Phytoplankton

[bigpaul2600]

I have a BioCube 14 and am planning to get TBS LR/LS. TBS says that after the cycle to feed the rock with Phytoplankton. I was just wondering if someone knew how long a 30oz bottle of DT's Phytoplankton would last and how much I should put in the tank each week?

Also... is there a way that I can breed the Phytoplankton in my home to keep my costs down. I live in a remote area and will have to have it shipped to me. a 30oz bottle is going to run around $70.

Thanks,

Paul

[taillonjohn]

a 30 once bottle lasts me a couple of months.... just need to feed a capfull every few days (as capfull per 30G tank I think). yes you can culture it yourself. I have the instructions printed at home so cant give you the link, but you can do a google search and get the answer easy. to be honest, in your case (new tank) I wouldn't even bother. wait till you know you have lotsa filter feeders in your tank before feeding that stuff. A mature tank even creates its own phyto. do more research on it at least before you use it

[papagimp]

You can easily culture the phytoplankton at home, just run a few searches as recommended by john. I'ts not very difficult and most methods are about the same from what I've seen. A few differences here and there but keeping it simple works just as well. Check out florida aqua farms for some ideas on equpiment/cultures you can do at home. Also a good source of F/2 fertilizer which you'd need to culture. (some use miracle grow, I like the f/2 myself)

As for feeding the rock phyotplankton. Not neccessary. The rock doesn't feed on it, just any filter feeding micro-life on the rock. And for a tank that small, the 30oz bottle will last you awhile, probably going to expire before you manage to finish it all off.

[Lifes A Beach]

Papagimp, what is F/2? Is the miracle grow the same fertilizer you use on flowers?

[papagimp]

f/2 is just a generic name for the guilliards f/2 forumula fertilizer. It's easier just to say "f/2" . This is by far the best fertilizer for growing macro/micro algae, phytoplankton, and similar.

The miracle grow is just that, miracle grow. I'm not sure what type everyone is using, but have heard of people using different types, usually the liquid houseplant food but have heard people using others as well. It's all Miracle-Grow brand fertilizer though.

Personally I would avoid using miracle grow and get the stuff actually designed for this purpose. Miracle grow has all sorts of heavy metals and other stuff that I just don't feel comfortable putting in my system. After all, it's designed for different types of plants than what the f/2 is designed for.

[Lifes A Beach]

I was thinking the same thing about all the chemicals when I saw Miracle Grow. I'll look into the f/2. Thanks for the resonse!

[bigpaul2600]

from what I have found on Culturing Phytoplankton (I was searching for "breeding" thats why I was not getting anything on google) it looks like you start out with a batch and then cut it in half? using half to feed your tank and the other half to start a new batch.

from what I am reading you can cut it after 2 weeks but you can let it go longer? if 30oz is going to last me a few months I'm wondering if I can bubble a batch for that long and cut it once my first batch runs out?

[Lifes A Beach]

Here's a short thread on a similar post about using DT's to start out. A little more info for you:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1217306

Hope this helps!

[papagimp]

bigpaul, after you have let's say a 2 liter bottle of phytoplankton cultured, you'd empty half of this into another container (this contaner is for feeding your tank) The rest gets topped off with new saltwater and more fertilzer to continue culturing. The typical culture time for a 2L bottle is about 10 days. it can go longer or shorter depending on the nutrient uptake by the phyto. You just have to learn to watch the culture carefully and harvest prior to them crashing. One MAJOR difference between DT's and culturing your own is the amount of phyto to feed the tank. DT's is highly concentrated while home cultured phyto, not as much. When I would culture Tetraselmis for home use, the cultures would be around 2 million cells per ML, while DT's has far more than that. Granted TET is a larger strain of phyto, but even smaller strains such as N. Oculata would only get around 64 million cells per/ml. Bascially this meant I'd feed about 1/2 cup of phyto in my 55g daily. Instead of 1/2 a capful every few days of DT's.

if it helps, heres a link to an article on my clubs website. http://www.mycomas.com/content/view/62/87/

[bigpaul2600]

Thanks papagimp,

is the COMAS meeting on the 13th?

I was hoping to make it down there but I dont think I will be able to.

[papagimp]

bigpaul, we're actually not having a comas "meeting" exactly, the 13th will be for the CRASE, kinda a joint meeting/conference. Hope you can make it, it's going to be one heck of a good time for anyone in the hobby.

[DrBegalke]

At $70 a bottle, you might consider PhytoMax from Kent.

Its not living, but I haven't noticed a difference since switching to it from the live stuff.