phytoplankton
- Thread starter opihi
- Start date
cecilturtle
Premium Member
I too wish to congrat you Graham on a beautiful tank...much deserved. I am also interested on your phyto/rotifer setup as well. Could you give us a little more detail? Please....!?!
G-money
Premium Member
cecilturtle and opihi,
Thanks!
Well, for phytoplankton I started with a liter that a fellow reefer had given to me, but any LIVE phytoplankton will do. For supplies, Aquatic Ecosystems is a pretty good source: http://www.aquaticeco.com/
A search here on RC will definitely turn up more suppliers.
I culture it in 2-2 liter bottles at a time (you can see the pic in the RC mag for the setup...it's pretty self-explanatory). Any clean and clear container will work. I prefer closed containers to keep stuff out - I've found that even capping the bottles, any given line of phytoplankton declines to the point where in 2-3 months you don't seem to have quite what you started with! Time to get another fresh seed culture. It's all green, but I have developed the ability to smell the difference between good phyto and old and tired phyto! The old stuff smells kind of like celery...
*I add about a cup of live phyto to each CLEAN bottle. I keep the 2-liters for a month tops and switch them out with new ones. I plan on swithing to something reusable and glass because phyto bottles are the only reason I drink soda...and glass can be dishwashered.
*I fill the bottle (to where it starts to narrow) with sterile saltwater the same salinity as the main tank. I sterilize by boiling the mixed saltwater and let it cool to room temp, check salinity again (usually requires a little splash of RO due to boil-off) and fill.
*Add an eyedropper full of nutrient broth. Any phyto-grow blend will work. I think it's basically just a vegetable broth. Basically, you need a nitrogen source. Can be found through any culture supplier.
I aerate 24/7 and have the light on for 18 hours.
I harvest in 7-10 days and store it in the fridge. Shake it every day to prevent settling.
The rotifers I also obtained from a friendly reefer, but my original culture crashed so I hatched my current culture from eggs. Again, if you get them from eggs, instructions are included for hatching and maintenance.
Basically, you want to keep the rotis in their own container(s) and feed them enough phytoplankton to keep the water tinted a faint green color. The container should be clean and aerated. It's also a good idea to have a way to change the water, so a rotifer "strainer" is a good investment otherwise you can't really change the water. In fact, I'm sure that's why my original culture crashed...
The rotifers in my cultures get daylight, but no other light. I keep them in a 2.5 gallon tank, so I put a heater in them because they are in a drafty room. I keep the temp around 75 and they seem to reproduce a lot faster than when the temp was below 70.
IMO, the key is keeping your cultures clean and free of contamination (some folks will even filter the air intake on their air pumps!) and don't be afraid to re-start them occasionally with a new commercial starter culture.
Hope this helps...let me know if I need to say more.
And if anyone else has some culturing tips or trick-o-the-trade that they've picked up...please feel free to post! I'm by no means a pro.
Thanks!
Well, for phytoplankton I started with a liter that a fellow reefer had given to me, but any LIVE phytoplankton will do. For supplies, Aquatic Ecosystems is a pretty good source: http://www.aquaticeco.com/
A search here on RC will definitely turn up more suppliers.
I culture it in 2-2 liter bottles at a time (you can see the pic in the RC mag for the setup...it's pretty self-explanatory). Any clean and clear container will work. I prefer closed containers to keep stuff out - I've found that even capping the bottles, any given line of phytoplankton declines to the point where in 2-3 months you don't seem to have quite what you started with! Time to get another fresh seed culture. It's all green, but I have developed the ability to smell the difference between good phyto and old and tired phyto! The old stuff smells kind of like celery...
*I add about a cup of live phyto to each CLEAN bottle. I keep the 2-liters for a month tops and switch them out with new ones. I plan on swithing to something reusable and glass because phyto bottles are the only reason I drink soda...and glass can be dishwashered.
*I fill the bottle (to where it starts to narrow) with sterile saltwater the same salinity as the main tank. I sterilize by boiling the mixed saltwater and let it cool to room temp, check salinity again (usually requires a little splash of RO due to boil-off) and fill.
*Add an eyedropper full of nutrient broth. Any phyto-grow blend will work. I think it's basically just a vegetable broth. Basically, you need a nitrogen source. Can be found through any culture supplier.
I aerate 24/7 and have the light on for 18 hours.
I harvest in 7-10 days and store it in the fridge. Shake it every day to prevent settling.
