phytoplankton

[Aaronreef]

Its very active, but I remember someone saying it shouldn't be

 

[Aaronreef]

Ok checked again today and it's not moving anymore?
I'm now confused is it alive or dead?
what should it look like ?

Anyone know what I should be looking for ?

 

[Aqua Man]

Wish I knew. Maybe @Bethany Yates can clarify what you see in the microscope.

I’m wanting to use the Phyto to feed pods. How will I know the Phyto is good or bad or just green water?!

I have pods in a bucket and I added some phyto, if they survive and reproduce then I will have a better guess. This is all new to me also.

 

[Aaronreef]

Well I've been doing some more research, from what I've found tetraselmis should be moving around. Looks like I've killed mine probably from overfeeding F2.
I'm going to start again

 

[NS Mike D]

Wish I knew. Maybe @Bethany Yates can clarify what you see in the microscope.

I’m wanting to use the Phyto to feed pods. How will I know the Phyto is good or bad or just green water?!

I have pods in a bucket and I added some phyto, if they survive and reproduce then I will have a better guess. This is all new to me also.

green is good

yellow and smelly is bad.


yellow/clear in the pod bucket means need more phyto

 

[NS Mike D]

slow down. light, air and some food and you should be good.

Crashes is phyto are usually invader related, another phytoplankton or bacteria gets in and then takes over.


if it's green its good.

 

[NS Mike D]

fyi, water movement in the slide (and I mean tiny movement you cannot see with the eye) will make cells look like they are moving.

 

[Aaronreef]

Well it's still green doesn't smell but has no movement.
I keep checking under the microscope and the cells are still all the same and doesn't have anything different looking in there
I'll leave it be for now
Would adding "dead" phyto to the tank (if it is dead) have any adverse effects?

It's definitely not water movement they are running around like crazy

 

[NS Mike D]

Once you are started you'll be able to keep your back up culture in the fridge.

The filter feeders and the pods will love the dead phyto. Just be careful on how much you dose since they are not alive they will break down and get processed like any other uneaten food.

You can keep them in the fridge for dosing until you are sure you have a live culture ready to go.

I don't have experience with your strand, but over feeding doesn't seem like it would kill them in mass unless its was a massive overfeeding.

Also, phyto can withstand a large temp swing (we keep them alive in the fridge). Temp is more a a factor for the speed of reproduction/metabolism. 78° is the optimal temp according to several commercial cultivators, but 65° is just fine. It may just slow down your harvesting cycle.

 

[Aaronreef]

Well ill keep what I have for now.

As for over feeding I did about 2ml F2 in 1.5L of culture
Also I may of overheated one of the cultures by wrapping LEDs around the container bringing the temp to over 86°F

All in all done a pretty shoddy job

 

[SanFernandoValleyAIOReef]

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.

How do you know if it’s still alive after the 7days?