How to avoid Phytoplankton crashes

Yup, recipe two is what I am using. The crash always occurs right away. I am thinking it has to be bleach residue. I didn't clean the first batch beaker with bleach.
The last post above was written during a minute of total frustration after coming home from work to find another crashed culture.
One more try!
 
Well after reading your post I forgot what I was gonna ask.
Ummm PrivateJoker64 You might have a dead culture to begin with, or maybe your not filtering the air before it enters the media.
Okey What should I use to keep the fertilizer at PH 3 - 4. This will keep it safe from containanation.
 
Nope, I am using an existing live culture in another beaker as the starter. I am also uing the filter described in an above post for beermaking.
 
Thank you all for the useful discussion and information!

I started my own culture 7 days ago using Mark's Recipe II. Since DTs is so expensive I started with the 1/2 L bottle of DTs and cured it in a 1L plastic soda bottle. I used 1/2 the measurments in the recipe and it seems to have worked.

I couldn't find the Miracle-Gro "Liquid" All Purpose Plant Food so I am using the Miracle-Gro "Water Soluble" All Purpose Plant Food. The water soluble fertilizer has slightly higher concentrations and indicates a slight concentration of water soluble copper (0.07%). It is possible that the liquid formula contains copper but isn't listed on the bottle.

Today I poured the 1L culture into a 2L plastic soda container and added the full quantities listed in Recipe II. If all goes well I will continue to split the culture using 2L plastic containers.

I am hesitant in using bleach to clean the containers b/c of the potential for trace residual in the bottles. Instead I rinse the bottles with hot water and use an anti-bacterial dish soap.

Questions:
1. Any thoughts on using a small plastic air diffuser to increase air surface area?

2. Mark, I saw a link to a Microalgae Density Stick Calibration Table... Can you buy the density stick online or possibly make one at home?

3. What are the concerns with using DTs to start the culture?
 
I bought the density stick from Florida Aqua Farms, an online vendor.

I don't see the need for an airstone at all. When I split the cultures, I'll use a new toothpick to clean out the end of the rigid tubing to remove the algae within it that is obstructing the hole.

I just split my batch a week ago, and today it looks ready to split again. The nice thing is that it doesn't crash if I leave it unattended for three weeks or longer. I do shake or twist the bottles once a day to get the stuff in the base of the bottle's feet back into suspension.

There's no reason to worry about using DT's Live Phytoplankton to start your cultures.
 
I agree on not needing an airstone for algae culture Marc. Oxygen is not a problem for plants so air flow is only to keep things stirred.

As to using bleach for sanitizing culture ware. I think it is much better than using dishwashing detergents which often contain a quaternary ammonia antibacterial agent. It can be hard to rinse off. Bleach on the other hand leaves almost no residue and, especially if allowed to air dry after rinsing, should not impede culture growth.
 
Since my last post I have successfully cultured enough phytoplankton to use in my tank as well as provide excess to some friends.

I'm concerned that my phytoplankton may contain excess nutrients. I'd like to reduce the chance for 'bacteria blooms' in my tank by monitoring the nutrient levels of my plankton. An earlier response in this thread recommends an organic test kit, PO4 and NO3 monitoring. Can anyone expand on how they monitor/remove excess nutrients? Thanks.
 
Ive been running the same culture for 2 months now , I use a contiuious method where there is alwasy phyto be doese to the tank and then tank water replacing the water in the phyto reactor .
Everythis is diy and ans been running great for 2 months on the same culture . If anyones intested i will post pics and more info .
 
I don't see how that would be a benefit. Any light is fine, even common shop lights. One guy in our club has those small $7 fluorescents that mount under the kitchen cabinets that light up the countertops. He mounted four of them inside an icechest to light the phyto from four sides, and is growing 2g at a time in a huge jug like I do. He says it grows so much faster now.

2g_phyto_0319.jpg
 
UVB isn't used for photosynthesis, so it won't matter. Like Marc says, common shoplights will work fine. That said I like using the phillips daylight bulbs as they produce more lux than the common cool whites.
 
Depends on the temperature requirements of the particular phyto. Most of the ones commonly in use do best from the mid 60's to the mid 70's.
 
i have never had a culture crash... iv had them contaminated with rotifers and suddenly have billions of rotifers... and guess what? the rotifers died out and my phytoplankton came back.
i use the 2-3 gal tubs that i get from sams club (cheese puffs) and grow the phyto in a greenhouse. i have agressive bubbling and have not split my current culture in the last 4 months. it is really dense, and i often add tons of brine shrimp to grow up and feed my fish with. i use tank water without treating it in any way, im just to cheap to use new salt water. for me, when the sides of the container are covered in turf algae, i just syphon the phyto into a steril tub and bleach the dirty one. the last time i did this, i had thousands of pods and lots of adult brine shrimp which i dumped into my reef (all my fish had big bellys).

here is a picture of my tub, next month ill start 4 cultures along with rotifers.
phytoculture.jpg

and to give an idea how thick it is.
greenwaterside.jpg
 
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