Culturing your own Phytoplankton

[Anthony Calfo]

it doesn't matter where its growing, but yes... if Caulerpa is not systematically "thinned" then there will be problems in time. Mind you, it is the old-growth Caulerpa that needs to be specifically "thinned" out (removing whole strands) and not pruned or cut... to stave off catastrophic events of vegetative fission or sexual reproduction and minimize the exudation of breaks in these single celled algae.

That all said, lets not get off track here, my friends. This is a phyto thread. Any OT subjects warrant a keyword search of the archives, and a new/seperate thread made if necessary.

kindly,

Anthony

 

[Worldwithin]

Thanks for the clarification..

:fish1::hammer:

 

[moumda]

Great thread Anthony! Do you see any problems over time with the metals used in f2 fertiziler in a sps tank? I do weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) water changes in a system of about 160 gallons total. Skim heavy with an Euroreef cs5-2 and an Aqua-c EV-180. The only reason I ask is it was talked about at the last IMac. Thanks in advance.

 

[spawner]

Shane,

Under a good scope at 100 - 400X you can see ciliates and flagellates, 1000X oil gets down to the cell level for looking at the health of the algae , heterotrophic plates to test for bacteria and TCBS plates to look for Vibrio.

 

[Anthony Calfo]

Moumda/all... I really do not see trace metals from f2 being an sigificant issue if any concern at all. I'm not saying that they won't accumulate to levels potentially (likely in some cases) higher than avg NSW, but rather that compared to the possibility of importing and accumulating the same or similar elements from source waters (tap water or inevitably degrading RO water as membrane ages, breaches, etc), foods, or other contaminants (via low grade reagents of various supplements used, etc)... the issue overall is moot.

With good average husbandry that includes regular water exchanges and (hopefully) some chemical filtration (I do love resin pads like Poly-Bio Marine Poly-filters and the like), my opinion is that trace metals via f2 will be a trace concern at best. No worries.

 

[Anthony Calfo]

not much here... but scavenging some info/links on:

what makes some algae smelly:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=703027
(11/14/2005 02:57 AM post... thanks to Randy for the info)

and

refridgerating phyto:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=625783

 

[Anthony Calfo]

Darn... had a thought to dig through archives I could have answered the live vs non-viable query earlier:

http://web.archive.org/web/20041009161827/instantalgae.com/livealgae.asp

and interesting tips/info on feeding rotifers:

http://web.archive.org/web/20041010142523/rotifer.reed-mariculture.com/recipe.asp

 

[Triterium]

I just got some cultures from Algagen. They appear very pure and healthy. It is the only place ive found that has cheap, pure cultures of some of the harder-to-find species. They also have a cool copepod (acartia i think) for raising fry.

There is also the Provasoli-Guillart National Center for Culture of Marine Phytoplanton (http://ccmp.bigelow.org/). They have axenic cultures but are a lot more money.

Ive bought cultures from florida aqua farms many times but they only have a few species. Their cultures are cheap and ive always had good success with them.

 

[Seahorsewisprer]

I have a few cultures from Algagen. I love their stuff! I had their Red rhodomonas growing for quite a while last winter. From what I read, it is high in fatty acids..

But, for those who don't want to grow their own, they also have a product called "Phycopure" that is 8 (I think) different live phytos?

 

[Rod Buehler]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6216902#post6216902 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Anthony Calfo
not much here... but scavenging some info/links on:

what makes some algae smelly:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=703027
(11/14/2005 02:57 AM post... thanks to Randy for the info)

and

refridgerating phyto:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=625783

here is another from Mr Tagrin

http://www.dtplankton.com/phytoplankton/mgw2/main.html

 

[Atticus]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6243668#post6243668 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Anthony Calfo
Darn... had a thought to dig through archives I could have answered the live vs non-viable query earlier:

http://web.archive.org/web/20041009161827/instantalgae.com/livealgae.asp

I don't really believe this one....

Without attacking the whole article. Dead cells have been shown to clump and I am sure his frozen product is no different. Live cells will also clump if not properly aerated and allowed to settle to the bottom of a culture vessel. Instant Algae is a wonderful product. I just wish the false claims and embelishment would stop, as they only damage the reputation of the product.

 

[spawner]

Rod,

I would suggest that you post this in Reeds commerical section (sponsor's forum Reef nutrition), Anthony is no longer on the board and I would think now that he is not a mod, they will shut this thread down when you guys start going at it again. There is useful information in the thread for the average hobbyist, and I would hate to see it shut down because of mud slinging that will for sure begin again.

 

[shred5]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6837926#post6837926 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by spawner
Rod,

I would suggest that you post this in Reeds commerical section (sponsor's forum Reef nutrition), Anthony is no longer on the board and I would think now that he is not a mod, they will shut this thread down when you guys start going at it again. There is useful information in the thread for the average hobbyist, and I would hate to see it shut down because of mud slinging that will for sure begin again.

Hi Andy

What happened? Why is Anthony not doing this forum anymore?
Sorry I have not been keeping up much on stuff lately...


Dave

 

[graveyardworm]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6837955#post6837955 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shred5
Hi Andy

What happened? Why is Anthony not doing this forum anymore?
Sorry I have not been keeping up much on stuff lately...


Dave

Anthony is still around, just posting when and where he feels like it, I think he as well as some of the other experts wanted a break from all the controversy after some threads got out of control during their Xmas vacations. I've noticed alot of members have been "moved on" since that time.

I think threads like this should keep going as there is alot of useful information here and certainly more to be gained, but at the same time I think spawner is correct and questions regarding the validity of product statements should first go to the sponsers forum if one exists.

 

[shred5]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6839450#post6839450 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by graveyardworm
Anthony is still around, just posting when and where he feels like it, I think he as well as some of the other experts wanted a break from all the controversy after some threads got out of control during their Xmas vacations. I've noticed alot of members have been "moved on" since that time.

I think threads like this should keep going as there is alot of useful information here and certainly more to be gained, but at the same time I think spawner is correct and questions regarding the validity of product statements should first go to the sponsers forum if one exists.

I noticed Ron and Eric look to have left too.... what happened.. Pm me I dont want to hijak this thread to much.. I have not been around much lately....

 

[DrBDC]

This would be the place to debate these items. If you have a direct question, you can ask in their forum but to debate in their forum might not be the correct place. Debate is good. Attacks will get a thread closed. i.e. if someone comes on here and says "Brand X is a bottle of sewer water". That would still be allowed if you would add "because on XYZ cell analysis I came up with e. coli, etc." Just no unfounded attacking. Really the same with any threads.

 

[spawner]

I am not saying that this is not a good place to discuss something, but these things tend to get very heated and Anthony is not here on a daily basis to put out flames and such. I just don't want to see the mods kill a useful thread.