Phytoplankton Culture Station Lets See Them!

[Reef Nutrition]

Very impressed when a company steers you away from their product when better options exist. Thanks Chad and Reef Nutrition! I've only heard good things about your company and will definitely be a customer in the future.

Thanks for the response! If you ever have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out.

Chad

 

[tippin.turtle]

UTEX Photobioreactor Basic Package 2L - $165.00

UTEX RGB-LED Lighting Platform- $295.00 ​

Total: $460.00

Pacific Sun 5L - $289.00 (shipping from UK not included)

PhytoTank-L Kit 3.5L $125.00 (pump not included)​

DIY 6L $150.00

 

[tippin.turtle]

Just wanted to illustrate some differences in prices when it comes to phyto reactors and what one can anticipate spending. It can be as cheap or as expensive as you like.
My vessels are 2L boiling flask which made up the majority of the expense for me at $28.00 a piece. I chose these because they had a round bottom which would prevent any settling at the bottom.

 

[tippin.turtle]

The bases were purchased from US Plastics
and the LED's are a round/halo 10 LED plant grow light (first generation) which sets inside the base; purchased on Aliexpress. I chose the pink/white lighting over the yellow/white. A 20 LED version is available for this light but the light output would be too excessive for phytoplankton I believe. The 10 LED version is not lacking in light output and appears plenty sufficient.

 

[AlgaeBarn]

A follow up on my own question here sourced from Algae Barn's website:

“THAL”​

Thalassiosira weissflogii :: Unflagellated Diatom :: 5 – 32 microns Thal is the largest strain of phytoplankton we offer. As a beneficial diatom, this algae consumes silicates, restricting the growth of harmful dinoflagellates and silicates. Cycle time is reduced by adding Thal to your tank!

I suppose this ingredient may be useful for a "newly" established tank as a preventive for dinoflagellates as stated by Algae Barn. If I were actively seeking such a preventive one could surmise that this would be a "stand alone" product and not something included in a supplement for coral nutrition.

Algae Research and Supply on the other hand focuses solely on coral nutrition it would appear.

PORPHYRIDIUM (PORPHYRIDIUM CRUENTUM)​

Aquarium Benefits:

• Pigmentation:
  • Phycoerythrin. This pigment is one of the few red pigments.
  • Pigments incorporated by filter feeders into their flesh
• Aquarium Animal Health Benefits:
  • Porphyridium improves immune systems (Journal of Fish Diseases 2008, 31, 489–495)
  • Good fatty acid composition for filter feeders (Aquaculture International 15.1 (2007): 1-9.)
  • Improves growth (Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part B 172–173 (2014) 90–95)
• Tank ecosystem
  • Nitrogen compounds can be scavenged by actively growing phytoplankton

Background on the strain:
The red algae are mostly macroalgae (large multicellular and visible with the naked eye), but Porphoridium is one of the few that are planktonic microalgae. The red microalga Porphyridium (Rhodophyta) is a potential source for several products like fatty acids, lipids, cell-wall polysaccharides and pigments. The polysaccharides of this species are sulphated and their structure gives rise to some unique propertiesthat could lead to a broad range of industrial and pharmaceutical applications. additional, P. cruentum biomass containing carbohydrates of up to 57% have been reported. Thus, the combined amount of carbohydrates in biomass and exopolysaccharides of this microalga could potentally provide the source for bio-fuel and pharmaceuticals. The red pigment is a large protein called a phycoerythrin. It is one of the few water soluble photosynthetic pigments.

This only solidifies my decision to use Algae Research and Supply's Phytoplankton over Algae Barns. If I wanted a dinoflagellate preventive then I would seek one out. Thanks but no thanks Algae Barn. I hope this is useful for those seeking optimum coral nutrition and health and provides insight into the differences between these two products.

Hey there! In addition to competing with its diatom cousins-Thalassiosira promotes high rates of growth and fast rates of repair, as it has a high protein and amino acid content. Though it is rich in amino acids overall, compared to other commonly used microalgal feeds, it has especially high concentrations of aspartic acid, serine, glycine, threonine, alanine, and isoleucine. Its pigments help to maintain the rich coloration of animals that feed directly upon it!

Here is a link to our blog on in if you wanted to read more on why we use it in our OceanMagik

Thalassiosira: Big, Brown and Beneficial

There are a multitude of uses for live phytoplankton in aquaculture and marine aquarium keeping. These uses can be nearly as varied as the types of

www.algaebarn.com

 

[nicholas2010e]

@AlgaeBarn I just received my 5280 pods today! However, under mush closer inspection it seems I only received 5220 pods.

 

[G Santana]

No frills, no fancy containers, no fancy lights, 2 liter soda bottles, 6 liters a week!!!

 

[Butcher333]

Interesting that a commercial venture (Algae Barn) is following this thread. That being said, I'm choosing Algae Research Supply's "filter feeder formula" over Algae Barns "oceanmagik". Essentially both are the same with the only exception being that each contain a seperate ingredient.
The three ingredients that they both have in common are: Nannochloropsis, Tetraselmis, and Isochrysis.
The final remaining ingredient however is different.
Algae Barn's contains: Thalassiosira weissflogii - A diatom
Algae Research Supply contains: Porphyridium - A red microalga
I'm not sure the rationale behind adding a diatom to the mix rather than another planktonic microalgae?
That being the case, I'm choosing Algae Research Supply over Algae Barn.
If anyone cares to share their knowledge as to which is better and why; then please share your thoughts with the community.

Gymnodinium dinoflagellates are a predator on porphyridium FYI. Just putting that out there. I grow porphyridium also and use ARS for my cultures, but don’t feed it to my tanks for this reason.

 

[sixty_reefer]

Looking for creative ways to culture phytoplankton. I have an idea how I'll be constructing mine but know there are those of you who can take things to the "next level".
Lets see them!

If you taking the next step

How to automate a phytoplankton culture

Giving that we love tech and use any excuse to reduce labour in our tanks I will give you below the diagram to automate a phytoplankton culture. There’s no need to split cultures weekly, just set it up and forget it. It’s really simple and it worked for me for two consecutive years without...

www.reef2reef.com