Hi everyone, i have just finished my first batch of Nano Phyto.
I thought i would test the phyto with some nitrate strips before i added it to the tank and the reading was a wopping 200ppm
Does anyone know why the reading is so high?
Does fresh phyto have to sit for a while before it can be used?.
I used Miracle Grow as my fertilizer 5ml for 2 litres.
Hello wordley and to TR.
Fertilizer always has an N-P-K (nitrogen-phosphate-potassium) rating that tells you what % by weight of these elements is in it. It will look something like 20-10-15, this hypothetical fertilizer would be 20% nitrogen, 10% phosphate and 15% potassium.
Been growing the phyto for a while now with great sucess however i have noticed one of my bottles of nanno has turned almost brownish colour while bubbleing away, does anyone know why this is happening ? I am lead to beleve it should be a dark green !!!
yes this method does work with T. Isocrysis
i have found that you just need to add more food to the culture and add more about half way through
so you start on day one, instead of letting it sit for 7 days, on day 3 or 4 you put more fertilizer in there.
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I couldnt help but notice a few confusions about nitrates and food sources as an ongoing peice here. I continue to wonder why so many are still using the miracle grow formulations when so many better formulations are out there (often cheaper and better to boot). Carmie hit a lot of the nitrate confusion on the head with the NPK profile but it's also important to note that many off the shelf fertilizers have trace minerals that are not needed, used, and often cause problems in marine cultures.
My personal favorite formulation is the good old tried and true Guilliards (aka guilliards F/2, F, and derivatives). With Guilliards simply note that the F stands for full strength and the following number is typically the division of strength used ie. F/2 for half strength. Also important to note that some studies have used the number to delimit additions and changes to the formulation itself but this is rare. Guilliards can be obtained from a number of sources such as florida aqua farms and carolina biological supply.
If your interested in other formulations feel free to look around for them, some of these are necessary for other cultures. I add Silicate to my FAF guilliards for many species that require it, and use many others for other species such as prov for my gymnodinium as it is soil derived and fits the needs better. A good site for those that are interested is the CCMP (provasoli-guillard national center for marine phytoplankton) linked here - CCMP - The Provasoli-Guillard National Center for Culture of Marine Phytoplankton
If you've got a good interest, do take the time to look through the site, it's chock full of some serious information and you can purchase medium's and cultures directly from the center as well!
__________________ ~J
because it's all about the plankton
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most likely a contaminate issue, what are you washing your vessels with and are you getting a good clean rinse? Also, what medium are you using (guilliards, the miracle grow mix, etc.). Check temp of your cultures during the split and make sure there are no major differentials between vessels. Also double check salinity.
What species is this (I assume nannochloropsis?), how long are you waiting to split? How dark is the master culture you are splitting from? could be a lot of problems here.
I rinse with bleach and hot water and then dry. I use micro algae from Florida Aqua Farm, the split and new 1.009 salt mix are in the same room as far as temp which is about 75 F. I purchase my water from a local aquarium store in austin tx, I use nannochloropsis FA. I have been waiting 9 days in between each split. Maybe this is way to long. The master split is very dark, I can't see through it up against my lights. Should I wait less time after the master split. I have started over this week with 2 new fresh cultures in 2 different 1 gallon containers, bubbles going, lights on 16 and off 8. 40 drops of michro algae in each container. Right now both are nice and green. In the past, after I split the master 1 gallons in half, add my water and food, 4 days into the process they turn brown. Maybe they need more food. What do you guys think. Thanks. Check out my web site if you like. Thanks again for all your help. O'yea, i don't have any problems with Rotifers they seem to be very easy.
I would up the fertilizer count for sure, or dose a second @ 4 days I use a syringe for adding my fertilizer as I can judge exactly how much is being added. Generally in 1 gallon cultures I add 7.5ml (pretty much full F strength) for CO2 assisted cultures and 4ml for non CO2 assist (F/2 ish). I tend to prefer using 3 liter bottles for my cultures to ease the calculation, typically running 1ml per liter or 2ml per liter.
Co2 assisted cultures I split every 5 days regardless of color and non assisted are split on a 7 day cycle for the most part. I do have a shelf of cultures that I run tests on adjusting fertilizer and split ratio's from time to time to adjust my regimen.
I'd also cut split time to 7-8 days, and up the salinity (I've had best luck in the 1.019-1.022 range) Bear in mind that as SG drops a lot of the organisms will drop metabolism rates Might also try using cold water on your rinse as bleach rinses easier in cold water
I've also found that over time it's best to discard jugs and start fresh, plastic is in fact porous to a small degree and of course theres the whole chemical leeching thing. I typically run a container for 3 cycles before discarding. Every 24 cycles I change and discard my airlines as well. Rigid is changed at each cycle and I keep all of the sticks in a jug of water with humidifier bacteriostat added. When the rigid is pulled it is scrubbed and rinsed and tossed in the jug, a fresh one is pulled from the jug and rinsed before use. I recently started this discard / bacteriostat soak / change out regimen and have had 100% culture success since the start (no crashes). I've also had faster ramp up times on lighter cultures due to better cleanliness and lack of competing organisms.
Also important to note on my cultures, if I need to run cultures for an extended period I move them from Co2 injection and add a second fertilizer dose. Since my goals of keeping cultures is for LIVE cell usage I do not refrigerate and all cultures are fed near direct. Any unused is either tossed or stored on the rack as a maintained culture
__________________ ~J
because it's all about the plankton
Last edited by THEJRC; 11-05-2008 at 02:22 PM.
Reason: now it makes sense
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That really helps, I will start uping my food dose and consentrate more on cleanliness. I am also going split earlier than 9 days on cultured splits. Also, thanks for all the welcome from rame07, CarmiJo and of course all the fresh insite. ClearAquarium. I will let you guys know how things turn out.
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