Phytoplankton Culture Not Growing

[ThePurple12]

A week ago, I started a nannochloropsis culture. I started with 12 ounces (or was it 16) of phyto from Ebay and added it to a 2-liter bottle. I used 5ml of Miracle Gro as Melev recommended. I know this is frowned upon, but it worked for Melev and many others- and it's cheap!

The water was slightly tinted the first day. It's gotten darker, but it's definitely not as dark as it's supposed to be after a week.

The light is a 5,000k 17w (100w eq) LED bulb. Is this too much light? I backed it up a few inches from the bottle just in case.

I'm not sure how much air flow to use, can someone post a video of the air in their culture?

 

[The0wn4g3]

Was it refrigerated phyto? I tried that 3 times and it never grew. Bought a culture disk from Florida aqua farms at it worked great.

 

[ThePurple12]

Was it refrigerated phyto? I tried that 3 times and it never grew. Bought a culture disk from Florida aqua farms at it worked great.

Not sure, but it's definitely viable as it has grown some.

It's turning lighter now, it seems to be dying. Any ideas?

 

[ThePurple12]

@AlgaeBarn
@ThRoewer
@Reef Nutrition

 

[ThRoewer]

I think you used way too much Miracle-Gro.
5 ml is about what I used on a half-full 40-gallon tank. For a 2 liter bottle, a single drop may be more than enough as a start.

As for light, I used both, LED and natural sunlight and both worked. For economic reasons I try to do as much as possible with natural sunlight since I get plenty of it for free and my electric bill is already outrageous.

Also, in my experience, algae cultures do best where you don't want them to take off (larvae tanks for example), but often fizzle out like yours did when you want them to explode.

My outdoor culture contains most likely a mix of what I put in there and of what wind and rain saw fit to add. It's doing pretty well so far and seems to work to grow Apocyclops, Tisbe, and Tigriopus.

If you have a balcony or backyard where you can place a tub that gets at least an hour of direct sunlight I would suggest giving that a try. Just use old filtered tank water to fill it and let nature do the rest. You can add some Nanno as a starter but often you get the starter algae for free, especially if you are not too far from the coast.

 

[ThePurple12]

I think you used way too much Miracle-Gro.
5 ml is about what I used on a half-full 40-gallon tank. For a 2 liter bottle, a single drop may be more than enough as a start.

As for light, I used both, LED and natural sunlight and both worked. For economic reasons I try to do as much as possible with natural sunlight since I get plenty of it for free and my electric bill is already outrageous.

Also, in my experience, algae cultures do best where you don't want them to take off (larvae tanks for example), but often fizzle out like yours did when you want them to explode.

My outdoor culture contains most likely a mix of what I put in there and of what wind and rain saw fit to add. It's doing pretty well so far and seems to work to grow Apocyclops, Tisbe, and Tigriopus.

If you have a balcony or backyard where you can place a tub that gets at least an hour of direct sunlight I would suggest giving that a try. Just use old filtered tank water to fill it and let nature do the rest. You can add some Nanno as a starter but often you get the starter algae for free, especially if you are not too far from the coast.

So keep the LED and add sunlight?

 

[Kullas]

For the air I keep mine turned up pretty high to keep everything moving. If it settles on the bottom it will die off.

 

[ThePurple12]

For the air I keep mine turned up pretty high to keep everything moving. If it settles on the bottom it will die off.

I actually think that's my problem. When I shook the bottle, a ton of green crud rose up from the bottom. I turned the air up yesterday, hopefully that will solve it.

@ThRoewer, you just leave a bottle of saltwater outside and phytoplankton naturally appears?

 

[ThRoewer]

So keep the LED and add sunlight?

I would just go with sunlight alone, especially for Nannochloropsis

@ThRoewer, you just leave a bottle of saltwater outside and phytoplankton naturally appears?

A bottle may not work. I had it come up in buckets and outdoor tanks with old tank water.

The last two pictures show some of my Tigriopus cultures. Those little guys are actually particularly good at making the water very green and eat most things that may eat the phyto. The Tigriopus eat it as well but seem not to eat enough of the phyto to make a dent. And the adults prefer detritus, fish flake food, and even pulverized rat food.

 

[Kullas]

I actually think that's my problem. When I shook the bottle, a ton of green crud rose up from the bottom. I turned the air up yesterday, hopefully that will solve it.

@ThRoewer, you just leave a bottle of saltwater outside and phytoplankton naturally appears?

I have a air pump for a 60g. Its decided between 2, 1g cultures and 2, 1/2 gallon cultures of pods. The pods are turned down way low and the phytoplankton are bubbling away at almost wide open

 

[ThRoewer]

This video shows the agitation in my 40 gal. outdoor culture (provided by a Marineland 1200 powerhead with coarse foam filter). At the end, I move the camera down the side to show how dense this culture is. One gallon of this put into 4 gallon of fresh saltwater still looks dark green. I would think this is about as dense as you can get with live algae in a simple setup.

 

[ThePurple12]

Yep, I think that was the problem. Thanks everyone

 

[ThePurple12]

I'm pleased to report the phyto has finally turned a dark green similar to the one in your picture. Time to harvest!

 

[Lovefish77]

Hi there
I am getting a green crud at the bottom too, phyto getting dark but not very quickly. Any ideas? Want me to post pics?

 

[Spare time]

I actually think that's my problem. When I shook the bottle, a ton of green crud rose up from the bottom. I turned the air up yesterday, hopefully that will solve it.

@ThRoewer, you just leave a bottle of saltwater outside and phytoplankton naturally appears?

That is probably dead phyto

 

[Spare time]

Hi there
I am getting a green crud at the bottom too, phyto getting dark but not very quickly. Any ideas? Want me to post pics?

That is probably dead phyto (assuming the movement is enough in the container).

 

[Lovefish77]

This is it, lmk what u think. I just stirred it up. Lid is closed with 2 tiny holes for aeration. Any thoughts? I started it last Tuesday