Phytoplankton mud

[Gold3nboi]

Hi i recently started culturing phytoplankton for my 300 gallon tank. I started off with just a liter to get the hang of things and i was getting great results. Now i have moved on to 2.5 gallons culturing started off with it 1/3 full and as soon as it began to get dark i would add 1liter of water with 3ml of phyto fertilizer, i have worked up to 3/4 full but now i notice this waste mud on the bottom not sure if i should filter it out or mix it with my harvest. Also i have one air pump and light running on it.

 

[ichthyogeek]

The waste mud is phytoplankton that has settled out or clumped out of the water column, potentially due to lack of water movement, potentially due to other problems.

To fix this, you can get one of those "bubble wands" instead of airline hosing (or DIY your own version), and position it lengthwise through the tank. This will keep the phytoplankton in suspension better than just a singular air source. Just make sure to keep the bubbles as coarse as possible.

 

[Gold3nboi]

The waste mud is phytoplankton that has settled out or clumped out of the water column, potentially due to lack of water movement, potentially due to other problems.

To fix this, you can get one of those "bubble wands" instead of airline hosing (or DIY your own version), and position it lengthwise through the tank. This will keep the phytoplankton in suspension better than just a singular air source. Just make sure to keep the bubbles as coarse as possible.

Thank you so much for this info, as for the settled clump should i strain it out keep it with my harvest. And would this work?

 

[ichthyogeek]

Huh, I guess I forgot to post about that too, sorry about that. Siphon it out. If it's settled out, you don't know if it's living or dead, or if there's bacteria already nomming on the decomposing microalgae.

I've mostly worked with cultures in Erlenmeyer flasks as opposed to in 2.5 gallon tanks. Another alternative would be to just stick some of those airline splitters (the "T" kind) and thread them together so they'll all produce the same size air bubble.

 

[Gold3nboi]

Huh, I guess I forgot to post about that too, sorry about that. Siphon it out. If it's settled out, you don't know if it's living or dead, or if there's bacteria already nomming on the decomposing microalgae.

I've mostly worked with cultures in Erlenmeyer flasks as opposed to in 2.5 gallon tanks. Another alternative would be to just stick some of those airline splitters (the "T" kind) and thread them together so they'll all produce the same size air bubble.

Awsome thank you i think i will syphon out just for peace of mind. Thank you again for your time and info