phytoplankton

[Aaronreef]

Looking forba bit of advice.

I'm looking at dosing phyto to my tank, I've brought a culture of Tetraselmis.
I was going to Huck it up to dosing line, I'm told it should be refrigerated and shouldn't just be kept in a bottle under the tank to dose.
I don't understand this as what I've been told to culture it it just needs room temperature.
So if I culture it then split it into a bottle for dosing kept at room temperature would this not be ok ?

 

[Bethany Yates]

Looking forba bit of advice.

I'm looking at dosing phyto to my tank, I've brought a culture of Tetraselmis.
I was going to Huck it up to dosing line, I'm told it should be refrigerated and shouldn't just be kept in a bottle under the tank to dose.
I don't understand this as what I've been told to culture it it just needs room temperature.
So if I culture it then split it into a bottle for dosing kept at room temperature would this not be ok ?

So, when the plankton is bottled there are fertilizers and nutrients in solution to keep the plankton nutritious for your fish. In an ongoing culture these things must be dosed frequently, like every day or every three days depending on culture density. Refrigeration slows down the plankton's metabolism so that they can live and be nutritious for an extended period of time. If you leave the plankton at room temperature they will use up the nutrients and starve in addition to being less nutritious for your tank.

I studied plankton culturing as part of an undergrad research project. Pretty much nerd level 1000. These are experimental Nannochloropsis sp.

 

[LiveWire]

It will stay for a longer period of time in the fridge. It basically slows down the phytoplanktons cycle. The plankton will settle out of the column to the bottom so shaking it daily is something that has to be done so when you shake it its just as easy to dose it then to the tank. There are some companies that make shelf stable plankton like EZ Reefs but again its just as easy to dose it after you shake it and its much cheaper to culture it than buy it.

 

[NS Mike D]

+1 on the above. Ideally live phyto has more benefits. Think of dead phyto as you would like any other food only it's for corals, filter feeders, pods, ect. Live phyto not only provides nutrition, the strains of phyto available in the market today will also help with NO3 and PO4 and O2 like any other photosynthetic organism in your tank, and strains will feed on detritus helping to break it down.

So the refrigeration as mentioned is to keep as much of the live stuff alive and dead ones from rotting. Sort of a suspended animation stage

 

[Aaronreef]

Thanks for the replies.
I'm sorry if I'm still being ignorant.
But if I was to culture at room temperature and that's ok to keep it alive. then If I was for example use 40ml a day in the tank, just topped up the dosing container of 120ml fresh from the culture that's at room temp every few days and either used an air line to bubble the dosing container or a magnetic stirrer? Would that not be ok? As it would still be live?
I get that Keeping it in the fridge makes it last longer, but if I'm not trying to preserve it for weeks and just use it regularly. then surely just having it in a dosing container is the same as having it in a bottle for culturing?

 

[NS Mike D]

I believe contamination is a big issue with culturing phyto. I don't know how long the phyto will remain alive and suspended in a dosing container, but I am fairly positive you should keep a maintenance schedule that includes dumping the excess culture and sanitizing the dosing container.

 

[Aaronreef]

Ok so that's something I might have misinterpreted too.
I was under the impression that I could culture an amount say 1 L take 70% of that out and top the 30% back up with fresh SW and add fertilizer to regrow it every 10 days or so.
I'm sort of aware contamination is an issue so would clean/change the dosing container every week.
Maybe I would be better off just manually dosing fresh from the culture container to the tank?
Do I need to start fresh with a new container every 10 or so days? Or can I keep the same one going for months by just removing 70% +/- every week and topping back up with SW and fertilizer?

 

[Bethany Yates]

Ok so that's something I might have misinterpreted too.
I was under the impression that I could culture an amount say 1 L take 70% of that out and top the 30% back up with fresh SW and add fertilizer to regrow it every 10 days or so.
I'm sort of aware contamination is an issue so would clean/change the dosing container every week.
Maybe I would be better off just manually dosing fresh from the culture container to the tank?
Do I need to start fresh with a new container every 10 or so days? Or can I keep the same one going for months by just removing 70% +/- every week and topping back up with SW and fertilizer?

The plankton I use says it can only be refrigerated for 7 days but I have kept it in the fridge for several weeks with no problems so I think it just depends on the quality of the material you are using.
Theoretically, you should be able to keep the culture going indefinitely. To keep it going you need a grow light and a container for them to circulate in. If you want to do this I recommend pulling samples every once in a while to check for ciliates or lysed/damaged/dead cells.

 

[Aaronreef]

Keeping the culture going for as long as I can is the aim.
The container will be cleaned with rubbing alcohol before use and flushed with RO. Ill block the hole for the airline with filter floss, and change the floss every time I remove 70% of the culture will also keep the air pump filter regularly maintained
I have a grow light already for the purpose.

