Phytoplankton Bright Green

[emilypres]

Hi all,
I have had some success and some failure in growing my own phytoplankton. I use DT's phyto and add Miracle Grow to it along with saltwater and air to create phyto. My latest batch is not turning the dark green I remembered, but its a very bright almost neon green, maybe a little darker than neon green. Anyone ever seen this? I will take some pics when i get home today.

Thanks,
Dale

 

[billsreef]

Bright neon green sounds like a cyano got going instead of nano.

BTW it's worth ditching the Miracle Grow and getting some proper phyto nutrients. The Miracle Grow is high in both copper and zinc, and totally lacking vitamins. A proper Guillards media isn't any more expensive than Miracle Grow, and will yield a nutritionally superior phytoplankton.

 

[alexander_ktn]

I agree with Bill. You wouldn't add Miracle Grow to your tank directly either. Heavy metal accumulation is one of the common problems in reef tanks if you believe RHF and others and fertilizers not optimized for culturing phytoplankton might do harm over the long run.

As for the color: it might also be a zooplankton infestation that is "sublethal" - I mean one that is just doing enough harm that you notice a change in color but not enough to make the culture crash completely.

Edit: I have seen this issue myself and confirmed it with a microscope. So if you have access to such an instrument you could find out easily. Fast moving cells, slightly larger than the algae cells are typical for this.

 

[JP Reef]

Miracle-Gro Liquid All purpose plant food 12-4-8 has no copper in it and has about 523ppm Zinc or 0.05%. Hardly toxic.

 

[gnu]

How long have you had it going for?

 

[billsreef]

Miracle-Gro Liquid All purpose plant food 12-4-8 has no copper in it and has about 523ppm Zinc or 0.05%. Hardly toxic.

Still missing the vitamins.