Isochrysis Galbana algae culture

[ronzxcvb]

Isochrysis Galbana
Has anyone cultured this ?
http://www.aquacave.com/phyto-2--live-phytoplanktonbr-isochrysis-galbana--2660.html
If so does it smell real bad ?
Is it a lot harder to culture than Nannochloropsis Oculata Or Tetraselmis Chuii
I was thinking about just using Nannochloropsis Oculata
But it looked like Isochrysis Galbana might be a better algae to use for copepods

I don't have much experience culturing algae
or luck keeping one going
So any help would be appreciated

 

[JHemdal]

We've been culturing this for about 8 months. I don't notice any specific odor unless I put my nose right up to the culture vessel. It is definately harder to culture than Nannochloropsis, but the benefits are well worth it. We use it as food for rotifers and copepods. It has allowed us much better success in rearing marine larva than we have ever had before - like 100% survivorship on a batch of clownfish after 2 day post hatch, and getting a boarfish larva up to day 26 (where are previous record with Nanno was 18 days).

Jay

 

[billsreef]

Iso is the gold standard in culture. It does require a bit more attention to sanitation of culture vessels and keeping on top of splitting cultures as they mature. Nano is forgiving of a lot of little mistakes (slopiness) in culture, Iso isn't. But it's still not hard to culture. If you want to seriously get into culturing, pick up a copy of Frank Hoff's Plankton Culture Manual. Lots of great info in that book on growing phyto, pods, and all sorts of other stuff. Oh yeah, I don't notice any particular smell from my Iso cultures either

 

[CLINTOS]

We've been culturing this for about 8 months. I don't notice any specific odor unless I put my nose right up to the culture vessel. It is definately harder to culture than Nannochloropsis, but the benefits are well worth it. We use it as food for rotifers and copepods. It has allowed us much better success in rearing marine larva than we have ever had before - like 100% survivorship on a batch of clownfish after 2 day post hatch, and getting a boarfish larva up to day 26 (where are previous record with Nanno was 18 days).

Jay

Was wondering the benefits over nano is it only carbs or size or mobility etc?

any info on epa and dha vs nano?

thanks

 

[ronzxcvb]

hey thanks for the info
im going try to culture iso in 2 liters bottels how many could i start from a 16 oz bottle
( going to look for the book tomarow )

 

[billsreef]

Was wondering the benefits over nano is it only carbs or size or mobility etc?

any info on epa and dha vs nano?

thanks

I don't have the numbers in front of me at the moment, but Iso does have a much better lipid profile than the nano. Size wise they are very close.

 

[billsreef]

hey thanks for the info
im going try to culture iso in 2 liters bottels how many could i start from a 16 oz bottle
( going to look for the book tomarow )

What I would do is take that 16 oz bottle and use it to inoculate several subcultures of around 100ml's each. It's generally recommended to run 3 subcultures for each large culture you plan on starting. One subculture is to inoculate the larger culture, another to inoculate another set of subcultures, and the third is a back up in case of a crash in the subcultures. The subcultures are run without aeration, so chances for contamination are minimal, making these your primary stock to start cultures from and maintain a strain of clean Iso. The big trick with those bottles you linked to will be how viable and clean they really are. You might be better off using starter liquid culture from one of the aquaculture supply houses like Florida Aqua Farms, or finding someone locally culturing it.

 

[GreshamH]

I don't have the numbers in front of me at the moment, but Iso does have a much better lipid profile than the nano. Size wise they are very close.

What's "nano"... surely you mean Nanno

Just busting your balls Bill

I just looked for those numbers and my current file is corrupted so I requested a new one from our on staff phycologist. I should have the profiles posted later today

 

[billsreef]

:lol:

 

[ronzxcvb]

couldn't find anyone locally so I ordered the iso already
I emailed them and they said it was for starting cultures
Should be here on Thursday
Could find the book either so going to order one
Doing this a little backwards should of got the book first

Would the sub cultures be started with 2 liter bottles by just adding 100 ml of iso and 5 ml o fertilizer caped shaken daily 16 hours of light ?
Also for fertilizer I have an old bottle of marine algae nutrient
nitrogen 1.0% phosphorus 0.8% potash 3.0% would this be good
Otherwise I was going to use miracle grow

How does this sound for a plan
I sterilized 3 2 ltr bottles 8-10 drops of bleach rinsed then dechlorinated
Have water mixing now will sterilize tomorrow and leave caped until Thursday when needed
Add 100ml iso & 5 ml fertilizer cap put bottles in 5 g bucket with a screw type cf plant grow bulb on timer for16 hours a day
Shake daily and wait until there a nice brown then split again
3-4 weeks ?

