Phytoplankton reactor

snake1

snake1

Premium Member
Is it worth the trouble of having one and always growing phytoplankton or just pass and buy the stuff...let me know your thoughts I'm curious..thanks
 
I was wondering if it's to much of a pain to try but if it's not that bad maybe I'll try it ....have you done this before Roger with good results
 
I love my system. Way over kill but it is in my living room so I needed it nice. It has new size jars so they fit. It is very, very easy. Bleach, prime, air pump, light, food and containers. You are good to go. I did multiple small cultures so if I crash I have plenty to recover from.

I recommend to give it a shot. It is not a large investment for a nice payoff.

If you ask something specific I will be more than happy to answer in my recent experience.

Good luck.
 

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Dogshowgrl said:
I love my system. Way over kill but it is in my living room so I needed it nice. It has new size jars so they fit. It is very, very easy. Bleach, prime, air pump, light, food and containers. You are good to go. I did multiple small cultures so if I crash I have plenty to recover from.

I recommend to give it a shot. It is not a large investment for a nice payoff.

If you ask something specific I will be more than happy to answer in my recent experience.

Good luck.
Click to expand...
Awesome setup...What's the bleach for....I was doing some reading on another website stating they use tap water and miracle grow to grow there phytoplankton I'm a little on the fence about putting tap water and or plant fertilizer in my tank or am I reading this all wrong.
 
snake1 said:
Awesome setup...What's the bleach for....I was doing some reading on another website stating they use tap water and miracle grow to grow there phytoplankton I'm a little on the fence about putting tap water and or plant fertilizer in my tank or am I reading this all wrong.
Click to expand...

I have cultured plankton that way (tap water and Miracle Grow All Purpose Plant Food) before without issues.
But if you want piece of mind, you can get the starter kit from FAF, it comes with a manual, the starting culture and the food (Micro Algae Grow).
 
ganjero said:
I have cultured plankton that way (tap water and Miracle Grow All Purpose Plant Food) before without issues.
But if you want piece of mind, you can get the starter kit from FAF, it comes with a manual, the starting culture and the food (Micro Algae Grow).
Click to expand...

If I used the miracle grow and tap water method where did you get your starting culture from ...like could I pick up a bottle of dt phytoplankton from my local fish store and use that as my starting culture
 
snake1 said:
If I used the miracle grow and tap water method where did you get your starting culture from ...like could I pick up a bottle of dt phytoplankton from my local fish store and use that as my starting culture
Click to expand...

That's what I did. I also got a culture from a local refer that started with one from FAF. At the time they contained different strains.

Maybe Dogshowgrl is willing to share/sell some to you.

Do you have something specific that you want to feed plankton?
 
So I take 4 two liter bottles and pour the dt phytoplankton into 4 equal amounts and fill the rest of the way up with tap water put miracle grow and another site said to add some Kent marine supplements to it and roll the bottle back and forth once a day to keep it from settling and dying at the bottom and in a week it's good just keep it refrigerated after that ....and your good? Why tap water just curious
 
Is this all worth it in the end ..I have been growing corals and sps for a couple years now without a food source except fish poop and food waste ect...I'm just thinking maybe the addition of food (phytoplankton) will give better color and a healthy faster growth...
 
snake1 said:
So I take 4 two liter bottles and pour the dt phytoplankton into 4 equal amounts and fill the rest of the way up with tap water put miracle grow and another site said to add some Kent marine supplements to it and roll the bottle back and forth once a day to keep it from settling and dying at the bottom and in a week it's good just keep it refrigerated after that ....and your good? Why tap water just curious
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, I added Trace Elements too. I installed bubblers and never rolled the bottles. Petco or petsmart should sell rigid tubing to put through the caps and connect them to an air pump.
 
snake1 said:
Is this all worth it in the end ..I have been growing corals and sps for a couple years now without a food source except fish poop and food waste ect...I'm just thinking maybe the addition of food (phytoplankton) will give better color and a healthy faster growth...
Click to expand...

I used to culture phyto, it is easy, but takes a little bit of time. I have switched over to using DT's phyto, might cost a bit more, but is much easier for the occasional feeding. I still culture pods for the madarin, and found DT's works great and is quick, reducing my maintenance time. I might start with a bottle of DT's and if things look good or you are using a bunch look into culturing your own.

Anything that can save maintenance time for the tank lets me spend more time on things I enjoy with the tank.

I prefer DT's phyto since it is a concentrated culture, some of the other brands are a little watered down in my opinion.
 
Bleach does not sterilize but does sanitize. I am looking into pouch foggers ( large animal vets use them) or considering an autoclave to go really sterile when I get into more sensitive cultures down the road. For sake of argument, that is fine but I just prime the crap out of it later to counteract the bleach.


Thank you all for the complements. I will take the time to give full details tomorrow, I need sleep, or you will not understand an thing. Lol.
 
Sorry I used the wrong term. Why not use heat to sterlize then? Boil everything for 2 min let it cool then it is all sterile. Or a baby bottle sterilizer. Then is would be sanitized too and no prime needed. I could be wrong? I know u said sanitize but wouldn't that be even better?

Roger
 
I guess I'm missing something, the equipment should be extremely clean... Then why use tap water that is loaded with chloramine and many other contaminants that will wreak havoc on our systems?

Could one use distilled or Rodi just to be on the safe side?

I'm Ignorant on this topic, just trying to learn more :fun4:
 
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