My phyto (nannochloropsis) is not growing. It is not crashing, it is just not growing! I changed fertilizer to one that I got from Reed, and I'm using the recommended dose, so that should not matter, but I cannot figure this one out. Does a culture get too old to keep growing at some point?
phytoplankton on strike!
- Thread starter Kathy55g
- Start date
mwp
In Memoriam
Kathy, this answer may not be much help, but after reading all the info I could online as well as reading the Plankton Culture Manual, it seems that leeting a culture go into the "plateau" or "decline" phase makes it pretty difficult to get it restarted and back in the "log" phase growth that we're all looking for.
So yeah, although I'm DEFINITELY not anything even remotely close to experienced, I've kinda gotten the impression that they DO get too old if you don't split 'em frequently enough....hmmm.
I'd love a more definitive answer myself too!
Matt
So yeah, although I'm DEFINITELY not anything even remotely close to experienced, I've kinda gotten the impression that they DO get too old if you don't split 'em frequently enough....hmmm.
I'd love a more definitive answer myself too!
Matt
it is always opaque, but green. It doesn't crash. It just grows slowly if at all. My daughter is doing a science fair project around the fertilizer issue. I changed the bulbs in my shop light to new versions of the ones that worked well for me before. They are bubbling well.
It could be a low level bacteria, except that I use bleach to sterilize everything, unless the contaminant is in the fertilizer or the dechlorinator.
Still thinking.
It could be a low level bacteria, except that I use bleach to sterilize everything, unless the contaminant is in the fertilizer or the dechlorinator.
Still thinking.
The fertilizer probably isn't a likely source of contaminates, it is usually pH'd to about 4 to prevent contamination. It could be a buildup of metabolites...Every 1-2 months, it is a good idea to take a small aliquot and start a 20 ml culture and upscale again. Helps remove old cells, metabolites etc. But, in all likelyhood, I would say it is the fertilizer, not that it is worse, just that it is different. Cells like these often will stall for a while if there is a change, then go back to their normal behavior. I would try fertilizing a batch at half the recommended dose to allow them to adjust and turn on their appropriate biosynthesis pathways, then switch to normal strength. They actually typically grow better at lower fertilizer concentrations, they just won't reach the same final density.
HartfordWhalers
New member
it is always opaque, but green. It doesn't crash. It just grows slowly if at all. My daughter is doing a science fair project around the fertilizer issue. I changed the bulbs in my shop light to new versions of the ones that worked well for me before. They are bubbling well
tanglovers
New member
I am having a similar situation. I have included a picture and the numbers on each bottle represent the number of days old the culture is.
I was having issues with contamination with my phyto early on and am now sterilizing all the water I use with bleach and then dechorinating it.
Here is the story of where I am at now. I started this strain of culture from a nannochloropsis disk from FAF as they instructed. I grew this disk for 5 days when it seemed to no longer get any darker from day 4 to day 5. I then took this 2 liter bottle and split it into three 1/2 liter water bottles (and stored in fridge) and used a 1/2 liter to inoculate a new 2 liter bottle. The next day I started another bottle using one of the 1/2 liter water bottles to inoculate a new 2 liter bottle. The phyto does not get any darker after about day 4 with my setup.
Here is what I am doing for setup technique/supplies. I take a 2 liter bottle, fill it with 1.5 liters of saltwater mixed to 1.014 with SeaChem Reef Salt. I then add y t1 ml of bleach and my rigid airline tube that will later be hooked to the airline to supply the culture. I then cap and store the 2 liter bottle until it is needed. When it comes time to use it. I add 1.0 ml of dechlorinator plus about 5-6 extra drops of dechlorinator to make sure no bleach remains and shake and let the bottle sit for about 5 minutes. I then add in 1/2 liter of room temp phyto inoculate (previously harvested from started dish) and 20 drops of micro algae grow (liquid form), cap and invert a few timed to mix and attach rigid line to gang valve with flexible tubing. Also I have a cotton ball and cap with hole drilled in it at the top of each bottle that is being cultured to keep out as much outside air as possible. I have a good air bubble rate into the bottles - a slow rolling boil at the surface. On the output of my airpump I also am using a carbon filter to also aid in sterilization of air contaminants.
My questions are, the picture is fairly accurate for the color of my phyto. You can see bottles 4-7 are all the same color, 3 a titch lighter and then 1 and 2 significantly lighter. Everything I have read on hear tells me 7-10 days for nanno to mature....and the pics I ahve seen it is much darker then mine.
I am using 6500k bulbs, standard output on a dual bulb shop light. The bulbs are about a year old now. Do you think new bubls will do the trick? Did you find this helped you Kathy?
