly dry.
I use them with other lights, the mouths are wide for good cleaning.

 

[Bear Claw]

I am starting the culture right now and I was going to use the reef nutrition 6 oz bottle of phyto. It says it is concentrated so can I still use the whole thing or should I use only some of it?