Ok guys i am wanting to set up a tank to raise some phytoplanton. What all am i going to need. I have a bunch of tanks laying around so what would be a good size? I also have a uv sterlizer laying around that i have been meaning to use but just haven't hooked up. I was thinking about drilling drilling one of the tanks lying around and hooking it up to another tank. Just looking for some input on how i should do this and where i can buy phyto cultures. Would i need the UV to kill all of the micro organisms that would eat the phyto? Any help would be greatly appreciated. ben
phyto
- Thread starter Chemguy85
- Start date
CaptainDave
New member
i think there's a good chance the UV would kill the phyto too....but i'm not positive.
HOC
Premium Member
Ya, UV will kill the phyto.
You need absolute sterile conditions for phyto or it gets contaminated. One of the best ways to keep that from happening is to use 2 liter cola bottles and change them out every three times you harvest the culture. Also if you do rotifers you have to be very careful as they get into the phyto easily. Florida Aqua Farms sells the cultures and comes in a kit with everything you need. I recommend them and the kit as it comes with a book that tells you how to culture just about anything.
I just purchased some myself and was getting ready to get back into this. I'm going to give the PVC frame that holds plastic bags a try as a culture vessel and see how that works in place of the cola bottles.
You need absolute sterile conditions for phyto or it gets contaminated. One of the best ways to keep that from happening is to use 2 liter cola bottles and change them out every three times you harvest the culture. Also if you do rotifers you have to be very careful as they get into the phyto easily. Florida Aqua Farms sells the cultures and comes in a kit with everything you need. I recommend them and the kit as it comes with a book that tells you how to culture just about anything.
I just purchased some myself and was getting ready to get back into this. I'm going to give the PVC frame that holds plastic bags a try as a culture vessel and see how that works in place of the cola bottles.
manderx
New member
yeah, 2 different ways to do the phyto. one is the '2-liter bottle' where you make a batch of sterile water and innoculate it with phyto and add some fertilizer. add some bubbles and light and the water turns green after a few days and you dose it to your tank.
another way (that you may be thinking of since you mentioned the UV) is to setup a tank that is plumbed into your display and have water very slowly flow through the UV (and hopefully get fully sterilized), into a phyto culturing tank, then dripping back into the display. in theory, the phyto uses nutrients in the tankwater, so you don't have to add fertilizer. either a continuous drip or use a timer to send batches of water through it. there have been a few articles written about this method, and it sounds like it would work but you don't hear much about it otherwise, which makes me think it doesn't really work too well in the real world. if you do try this, make sure your UV doesn't need a certain GPH going through it to keep it cool.
another way (that you may be thinking of since you mentioned the UV) is to setup a tank that is plumbed into your display and have water very slowly flow through the UV (and hopefully get fully sterilized), into a phyto culturing tank, then dripping back into the display. in theory, the phyto uses nutrients in the tankwater, so you don't have to add fertilizer. either a continuous drip or use a timer to send batches of water through it. there have been a few articles written about this method, and it sounds like it would work but you don't hear much about it otherwise, which makes me think it doesn't really work too well in the real world. if you do try this, make sure your UV doesn't need a certain GPH going through it to keep it cool.
manderx
New member
you would pump water through the uv to the culture tank, and then gravity feed back to the sump or display. the tank size would depend on the flow rate and how fast the phyto reproduces for you (if at all), so really hard to say. so i woulnd't sink much money into it till you experiment a little first. for example, run some tankwater through your UV really slow by hand, like a drop per second (check the UV manual to see if this is OK) then innoculate with a starter culture, let it go in a 2-liter bottle or whatever just as if you were doing the 'regular' method (just without fertilizer and using sterilzed tankwater rather than new water). i wouldn't expect the water to turn very green at all before it uses up all the nutrients, you might need to use a microscope just to tell if they are reproducing at all.
if it does work, i would probably use an aqualifter as the feed pump. and probably put it on a timer at first.
if this does work for you, then you can get super-cool and have the phyto water drip into a rotifer tank, then into your display.
if it does work, i would probably use an aqualifter as the feed pump. and probably put it on a timer at first.
if this does work for you, then you can get super-cool and have the phyto water drip into a rotifer tank, then into your display.