The rotifers I also obtained from a friendly reefer, but my original culture crashed so I hatched my current culture from eggs. Again, if you get them from eggs, instructions are included for hatching and maintenance.
Basically, you want to keep the rotis in their own container(s) and feed them enough phytoplankton to keep the water tinted a faint green color. The container should be clean and aerated. It's also a good idea to have a way to change the water, so a rotifer "strainer" is a good investment otherwise you can't really change the water. In fact, I'm sure that's why my original culture crashed...
The rotifers in my cultures get daylight, but no other light. I keep them in a 2.5 gallon tank, so I put a heater in them because they are in a drafty room. I keep the temp around 75 and they seem to reproduce a lot faster than when the temp was below 70.
IMO, the key is keeping your cultures clean and free of contamination (some folks will even filter the air intake on their air pumps!) and don't be afraid to re-start them occasionally with a new commercial starter culture.
Hope this helps...let me know if I need to say more.
And if anyone else has some culturing tips or trick-o-the-trade that they've picked up...please feel free to post! I'm by no means a pro.
G-money
Premium Member
Jeff,
It is far and away more cost-effective to grow your own. :smokin:
With the amounts I use in the tank and to feed rotifers, I'd go through a 32oz. bottle of DT's weekly if not sooner. The DT's is probably a little higher quality, but the home brew produces plenty desirable results. My refuge is literally swimming with all kinds of critters.
It's not a very time-intensive endeavor either, which is nice for those with a life
I put in about 20 minutes worth of attention per week...
It is far and away more cost-effective to grow your own. :smokin:
With the amounts I use in the tank and to feed rotifers, I'd go through a 32oz. bottle of DT's weekly if not sooner. The DT's is probably a little higher quality, but the home brew produces plenty desirable results. My refuge is literally swimming with all kinds of critters.
It's not a very time-intensive endeavor either, which is nice for those with a life
I put in about 20 minutes worth of attention per week...cecilturtle
Premium Member
That's interesting Graham. I picked up on that from several of the TOTM members...yet it has been my understanding to feed every other day or so. I guess an increase is in order. Thanks again for the details....
G-money
Premium Member
Freed,
I don't know enough to give you a comprehensive rundown, but I basically dose phyto for pods, sponges, and filter feeders such as feather dusters. Rotifers/BBS (baby brine) for corals and pods. Also, after the phyto settles on the glass, the snails will mow over it and some fish will also eat it, mainly my bicolor blenny, coral beauty, and the tang will nibble a bit.
My desire to feed small live foods started after I bought my mandarin. I know it isn't eating phyto (of course) and I've never seen it eat rotifers, but she's been plump for over a year and a half. I attribute that to feeding live foods, though I won't ever know if the mandarin's food supply would fare just as well without...
Otherwise, my justification for dosing phyto is that it's the basis of the marine food chain. My pod populations exploded after a couple months of regular dosing (way back) and sponge growth has actually been so good that it's overgrown a couple frags (oops). Yeah, a nice ugly black sponge, too.
The main reason I dose rotifers is that BBS seem too large for most of my corals' polyps. After dosing BBS, I would watch for polyp reaction, but never saw any other than with my "LPSs" and gorgonian. I'm hoping the rotis will cater to a wider range of corals. I also wanted a small zooplankton source that was less of a hassle to culture than BBS.
I don't know enough to give you a comprehensive rundown, but I basically dose phyto for pods, sponges, and filter feeders such as feather dusters. Rotifers/BBS (baby brine) for corals and pods. Also, after the phyto settles on the glass, the snails will mow over it and some fish will also eat it, mainly my bicolor blenny, coral beauty, and the tang will nibble a bit.
My desire to feed small live foods started after I bought my mandarin. I know it isn't eating phyto (of course) and I've never seen it eat rotifers, but she's been plump for over a year and a half. I attribute that to feeding live foods, though I won't ever know if the mandarin's food supply would fare just as well without...
Otherwise, my justification for dosing phyto is that it's the basis of the marine food chain. My pod populations exploded after a couple months of regular dosing (way back) and sponge growth has actually been so good that it's overgrown a couple frags (oops). Yeah, a nice ugly black sponge, too.
The main reason I dose rotifers is that BBS seem too large for most of my corals' polyps. After dosing BBS, I would watch for polyp reaction, but never saw any other than with my "LPSs" and gorgonian. I'm hoping the rotis will cater to a wider range of corals. I also wanted a small zooplankton source that was less of a hassle to culture than BBS.
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