Any tips or suggestions are appreciated. I am growing this phyto to feed to rotifers (for clownfish larvae), pods to feed mandarins in reef tanks and to dose small amount of to reef tanks.
Thanks,
Scott
I was having issues with contamination with my phyto early on and am now sterilizing all the water I use with bleach and then dechorinating it.
Here is the story of where I am at now. I started this strain of culture from a nannochloropsis disk from FAF as they instructed. I grew this disk for 5 days when it seemed to no longer get any darker from day 4 to day 5. I then took this 2 liter bottle and split it into three 1/2 liter water bottles (and stored in fridge) and used a 1/2 liter to inoculate a new 2 liter bottle. The next day I started another bottle using one of the 1/2 liter water bottles to inoculate a new 2 liter bottle. The phyto does not get any darker after about day 4 with my setup.
Here is what I am doing for setup technique/supplies. I take a 2 liter bottle, fill it with 1.5 liters of saltwater mixed to 1.014 with SeaChem Reef Salt. I then add y t1 ml of bleach and my rigid airline tube that will later be hooked to the airline to supply the culture. I then cap and store the 2 liter bottle until it is needed. When it comes time to use it. I add 1.0 ml of dechlorinator plus about 5-6 extra drops of dechlorinator to make sure no bleach remains and shake and let the bottle sit for about 5 minutes. I then add in 1/2 liter of room temp phyto inoculate (previously harvested from started dish) and 20 drops of micro algae grow (liquid form), cap and invert a few timed to mix and attach rigid line to gang valve with flexible tubing. Also I have a cotton ball and cap with hole drilled in it at the top of each bottle that is being cultured to keep out as much outside air as possible. I have a good air bubble rate into the bottles - a slow rolling boil at the surface. On the output of my airpump I also am using a carbon filter to also aid in sterilization of air contaminants.
My questions are, the picture is fairly accurate for the color of my phyto. You can see bottles 4-7 are all the same color, 3 a titch lighter and then 1 and 2 significantly lighter. Everything I have read on hear tells me 7-10 days for nanno to mature....and the pics I ahve seen it is much darker then mine.
I am using 6500k bulbs, standard output on a dual bulb shop light. The bulbs are about a year old now. Do you think new bubls will do the trick? Did you find this helped you Kathy?
Any tips or suggestions are appreciated. I am growing this phyto to feed to rotifers (for clownfish larvae), pods to feed mandarins in reef tanks and to dose small amount of to reef tanks.
Thanks,
Scott
Hi Scott,
It seems from your description that you are doing everything right. The cultures do not look contaminated at all. I found the solution to my problem was the fertilizer. I had changed to the dry kind that I got from Reed. It was a redder color and when I emailed the company they said I had made it up too concentrated. So I diluted it as they suggested, and it still was a redder color and the phyto did as yours is doing, not getting as green as it could.
My daughter's science project taught me that I needed to add more, so I started doing that, in addition to getting a new disk from FAF. However, I kept the old culture going and with the addition of more fertilizer, it too grew to previous levels.
One other thing may have caused my phyto to go on strike. I had stopped harvesting it regularly. When I did that, my phyto got darker initially, so I thought it was OK. But later, it stopped growing or slowed down significantly.
Perhaps it is like the rotifers, you need to harvest it regularly to keep it young and in log phase growth. Be careful about over fertilizing as it can actually inhibit growth at too high a concentration, and unabsorbed fertilizer can pollute anything you use the phyto for.
I hope this helps. My phyto is growing strong now,...
Good luck,
Kathy
It seems from your description that you are doing everything right. The cultures do not look contaminated at all. I found the solution to my problem was the fertilizer. I had changed to the dry kind that I got from Reed. It was a redder color and when I emailed the company they said I had made it up too concentrated. So I diluted it as they suggested, and it still was a redder color and the phyto did as yours is doing, not getting as green as it could.
My daughter's science project taught me that I needed to add more, so I started doing that, in addition to getting a new disk from FAF. However, I kept the old culture going and with the addition of more fertilizer, it too grew to previous levels.
One other thing may have caused my phyto to go on strike. I had stopped harvesting it regularly. When I did that, my phyto got darker initially, so I thought it was OK. But later, it stopped growing or slowed down significantly.
Perhaps it is like the rotifers, you need to harvest it regularly to keep it young and in log phase growth. Be careful about over fertilizing as it can actually inhibit growth at too high a concentration, and unabsorbed fertilizer can pollute anything you use the phyto for.
I hope this helps. My phyto is growing strong now,...
Good luck,
Kathy
