How to avoid Phytoplankton crashes

[flashpanther]

What's the upto date verdict on using Miracle-Gro to help cultivate PhytoPlankton please?

I see the bottle states 0.002% Copper soluble in water chelated by EDTA.

Is this really safe?

Please can someone clear this up... I have the bottle ready to use but very nervous about doing so.

Anyone use Miracle-Gro in the past have any problems with their corals and inverts as a result?

Cheers guys and girls :wave:

 

[billsreef]

What's the upto date verdict on using Miracle-Gro to help cultivate PhytoPlankton please?

While it will grow phytoplankton, it will grow nutritionally lacking phyto due to a lack of some necessary vitamins and minerals. By the time you make the necessary adjustments, you will have spent more money, and more time and effort than simply buying some proper Guillards f/2 media from someplace like Florida Aqua Farms. As for the copper, it's actually a necessary element for phyto growth, though at a lower percentage.

 

[flashpanther]

While it will grow phytoplankton, it will grow nutritionally lacking phyto due to a lack of some necessary vitamins and minerals. By the time you make the necessary adjustments, you will have spent more money, and more time and effort than simply buying some proper Guillards f/2 media from someplace like Florida Aqua Farms. As for the copper, it's actually a necessary element for phyto growth, though at a lower percentage.

I am actually using Kent Marine Essential Elements with the Cultures. Is this enough to aid the Miracle-Gro ?

I also have some Brightwelll Aquatics vitamin supplements that I can consider using if helpful ?

So the copper content in Miracle-Gro all purpose liquid food is not a concern for Reef owners such as myself with a tank of corals and inverts?


Help is greatly appreciated :dance:

 

[billsreef]

The Kent Essential Elements contains additional copper and zinc, both of which are already in the Miracle Grow in abundance. I wouldn't want to be adding any extra. BTW, all the elements, with the exception of Iron, found in any of the trace element supplements are already found in our SW mixes in over abundance and not needed for use in our tanks Of the Brightwell stuff, only the Vitamarin-M appears to be useful for this purpose. However, that one little 500ml bottle cost more than a dry mix "mass pack" of Guillards sufficient to make 3,000 gallons of culture

https://3kserver7.com/~frank/secure...74.26297*i-0Ok5&product=MICRO_MACRO_NUTRIENTS

Miracle Grow just isn't cost effective when you compare it to the proper nutrient media from a good and direct source

 

[flashpanther]

The Kent Essential Elements contains additional copper and zinc, both of which are already in the Miracle Grow in abundance. I wouldn't want to be adding any extra. BTW, all the elements, with the exception of Iron, found in any of the trace element supplements are already found in our SW mixes in over abundance and not needed for use in our tanks Of the Brightwell stuff, only the Vitamarin-M appears to be useful for this purpose. However, that one little 500ml bottle cost more than a dry mix "mass pack" of Guillards sufficient to make 3,000 gallons of culture

https://3kserver7.com/~frank/secure...74.26297*i-0Ok5&product=MICRO_MACRO_NUTRIENTS

Miracle Grow just isn't cost effective when you compare it to the proper nutrient media from a good and direct source

Cheers for all the help. I was going by Melevsreef old recipe from his website as turned up good results. Hence using the Essential Elements and purcasing the Miracle-Gro (not used as yet).

I'm using a little tap water in my mix rather than just RO/saltwater and certainly helped my second batch as first on pure RO/saltwater crashed totally (first ever try).

I only used a third tap water as 450 TDS.

As for the F2 formula I am from the United Kingdom as unable to find a supplier. Would be very expensive if I did (£16 for 175ml). I managed to find a retailer with a recipe based on the F2 an purchased to give a try. Cost me £12 for just 250ml though :bigeyes:

I got the Brightwell Aquatics Vitamin-M (& C) cheap from clearance stock from a shop shut down so already in possesion to use maybe?

 

[billsreef]

Since you already have the vitamins cheap, might was play around with them

When you run out, it's probably worth contacting Florida Aqua Farms, they supply Aquaculturist as well has hobbyist and would likely ship to the UK. Not sure what shipping rates would be, but the stuff can go the cheapest method, so likely not too bad.

 

[flashpanther]

Since you already have the vitamins cheap, might was play around with them

When you run out, it's probably worth contacting Florida Aqua Farms, they supply Aquaculturist as well has hobbyist and would likely ship to the UK. Not sure what shipping rates would be, but the stuff can go the cheapest method, so likely not too bad.

Cheers Bill,

Thanks for all the help. I'll be sure to get a shipping quote from them as US prices are heck of a lot cheaper than the outrageous prices a UK supplier is quoting.

Andy.

 

[erics3000]

What is the new reciepe without the miracle grow?

 

[rayjay]

Use 1ml of F/2 for each 2.5L of culture.
I get the mass pack shipped into Canada from Florida Aqua Farms.

 

[erics3000]

Thanks Rayjay I have been wanting to do something like this for a while now. I also had a couple thoughts to try it outside and use some natural sunlight. I think that might be after I have a few successful batches. So for now I will just make room on my reactor bench.

I found this link. I think that would be cool but not sure about cleaning it out regularly.
Anybody ever tried anything like this?

http://translate.google.com/transla...hiv.korallenriff.de/reaktoren.html&hl=en&sa=G

 

[rayjay]

It may be cool, but based on my experience in raising brine shrimp, it's not practical.
Trying to raise brine so that they reproduce is not a problem but to be able to have any meaningful harvest density you would need an awful large system.
Another problem I see is that I like my nannochloropsis to get to 3.5cm on the density stick, but, when I occasionally get the brine culture too dense with nanno and the nanno in the brine culture gets darker and more dense, the density of the BRINE SHRIMP culture now gets to be less.
I believe it's probably an oxygen problem and the nanno wins out in competing for oxygen.
Growing nanno is easy and growing brine shrimp is not difficult, only labour intensive for any meaningful culture densities. I grow my brine shrimp in 26g garbage containers and the nanno in Instant Ocean pails.

 

[erics3000]

Do you have any pics of your setups?

 

[rayjay]

MY PHYTO PAGE
MY BRINE SHRIMP PAGE

 

[erics3000]

Holy Moly after looking through your site now I understood the need for all that phyto and shrimp. Looks like you ave very good luck raising your sea horses. Thanks for the links

 

[erics3000]

How often do you feed you tank?

 

[zeeter]

Ok, this is 11 pages long so I'm not going to read the whole thing. I read a brilliant page by someone whose name I couldn't find about raising phyto and have begun my culture. That page referenced this thread.

Today is my 7th day, but due to lack of full lighting I'm going to let my cultures sit a couple more days before splitting them.

At the same time I began a rotifer culture. After much apprehension it appears to be running smoothly. I just harvested some today and poured them into my reef tank. No word yet from the corals as to their satisfaction with them, but I'll keep asking.

So my understanding is that after a week or so I should split the culture (assuming it looks a healthy dark green color), add more culture water to the original and feed it again. The split should go into the refrigerator to, in my case, feed my rotifers as needed. Should I be adding culture water to the split or just to the source?

 

[henrystyle]

Got a question for who ever knows.
Do you have to add more fertilizer every time you split the culture?
Or just more tap salt water, salinity1.019?

 

[NirvanaFan]

you have to add more fertilizer. The phyto uses it up.

 

[henrystyle]

you have to add more fertilizer. The phyto uses it up.

Cool, thanks

 

[henrystyle]

How do you know if your phyto is potent? I left mine for 2 weeks before I split it. Was trying to get it greener but it wasn't happening.
This is what it looked like. Any good?