We can supply clean liquid starters if you are interested.
In most cases starting a culture from a plate is the way to go. The idea behind using a plate is to pick single colonies to obtain as clean a culture as possible. Also storing algae plates/discs is easier. The down side of starting from a plate is that it can take days for the culture to "come-up" and if you select for single colonies it can take 1week or more.
If you use clean (no contamination minimal amounts of bacteria) starter from a test tube or other source you will be in slime very quickly...Something to think about.
im not in a hurry . now when you say it takes days for the culture to "come up" are you meaning from the disk? i personally would like to start with a liquid culture, but i have read alot about how much cleaner the culture is using a disc. without having the access to any lab equipment, is there any way to tell?
im the kind of person that likes to research like crazy first, and get it right the first time. im still a few weeks away from starting minimal. one thing i liked about the kit from Florida Farms is it comes with a book on culturing several different things. so that will give me something to read while im waiting on the cultures . thanks again for the help!!
ok im just about to order my stuff! . i have another question. does anyone use airstones in their cultures? why or why not would that be a good idea? i have plenty of them, just wanted to know if they would cause any ill effects.
Personally not crazy about airstones. They harbor contamination and are hard to clean. The bubbles are finer than necessary in my opinion to grow algae. Rigid rod works well. If you work with rotifers or copepods I would stay away from them. The fine bubbles will get trapped under the carapace of those critters and they will die.
thats kind of what i was thinking. it would end up being like a protien skimmer, and end up killing things, or end up contaminating the culture. rigid rod it stays! thanks.
Great video. I went right out a bought the rubbermaid containers. They work great. I hated the two liters. Just a tip I learned, the hard way, do not try to sterilize them in the microwave. They melt!!! Oh, well I will be able to use the extra lids without holes in them I am sure. lol.
Question, do you really use bleach to clean with? Forgive me I am new to phydo growing. Then where can I find RO/DI water without buying a filter system?
Thanks so much, you already enhanced my aquarium experience.
Hi Preacher and to TR. Yes you can really use bleach to clean, just make sure it is thoroughly rinsed. For an added measure of security you can use a dechlorinator in the rinse water. If you don't want to buy a unit you can usually buy RO/DI water at the LFS.
Thanks Carmijo for the welcome.
So, what's the deal with miracle grow? Is it safe or not. I have a reef tank 140 gal full of live rock and thriving. I would sure hate to crash it.
Thanks Carmijo for the welcome.
So, what's the deal with miracle grow? Is it safe or not. I have a reef tank 140 gal full of live rock and thriving. I would sure hate to crash it.
if you want to play it safe then steer clear of miracle grow.
while many people have used it, there is always concern about the long term affects
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Thanks. When I do get it going, how much phydo. should I feed a 140 gal tank. I have about 14 corals and the tank is half full of live rock and half full of (Lace) Base Rock. I just took everything out of my 55 Gal and made it a fowlr tank, my wife wants triggers and puffers, and put my reef in the 140 gal.
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you can see more details here in the FAQ section http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/faq.php
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Oh ok, I don't like downloading quicktime though because then it starts using it for all the video I have, could you make it so that windows can play it?
when installing quicktime, during the install it asked "what types of files do you want quicktime to open by default" if you want Windows Media Player to remain the main default player just uncheck all of the options/file types this way Windows Media Player will continue to play all the main formats that it can.
. now when you say it takes days for the culture to "come up" are you meaning from the disk? i personally would like to start with a liquid culture, but i have read alot about how much cleaner the culture is using a disc. without having the access to any lab equipment, is there any way to tell? 
to TR. Yes you can really use bleach to clean, just make sure it is thoroughly rinsed. For an added measure of security you can use a dechlorinator in the rinse water. If you don't want to buy a unit you can usually buy 
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