Cultivating Phytoplankton

[smaxson]

I am thinking about growing some phytoplankton for my corals. Does anyone have recommendations for the starter and food (fertilizer)? Is there anywhere locally to get these?

Thanks,
Steve

[!wrass!]

Got mine here. (http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/listings.subsections/sid/32) They have everything you need.

[Mr James]

Got all my stuff from FloridaAquaFarms.com.....

See here for my walk through culturing my own Phyto and Rotifers: http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=960390&highlight=phytoplankton

[fazgood]

I'm no expert but I have had phyto going for about 3 months and rotofers for about 2.

The phyto is the easiest. I started with DT's in a 1.019 salt water solution and rapid grow fertilizer. I use a couple of screw in CF 100W bulbs on an 18 hour cycle. I just bubble air from top to bottom and use christmas light rope lights on a dimmer to keep it at about 75 degrees. I add more fertilizer about once a week and the stuff seems to grow wild. I could give you a 2 liter bottle of the green stuff to start you out but I'm not sure if it's worth the drive.

Roto's are a bit more challenging. I have yet to master that but I can tell you that amonia is a killer.

Here is my setup right after I got it up and running. The phyto is quite a bit darker now.



http://faszl.com/Reef/Images/rotofers.JPG

Faz