Nannochloris and phytoplankton setup.

[McReefer]

I'm in the middle of setting up to grow my own phytoplankton. I have Nanochloropsus, Tetraselmis and Isocrysis from http://florida-aqua-farms.com already but looked high and low for Nannochloris. After giving up on purchasing some I emailed a friend who works at UT and asked if they still had a culture going. If they do I'm going to drive down there and pick up a starter. If it all works out I would like to find someone to split the starter with in case mine dies out. Also I would like to come see said persons setup and get some more advice...

Any takers?

http://www.aquacave.com/Phyto-2-Live-Ph ... P2579.aspx

David

[McReefer]

WOW... In all of my google keywords this did not turn up... what the heck? TY for the link! I would still like to swing by and see someones setup in person.

If you saw my "setup" in person, you would see 3 2 liter bottles in a 5 gallon bucket with a small refugium light - 16 hours on, 8 off - in the bucket pointed at the bottles with a 1/4 inch thick piece of acrylic as a make shift heat shield between the light and the bottles, and a small air pump hanging above the bucket running to the bottles in a kind of daisy chain fashion. I cannot even say what strain of phyto I am culturing. The person that I got this culture from thinks that there are 4 different kinds blended together.

phyto culture station.JPG (32.56 KiB) Viewed 736 times

David

[McReefer]

I was reading that a container that allows the light to be in the center of the water is best so I was thinking of using a 5g bucket with an acrylic tube dead center and siliconed in. But I haven't figured out the air supply for something that big. I also ordered some cold water bubble hash bags for a 5g bucket along with another 5 micron, 1 micron and .5 micron screens to try and make phyto paste. I know that's not the normal way to do it but I figure its worth a try.

I am not real sure if that Phyto2 is a good culture to start with, or not. Someone told me that centrifuges are often used to concentrate phyto, and that the centrifuges damage the phyto in some way that renders it as less than desirable as a starter. I don't know about any of that.

As long as this culture doesn't crash, I will probably just keep with it. I will likely try my hand at concentrating it one day as well. I will have to come up to speed on all of this as I go along!

David

[shse666]

McReefer,

Let me know if you start up any of these cultures and want a backup. Only thing is that I'm in north Plano so its a bit of a drive.
I suspect we could use priority post office if needed to exchange some samples. I don't have anything ready to split just yet but maybe another week or two.

[McReefer]

McReefer,

Let me know if you start up any of these cultures and want a backup. Only thing is that I'm in north Plano so its a bit of a drive.
I suspect we could use priority post office if needed to exchange some samples. I don't have anything ready to split just yet but maybe another week or two.

Thanks. I drive up to D&FW/Plano/richerdson about every 2 weeks so it shouldn't be an issue. I'm just waiting for the guy at UT to tell me its ready for pick up.

[shse666]

Super awesome. In 2 weeks I hope and expect to have between 1 and 3 different strains to trade ya.

[shse666]

David,

Thanks so much for the sample today and the tour. Much appreciated! I will let you know how this culture goes.

Here is the guy I used to start my rotifers: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Live-Rotifers-1 ... 050wt_1135

Also I used these guys http://www.livebrineshrimp.com/ for rotifers and have a phyto culture going from one of their live shrimp shipments.

David,

Thanks so much for the sample today and the tour. Much appreciated! I will let you know how this culture goes.

Here is the guy I used to start my rotifers: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Live-Rotifers-1 ... 050wt_1135

Also I used these guys http://www.livebrineshrimp.com/ for rotifers and have a phyto culture going from one of their live shrimp shipments.

Thanks for stopping by!

David