Remaining 200 ml will put in a 1 liter soda bottle 2-3 ml of fertilizer with airline set for a rolling boil

Does this sound good or do I have something wrong

 

[billsreef]

For the sub cultures, small 16 oz soda bottles work well with a little filter floss stuck in the mouth to prevent anything from getting in. Your sterilization should work well.

What brand and exact name is that bottle of nutrient? BTW, while Miracle Grow will grow phyto, it will not cause the phyto to be adequate from a nutrition standpoint of feeding other critters with it. It's lacking in the vitamins and a few other areas to be ideal for phyto culturing. What you really want is modified Guillard's F/2 nutrient. It's designed around culturing phyto for use as a food source in culturing fish and shellfish, complete with all the needed nutrients and vitamins. It's not very expensive either. If your going to be culturing a fair amount, you can buy what's marketed as a "mass pack", the dry ingredients to mix your own DIY fashion for less than what the Miracle Grow would cost you to culture the same amount of phyto Best price on it is from Florida Aqua Farms, as they produce it. They also typically have the best price on Hoff's book, as he owns the company.

 

[ronzxcvb]

nutrient = marine enterprises international
its for macroalgae

 

[billsreef]

It's not going to have enough of the major nutrients to culture phyto, as it's meant as a supplement to be used in tanks with critters that are producing the bulk of the nitrogen and phosphorus needs.

 

[ronzxcvb]

I think I might be ready to split the first culture
Its in a 2 liter bottle cant see through it
It’s darker than tea but not a chocolate brown (a little darker than 0 ppm ammonia on api test kit )
don’t want to wait too long and let it crash
How dark should it be before I split it ?
What is more forgiving to split sooner or later than at the optimal time ?
Until I figure out when that is

 

[billsreef]

It's more forgiving to split a little early.

 

[ronzxcvb]

It's more forgiving to split a little early.

thanks that is what I thought
but wasn't sure

 

[Sig45]

Iso is a great algae but has a tendency to crash quickly. It must be harvested as soon as it becomes dark brown. Using 1/2 the amt of F/2 fertilizer will give you slower growth and buy time between harvests. Not a beginner algae.

 

[herozero]

For the sub cultures, small 16 oz soda bottles work well with a little filter floss stuck in the mouth to prevent anything from getting in. Your sterilization should work well.

What brand and exact name is that bottle of nutrient? BTW, while Miracle Grow will grow phyto, it will not cause the phyto to be adequate from a nutrition standpoint of feeding other critters with it. It's lacking in the vitamins and a few other areas to be ideal for phyto culturing. What you really want is modified Guillard's F/2 nutrient. It's designed around culturing phyto for use as a food source in culturing fish and shellfish, complete with all the needed nutrients and vitamins. It's not very expensive either. If your going to be culturing a fair amount, you can buy what's marketed as a "mass pack", the dry ingredients to mix your own DIY fashion for less than what the Miracle Grow would cost you to culture the same amount of phyto Best price on it is from Florida Aqua Farms, as they produce it. They also typically have the best price on Hoff's book, as he owns the company.

any chance you could clarify the "with" and "with out" variations on the mass packs?

 

[billsreef]

any chance you could clarify the "with" and "with out" variations on the mass packs?

If your looking at what I'm thinking, some are "with" silicate for use in culturing diatoms, and the "with out" is with out silicate which is fine for things like nano and Iso

 

[Maksimsf]

Bumping old thread, but...Iso is the best supplemental phyto cuz of high DHA:EPA ratio, but ISo is very picky Phyto strain, I culture it to supplement my Tetraselmis for rotifers and tigropius pods....I think it's a best combo you can grow at home unless you can grow 6 different strains of different phytoplankton