plankton Q's

wicked_NaCl_h2o · #1 05/27/2007, 05:02 PM

I wasn't sure where I should post this thread. I am wondering, how do you know if your live plankton is dead? I have never smelled dead plankton. I think it smells bad but I bet it never smells good. I am not using this bottle anymore untill I know for sure if it is still alive. It would suck if this plankton was dead, because I didn't use much of it. I keep it in the fridge, I shake it up before I use it, and that is ever other day. I've been using live plankton for only a few months, so I am quite new to this. If you know what dead planton smells like, could you please describe to me what it smells like? Thanks in advance for any help.

jojo22 · #2 05/27/2007, 07:25 PM

Have you ever been by a large dog when it takes a dump on a calm day and it stinks so bad you think you can taste it??? Well that would be what dead plankton smells like.

How do I know this, well I had a bottle of plankton that had surely expired (by over 6 months according to the tag) that I had accidently left in my basement, so I being curious took a whiff. And I own 3 pit bulls and a great dane so I definately know all types of poo smells.

Ken668 · #3 05/27/2007, 09:57 PM

Hehe...nice jojo. I wouldn't necessarily say a typical bad culture smells quite as bad as a 6 month old bad culture (can't even imagine!), but it definitely has a certain aroma to it. If anything, I would say a good culture is definitely a noticeable one. They tend to have an almost sweet, fresh smell to them. When a culture starts to crash, it happens quickly. So you'll notice a difference from one day to the next. Sorry if that doesn't help you much. One thing you can do is to take a small sample of your culture and make it crash (leave it un-aerated for a while) and then compare the smells. If they are the same, then your whole culture is bad. If there is a discernible difference, then chances are you have a good culture.

IslandCrow · #4 05/27/2007, 10:04 PM

What type of plankton are you using. If it's DTs, what it says on the bottle is true. When you first open the bottle, it will smell really bad. If it continues to smell like that after a few seconds, it's gone bad. Otherwise, you should be good. If you're making your own phyto, it has almost a sweet smell when it's fresh. When it starts smelling even a little bit like rotten eggs, it's going bad. It's probably not completely bad at that point, but as long as you refrigerate it and give it a good shake every couple of days, it should be at least a month or two before it starts smelling bad.

wicked_NaCl_h2o · #5 05/28/2007, 08:53 AM

Yeah, it smells like rotten eggs to me, so I guess it went bad. I bought a smaller bottle from the LFS before this one. We thought because it is a bigger bottle is probably why it has a stronger smell. The smaller bottle didn't smell this bad so I guess they sold us a bad bottle of plankton. I'll bring it back to the LFS and let them take a whiff of this stuff. I am sure they'll make things right. Yeah I have DT's live marine phytoplankton. This stuff doesn't smell sweet at all.

Ding2daDong · #6 05/28/2007, 09:57 AM

I would order the next batch of phytoplankton from ebay. It lasts a while and never has a bad smell like DT's.

-Matthew

jpitts101 · #7 06/15/2007, 09:19 PM

if you order from e-bay be sure you know what you are getting. there are alot of ways to culture and some arent as good as others. for example the fertilizer used and if the culture has reached maximim density. you also want to know what culture you are getting and if its right for your aquarium. I culture Tetraselmis, Nanno, Phaeodactylum tricornutum, and im attempting rodomanas but isnt looking good. Ask what kind of fertilizer they use and the density of the cultures. One of the main reasons the e-bay cultures dont stink like DT's is being that they are not concentrated/extracted.

ZooZ · #8 06/15/2007, 11:35 PM

hey i have been culturing nanno also but where can i find those other types of phyto?? any special needs for the other types?

Quote:

Originally posted by jpitts101
if you order from e-bay be sure you know what you are getting. there are alot of ways to culture and some arent as good as others. for example the fertilizer used and if the culture has reached maximim density. you also want to know what culture you are getting and if its right for your aquarium. I culture Tetraselmis, Nanno, Phaeodactylum tricornutum, and im attempting rodomanas but isnt looking good. Ask what kind of fertilizer they use and the density of the cultures. One of the main reasons the e-bay cultures dont stink like DT's is being that they are not concentrated/extracted.

jpitts101 · #9 06/16/2007, 10:03 AM

the needs for the other phyto's are pretty much the same with an exception of the nanno being more forgiving as far as temp and sg. I've gotten all my phyto from "live phyto plankton . com" all one word. they are out of stock alot but what they have is next to none and the prices are great too.