For sample checking I assume you mean put some under a microscope ?

 

[NS Mike D]

fwiw, melev said in blog, he split the culture once a week, put the harvest in the fridge and manually dosed every other day.

 

[Bethany Yates]

Keeping the culture going for as long as I can is the aim.
The container will be cleaned with rubbing alcohol before use and flushed with RO. Ill block the hole for the airline with filter floss, and change the floss every time I remove 70% of the culture will also keep the air pump filter regularly maintained
I have a grow light already for the purpose.

For sample checking I assume you mean put some under a microscope ?

Sounds like you have all your bases covered. Good luck keeping the culture going. My advice would be to keep your culture in more than one container. In my experience cultures will crash with very little warning so it is better not to have all your culture in a single place. Good luck! And yes I meant with a microscope.

 

[Aaronreef]

I received my culture today.

I'm not sure what I was expecting but it's very pale in colour, the microscope I have isn't very good but I can't really see and movement from the culture bottle either

Any ideas?

 

[Bethany Yates]

I received my culture today.

I'm not sure what I was expecting but it's very pale in colour, the microscope I have isn't very good but I can't really see and movement from the culture bottle either

Any ideas?

Picture, please! It is a pain but if you hold your phone camera up to the ocular lens on a microscope you can get a good pic. And remind me of what species you got.
USUALLY, movement in a phytoplankton sample is a bad thing that indicates ciliates or something else bad.

 

[Aaronreef]

Ok I expected it to have a bit of life (movement) in it but like I said I'm not really sure what to expect.
I've got Tetraselmis.
The microscope I have in a usb cheap Amazon one but have done the best I can.
The background of the photos that looks like bubbles in the bit that's in the top of the lid to keep it sealed. I put some of the culture in the lid and put the microscope I've the lid

 

[dadnjesse]

Have you looked at Easy reefs Easy Booster. It doesn't need refrigeration and comes in a dosing bag.

Easy Reefs EasyBooster PRO

1500 ml Bulk Pouch of Concentrated Photoplankton Gel A suspension in gel form comprised of marine microalgae and marine minerals that can be preserved at room temperature for over 18 months.

www.coralvue.com

 

[Aaronreef]

I was hoping to culture my own to stop me buying it on a regular basis but the way it's going I might be buying it

The culture I have going isn't green at all anymore it's a cloudy colour I'm wondering if it was dead before I started

 

[Aaronreef]

Quick question if anyone can help.

I was looking at vessels for the phyto and found some dedicated reactors, reading the description of them it says

"The growth rate of the microalgae in the plankton light reactor is enormous. If the supply of light, CO2 and nutrients is continuous the bio-mass of the algae may increase four-fold within 24 hours"

I have light I have fertilizer and to a lesser extent Co2
Would pumping Co2 into the phytoplankton have any advantage? I have spare canisters of Co2 from a calcium reactor

 

[Victor_C3]

So, when the plankton is bottled there are fertilizers and nutrients in solution to keep the plankton nutritious for your fish. In an ongoing culture these things must be dosed frequently, like every day or every three days depending on culture density. Refrigeration slows down the plankton's metabolism so that they can live and be nutritious for an extended period of time. If you leave the plankton at room temperature they will use up the nutrients and starve in addition to being less nutritious for your tank.

I studied plankton culturing as part of an undergrad research project. Pretty much nerd level 1000. These are experimental Nannochloropsis sp.

Quite impressive!

I have a degree in chemistry, but it’s not nearly as helpful as your background in this hobby. I worked mostly in inorganic chemistry and precious metals and their alloys.

 

[Victor_C3]

Quick question if anyone can help.

I was looking at vessels for the phyto and found some dedicated reactors, reading the description of them it says

"The growth rate of the microalgae in the plankton light reactor is enormous. If the supply of light, CO2 and nutrients is continuous the bio-mass of the algae may increase four-fold within 24 hours"

I have light I have fertilizer and to a lesser extent Co2
Would pumping Co2 into the phytoplankton have any advantage? I have spare canisters of Co2 from a calcium reactor

I can’t really provide much information to you, but I’m following along. I’ve given a lot of thought about culturing plankton myself.

Can you post a link to the plankton reactor you’re talking about?

From the sound of it, CO2 would be beneficial. Plants require it for photosynthesis (and so would plankton) and I know that some aquarist with planted freshwater tanks add it to their systems.

 

[Aaronreef]

Aqua Medic Plankton Reactor With Light Unit – Marine Aquatics

marineaquatics.co.uk

Unfortunately I have no degree in anything and only a very basic understanding of chemistry so I'm the dark here but willing to learn