Phytoplankton Culture

[russ]

anit77;1105985 wrote: Seems to be growing really well. Every day except 3 to 4 appears to be a big difference.

It's cool to watch it grow. I can't wait to start my zooplankton cultures.


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[russ]

6 days of growth

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[russ]

I think I will split one bottle tomorrow and let the other one keep growing for my Pods. I am planning on getting Pods delivered on Friday.


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[russ]

7 days of culturing

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[russ]

BulkRate;1105888 wrote: Little tip - you may want to go by a brewer's supply store and replace those cut/drilled metal lids with rubber/silicone stoppers. Over time they'll rust out and potentially contaminate your culture or at least turn seriously gross after about 3-4 months.

Learned about this the hard way when my coworker and I attempted to build DIY red volcano shrimp "ecospheres" (read - off-the-shelf unsealed room-temp pico vases)... almost all of his shrimp died in the first 72 hours, all of mine plus one Bruce Willis-style last-man-standing survivor from his are still trucking after over 3 years. Only difference was the drilled sheet metal lid (his) versus acrylic lid (mine).

Here is what I did. It is rubber, but I think it will work.

Thoughts???

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[Adam]

Looks good to me, should be perfect.

 

[Adam]

Hey Russ, how has this be coming along?

 

[blind1993]

Phytoplankton grows in the artic circle so unless you're Santa and live at the North Pole, I think you'll be fine.

 

[russ]

I started a new job and went to Israel so this has not been a focus. However, I think I am back on the train.

Here is an update

1) one of my cultures died, I'm sure it was because of a lack of food. When it died, I added a little more food to the one that was alive and left the country for 10days. I got back and it was good. A week later still good.

2) this is not hard, but dividing the culture took some time. I think mainly because I have never done it and because the culture was so old it had chunks I wanted to remove so I ran a gallon of phytoplankton through a coffee filter.

3) the metal cap for a top was a bad idea as mentioned previously. The cap did rust so I got some rubber plugs and drilled a hole

4) I now have 4 gallons brewing.

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[russ]

The ultimate goal here is to breed copepods & amphipods. I did some research and made some calls to discover each species of pod needs its own culture because one will become dominate. I didn't plan for that so I will figure something out.

I don't know about dosing my tank with this stuff. I know people do, but I'm not sure of the benefit, if there is any.


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[russ]

Here is a question, when I divide my culture again, do I need to empty the jugs and clean them? If I only need to dump 1/2 and fill it wilt water this is going to be simple!!! If I have to clean the bottles, I am going to build something to make it easy.


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[bcavalli]

I m hoping to start mine tomorrow. I'm gong to attempt a clinic on it during our expo. Your thread has helped alot.

 

[wannabeeareefkeeper]

russ;1106154 wrote: 7 days of culturing

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Now if you could gelatin this stuff; the children would go crazy asking the parents to purchase some of this from you. Remember, "Flubber"? I believe it would sell like Hotcakes. All jokes aside, congratulations on your steps to getting to this. Well done.

Wannabee

 

[russ]

WannabeeaReefKeeper;1108869 wrote: Now if you could gelatin this stuff; the children would go crazy asking the parents to purchase some of this from you. Remember, "Flubber"? I believe it would sell like Hotcakes. All jokes aside, congratulations on your steps to getting to this. Well done.

Wannabee

Oh yeah!!! It is great stuff!


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[russ]

I have a feeling one of the 4 gallons may die. In not 100% sure, but is has not colored line the other 3


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