phytoplankton

[marcus01]

can any one help..I would like to start making my own phytoplankton and i dont really no were to start any advice would be much appreciated

[MrRyanT]

Here's a great place to start: http://www.melevsreef.com/phytoplankton.html

Gives a bunch of good info.

[jeffgp]

look up DT's

[marinoob]

dt's?

[marcus01]

i am buying dts at the moment but would like to make my own ?

[rickh]

I am not convinced that Phyto is a good thing. It when I was adding Phyto I was also having an Algae problem. I quit and the problem went away. I have no SPS in my tank, but all the other coral are doing great without it. R

[Donw]

Originally posted by rickh
I am not convinced that Phyto is a good thing. It when I was adding Phyto I was also having an Algae problem. I quit and the problem went away. I have no SPS in my tank, but all the other coral are doing great without it. R

Phyto is part of the food web. The problem with phyto is just like any other food source, it has to be fed properly since we have closed systems. Done right culturing lower life forms and feeding on a 24/7 slow dose bases will help with nutrients.
DT's is not great as a starter culture, it contains to many different species, sticking to just one is much easier. Then using those cultures to feed zooplankton cultures or pod cultures will yield great results if fed to the system properly.

Don

[timrandlerv10]

i grow nanno just cause...i use it to feed rotifers and pods, and then i just dump them in the tank, and i really dont think i have anything that eats rotifers now, i just keep doing it so i can keep my cultures going if my clowns ever spawn.

as far as algae goes, if you use micro algae grow fertilizer, and you dont let the phyto consume nearly all of it, when you dose your tank you'll be dumping that fertilizer in there too, and we know thats bad!

marcus its super easy--i have a regular florescent light with some plastic water bottles. i use r/o water, half strength fertilizer and run rigid air tube (easier to clean, stays at the bottom) through the cap all the way to the bottom. as much air as needed to make it look like a medium boil. salinity at the low end, 1.019 or 20. room temperature.

nanno, isochrysis and tetraselmis (spelling?) are the three basic ones, and each has its own quality. nanno is most forgiving, i would start there.

[Donw]

I'm to lazy to diy. I just use two aquamedic reactors, one with a light and one without and use dosing pumps to automate the entire process. I can usually go 6 months without touching any of it. I usually switch back and forth between pods and rotirfers ever 6 months just to change thing up a little.

Don

[armagedon48]

i grow my photo in a south facing window. on a cloudy day i dont usualy see any growth in my cultures, but holy cow does my culture get really dark on a nice sunny day.

also, use NEW salt water. not used. i did a little experiment useing new vs used saltwater and the used stuff just grew algae on the sides of the bottle as well as the green water. the new SW grew only the phyto and its 5x darker than the used SW cultures.

[timrandlerv10]

don...pics pls?

[Donw]

Originally posted by timrandlerv10
don...pics pls?

No digi cam. These are what i use.

http://www.aqua-medic.com/plankton_reactor.shtml

Don

[marcus01]

timrandlerv10.......
marcus its super easy--i have a regular florescent light with some plastic water bottles. i use r/o water, half strength fertilizer and run rigid air tube (easier to clean, stays at the bottom) through the cap all the way to the bottom. as much air as needed to make it look like a medium boil. salinity at the low end, 1.019 or 20. room temperature.

i going to buy a starter colony and make a diy reactor thanks everyone for your help
if it works ill let you no ........if it doesnt i should imagine you guy will be able to SMELL it
all the way from the UK

[timrandlerv10]

let us know when you start...