How to avoid Phytoplankton crashes

the FAF stuff is fine, the age and storage is good so id say you have either a source issue, contamination issue or a measuring issue or an environment issue

clear is good, well its bad but its good, yellowish is bad, ill assume you cant see anything floating in the clear stuff.

i can never find my temp conversion tables it always takes me forever to figure out where I left them. 79F is the highest you should go. at that temp you probibly are over growing the algae, you could lower the temp a little or change your culture technique :D ill assume that you dont need lots of algae so id just lower the temps to something like 75
 
Man, I have crashed three cultures in the last two months, so I feel your pain, man. I wish I could figure out what the problem is, because I have been extremely anal about doing everything just right.

Hopefully we both can figure it out....
 
You guys should really try this: I have three bottles. I empty one completely and then wash it with hot tap water. Then I empty one of the remaining two jugs into this freshly washed jug. Now wash this second jug with hot tap water. Now pour back into the second bottle 1/2 of the green water you just poured into the first bottle. I also was having crashes all the time until I started this routine. Since then I have not had a crash.
 
melev said:
You'd think I'd take a picture of a dead bottle!
Click to expand...

:lol: Now that will be 142 items identified by pictures. :D

Marc. just a thought. It may be that the RO/DI unit itself may be harboring a bacteria pathogenic to the culture. DI resins are known breeding grounds for bacteria. I'd try boiling it in a glass pot before using it.

I see several people use a microwave to sterilize their culture equipment. That works really well for non-metallic things like bottles and tubing. After cleaning and rinsing let it air dry and zap it in the microwave. On dry materials only about 2-3 minutes is needed.

Oh, by the way; my gallons only hold 3.785 liters of solution but then again I'm weird. :hmm6:
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I've been ignoring my phyto station for the past 10 days, although I bought a bottle of DTs to start a whole new batch.

Using tap water was the general consensus, so would boiling it really be the right idea? Won't I lose some of the nitrate and phosphates commonly found in tap water?

And where the heck is Anthony in this thread? :rolleyes: :)
 
microwaveing doesnt require bringing it to a boil, the microwave itself breaks down contaminants faster than the heat, like UV on steroids. might stick away from dt's if its possible its a mix now, it just means more issues. microwaving and boiling wont effect nitrate/phosphates or most other goodies. it just kills things.
 
Well, I need to start with something as I'm totally out, and numerous people have stated they started their cultures with DTs... What's the worst that can happen -- it'll crash? ;)
 
I have not tried to start a culture with dts, but I am fairly certain you can start with it, but it will become a monoculture.

How big of a deal is over-fertilizing? Could a few drops extra make that big of a difference?
 
DTs... What's the worst that can happen -- it'll crash?
yep thatll be the worst thing, the reason I said you might stay away from it, instead of saying you cant, but there is a chance YOU cant :D but might be an equal chance one of the other algaes will take over, and YOU might be able to culture that.

you can buy a running culture from many ppl on RC cheap.

How big of a deal is over-fertilizing? Could a few drops extra make that big of a difference?
generally no, it could cause the culture to grow to fast
 
This might sound stupid to you that have been culturing for a long time...but how do u keep the temp of the bottles around 78-80 degrees....does having the light close enough to the bottles keep it warm?

I'm thinking of starting my own culture to feed my tank.

Are there visible differences in the "happiness" of your tank when you feed phyto, compared to when you don't. Also does feeding phyto and rotifiers go hand in hand...r rotifiers kinda like pods more or less? Thanx.

Marc
 
first off most algaes we grow intentionally dont do that well at 78-80F most do best between 70 and 74

as for how to keep them that way, an easy way is to put your bottles in a tank with a heater, but its anoying so adjusting the distance from lights and stuff works good also :D

rotifers are small plantonic inverts they use phyto plankton for food, many corals eat rotifers, phyto also gives food to copepods, amphipods ciliates all of which corals and fish eat
 
Reviving the thread.

Reviving the thread.

I have doubts about using tap water. My house is plumbed with copper pipe, as so many are. Can the copper become an issue in the tank?
 
that article doesnt really apply to this as much as inverts, the issue is that algaes use copper, whats missing is how much copper can they use vs how much do you have, and how much does your fertilizer have. any more and you get copper in your water, and not enough means unreliable results its one reason to always use specifically prepared fertalizers
 
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