Nitrate and Phosphorus Control via Phytoplankton Additions?

[Dana Riddle]

Marine fish monthly. That is some history right there. The best Saltwater publication ever. I Threw mine out several years ago when I moved and only kept the anniversary issues.. I kick myself now because that is history. I remember some of your articles from that publication..

I still have most of the MFM issues, even after from moving from Atlanta to Chattanooga to Hawaii and back to Atlanta. Odd what I choose to keep!

 

[Dana Riddle]

And I thought I was the only one with a hemocytometer!

I had to centrifuge my system’s water to get enough things to count. Good luck and thanks for the closer look.

Hemocytometers - a sign of the obsessed.

 

[ZoWhat]

@Dana Riddle

 

[sde1500]

Interesting observation, what type of phyto are you doing? I've been wanting to set up new culturing system for some time now. Just lacking the time and space. Only good space is in a basement that gets rather cold in the winter.

 

[Dana Riddle]

Interesting observation, what type of phyto are you doing? I've been wanting to set up new culturing system for some time now. Just lacking the time and space. Only good space is in a basement that gets rather cold in the winter.

I was told it is a mix of Nannochloropsis and Tetraselmis but haven't looked at it under a 'scope to confirm.

 

[Dana Riddle]

I looked at a green water sample with a microscope - none of the cells were flagellated, so I'm guessing the culture is Nanno.

 

[Da8]

I'm a true believer of this method.

Have been using it for more than two years and the system has developed into a N and P greedy consumer.


Haven't got any scientific evidence but my thoughts are on fitoplacton not only feeds our corals, but mostly lowest steps of the feeding circle.

As nano organism are fed and well develop population numbers rise they can grant food for bigger animals which as them will feed not only on the water column feeding, but also on the nutrients dissolved.

It's not about feeding the final customers, it's about the whole process which makes our ecosystem, more balanced.


For those who your are not in the mood of crating the whole fitoplacton feeding system you can easily provide it with a dozer and easy booster gel for dozers.


Its an specialized blend that here in Spain is a must.


Thanks as always for your great work Mr. Riddle and sorry for my english.

 

[Dan_P]

Hemocytometers - a sign of the obsessed.

 

[Dana Riddle]

I'm a true believer of this method.

Have been using it for more than two years and the system has developed into a N and P greedy consumer.


Haven't got any scientific evidence but my thoughts are on fitoplacton not only feeds our corals, but mostly lowest steps of the feeding circle.

As nano organism are fed and well develop population numbers rise they can grant food for bigger animals which as them will feed not only on the water column feeding, but also on the nutrients dissolved.

It's not about feeding the final customers, it's about the whole process which makes our ecosystem, more balanced.


For those who your are not in the mood of crating the whole fitoplacton feeding system you can easily provide it with a dozer and easy booster gel for dozers.


Its an specialized blend that here in Spain is a must.


Thanks as always for your great work Mr. Riddle and sorry for my english.

Your English is much better than my Castilian. I'm interested in hearing more about the 'booster gel.'

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Fascinating! I'm intrigued

 

[Dana Riddle]

Although this time-exposure photo might be mistaken for star trails in a night sky, it is actually zooplankton moving through my aquarium's water column. It's a 2-second exposure of a flashlight's beam which the zooplankton reflect. All pumps were turned off and the water allowed to become calm so these are not air bubbles. This is a very small portion of the tank - there have to be millions of these animals in it.

 

[RJ F.]

Hey @Dana Riddle. This brings me to a question I haven't asked yet because I thought it was just rubbish. With the findings of you adding phytoplankton to your build and seeing nitrate and phosphate lower brought me to ask. I recently started dosing algae Barn phytoplankton. After about a week I started noticing dinoflagellates in my sand bed. They are starting to spread to the rocks now. Do you think dosing the phyto could have brought this on. I thought I was crazy but if the phyto is lowering my nutrients and allowing the dinos to thrive ot makes more sense. Sorry if this isnt appropriate for this thread but I thought it fit.

 

[salty joe]

I was told it is a mix of Nannochloropsis and Tetraselmis but haven't looked at it under a 'scope to confirm.

FWIW, the people at Florida Farms told me to be careful not to cross contaminate my Nanno and Tetra or I'd end up with only Tetra.

 

[502mad]

Interesting thread folks. I've started adding a phyto blend of Nanno, ISO, and Tetra that I culture with f/2 as well. I simply create a batch, then pour it into 25ml syringes (Amazon) and then freeze them. Then in the evening during the feed, I simply add a frozen phyto-sicle, pointy end down into the dosing hole above my return pump. I set my skimmer to stay off for 2 hours after a feed cycle. Will start to watch my N & P a little more closely to test this theory too. BTW, does anyone add Spiralina in SW to their tanks? I soak a little organic Spiralina in a small cup of SW and dose my pod cultures in the am and started dosing into the sump too. My NPS gorgs all seem happy soooooooo......... ;-)

 

[TexasTodd]

Dana, could you measure how much fish food you're putting in daily? You listed all the types but not approximate volumes.
Great thread.

 

[Mark Gray]

following, I would like to know a little more about your phyto culturing do you have power heads in it? And what are you using for light?

 

[John Hanna]

@RJ F. If your tank nutrients for N and P are stripped for extended periods of time you will have a dino outbreak. The live phyto will certainly have contributed to this, however the magnitude of effect will depend on the concentration and volume added.

@502mad you can lyse the cells when you freeze the contents so the value of the phytoplankton nutritional value will change after this process. The benefit to the ecosystem will not be as strong using dead cells compared to live if you're looking for nutrient extraction capabilities.

@Mark Gray The options for suspension are powerheads vs airstones. I personally prefer powerheads as they provide better suspension of the culture in larger culture systems. As for lighting anything over 100 umol/m2/s intensity will do well with nanno cultures over a 12:12 night/day cycle.

Your light intensity and duration will effect the overall growth cycles of the culture from stationary to death phase so the amount of liquid you need to extract and the time you need to extract it will vary if your aim is to keep the culture in the exponential growth phase of it's life cycle. This can contribute to culture crashes long term.

 

[dryworm]

Could it be that by dosing phytoplankton, your benthic sponges are increasing and the sponges are filtering or consuming more nitrates and phosphates?

 

[John Hanna]

Phytoplankton are primary producers and therefore the base of the ecosystem for all aquatic environments. Being autotrophic primary producers they produce all their nutritional requirements from abiotic energy sources. Heterotrophs (predators) consume these organisms to gain biomass which is then transferred up to food web i.e. algae>zooplankton>small fish>large fish etc. Basically any organism that can feed off them directly or indirectly through other organisms that feed off them that can then be consumed by the final predator will have benefit.

 

[502mad]

Thx John...... I will fabricate a slow drip method for live phyto.... maybe use a 1/4 ball valve