Isochrysis Problem

justmedanny · 12/24/2012, 12:11 AM

Hello, I'm in need of some help and I can't seem to find any information on the problem I'm having. I ordered 3 phytoplankton disks from Florida Aqua Farms: Nannochlorpus, Tetraselmis, and Isocrysis. I have cultured phytoplankton before and had excellent results with Nanno and Tetra. But the Iso always dies on me. I don't know what I'm doing wrong with this species of phytoplankton. If anyone is/has successful with this species of phytoplankton (Isocrysis), can you please list the parameters that you use to culture. I don't know if I'm using too little or too much Miracle Grow, if it's too hot or too cold, and/or if the salinity is off. Rather then me list my parameters, I would rather just know what the parameters are of someone who is successful at culturing this species and duplicate them.

bnumair · 12/24/2012, 08:28 AM

from what i have read its very difficult and non forgiving. vessles need to be cleaned and splits as they mature need to be handled properly. not sure what the actual process is as i am not experienced in it but maybe someone culturing it can pitch in. free bump for you

disc1 · 12/24/2012, 09:49 AM

I was never able to grow it on miracle grow but I did get good growth in F2.

sunny d polyp · 12/24/2012, 11:57 AM

Hey Danny... I grew iso for 3 years and I can tell you I restarted my iso culture every 6 months with new ones. I have never successfully grew an iso culture from disks... never. I would know when FAF was splitting their culture of iso and order a gallon from them and start over. With iso you need to keep the culture at it's densest (dark brown) before attempting a split. When I would get the culture from them I would add 5 ml per 1/gal instead of the 1.7/gal FAF recommends so i could get it at it's densest as quickly as possible. For some reason even tho I was as careful with not contaminating my cultures (bacteria) it would not last much longer than 7 or 8 months.
I only grow nano to feed my rotifers now and think they are as nutritious as they need to be for my needs and that is just my opinion.
Good luck and Happy Holidays.

Jerry S.

justmedanny · 12/26/2012, 03:10 PM

Thanks for the information guys. Since this post I've tried a few "experiments" with the isochrysis disk with no success. I'm at a loss with it. If anyone has some cultures of Iso going I would be more than happy to trade cultures. I have successful cultures of Tetra and Nanno going on. Please PM me.

Danny M.

nrbelk · 01/22/2013, 04:43 PM

any updates? I'm on my second attempt at using a disk of ISO from FAF but its not looking good....

justmedanny · 01/22/2013, 11:46 PM

Nothing has worked out for me. I gave up on the Iso. Please let me know if it ends up working out for you.

Fryman · 01/23/2013, 12:24 AM

Don't get the disks, order the liquid cultures. It's only a few more bucks, and much more likely to succeed.

But I did the liquid even and my T. Iso didn't make it either, so...I think it's just a difficult species. The Tet & Nanno did fine so I just went w/ them. Didn't bother trying the T. Iso again.

12/24/2012, 12:11 AM	#1
justmedanny Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Hollywood, CA Posts: 15	Isochrysis Problem Hello, I'm in need of some help and I can't seem to find any information on the problem I'm having. I ordered 3 phytoplankton disks from Florida Aqua Farms: Nannochlorpus, Tetraselmis, and Isocrysis. I have cultured phytoplankton before and had excellent results with Nanno and Tetra. But the Iso always dies on me. I don't know what I'm doing wrong with this species of phytoplankton. If anyone is/has successful with this species of phytoplankton (Isocrysis), can you please list the parameters that you use to culture. I don't know if I'm using too little or too much Miracle Grow, if it's too hot or too cold, and/or if the salinity is off. Rather then me list my parameters, I would rather just know what the parameters are of someone who is successful at culturing this species and duplicate them.

12/24/2012, 08:28 AM	#2
bnumair Dr. Reef at ur service Join Date: May 2009 Location: Tulsa, Ok, USA Posts: 7,751 Blog Entries: 15	from what i have read its very difficult and non forgiving. vessles need to be cleaned and splits as they mature need to be handled properly. not sure what the actual process is as i am not experienced in it but maybe someone culturing it can pitch in. free bump for you __________________ Water Quality: NO3 0,Phos 0,Cal 440,Alk 7.5,Mag 1300 "Reef Fast, You Crash, Reef Slow, You Pass" Mike's Reef 3:16 Current Tank Info: 350g DT,95g sump, 50g Frag tank, 4800gph return 4x Sea swirls. 6x AI Vega Color. 200# Pukani rock, dual recirculating skimmer, Biopellet, GFO Carbon rx's, Cal rx. Closed loop. 1.5hp chiller, genesis renew. Apex & RKE

12/24/2012, 09:49 AM	#3
disc1 -RT * ln(k) Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Little Rock Posts: 9,705	I was never able to grow it on miracle grow but I did get good growth in F2. __________________ David Current Tank: Undergoing reconstruction...

12/24/2012, 11:57 AM	#4
sunny d polyp Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Fl. Posts: 198	iso... Hey Danny... I grew iso for 3 years and I can tell you I restarted my iso culture every 6 months with new ones. I have never successfully grew an iso culture from disks... never. I would know when FAF was splitting their culture of iso and order a gallon from them and start over. With iso you need to keep the culture at it's densest (dark brown) before attempting a split. When I would get the culture from them I would add 5 ml per 1/gal instead of the 1.7/gal FAF recommends so i could get it at it's densest as quickly as possible. For some reason even tho I was as careful with not contaminating my cultures (bacteria) it would not last much longer than 7 or 8 months. I only grow nano to feed my rotifers now and think they are as nutritious as they need to be for my needs and that is just my opinion. Good luck and Happy Holidays. Jerry S. __________________ " if you were to open my cranial cavity it would contain a plethora of copes swimming in a sea of phyto" Current Tank Info: 120/gal mixed reef 18/gals phyto nana,tet and iso 10/gals roti's

12/26/2012, 03:10 PM	#5
justmedanny Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Hollywood, CA Posts: 15	Thanks for the information guys. Since this post I've tried a few "experiments" with the isochrysis disk with no success. I'm at a loss with it. If anyone has some cultures of Iso going I would be more than happy to trade cultures. I have successful cultures of Tetra and Nanno going on. Please PM me. Danny M.

01/22/2013, 04:43 PM	#6
nrbelk Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho Posts: 935	any updates? I'm on my second attempt at using a disk of ISO from FAF but its not looking good....

01/22/2013, 11:46 PM	#7
justmedanny Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Hollywood, CA Posts: 15	Nothing has worked out for me. I gave up on the Iso. Please let me know if it ends up working out for you.

01/23/2013, 12:24 AM	#8
Fryman Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Belmont, CA Posts: 337	Don't get the disks, order the liquid cultures. It's only a few more bucks, and much more likely to succeed. But I did the liquid even and my T. Iso didn't make it either, so...I think it's just a difficult species. The Tet & Nanno did fine so I just went w/ them. Didn't bother trying the T. Iso again.