breeding phytoplankton??

[dreed]

I see alot of people with 2 liter bottles of Phytoplankton that they're "growing". How do I go about starting my own growth. My LFS can't get the bottles I use anymore and my tank does well with it.

Thanks
Dave

[IslandCrow]

If you want a good book, get your hands on the Plankton Culture Manual by Frank H. Hoff and Terry W. Snell. The basic idea is to get a starter culture either from someone else who is growing their own or on a culture disk from a supplier like Florida Aqua Farms (you can look them up online). From there, you'll need an air pump, some flexible and rigid airline tubing, micro algae fertilizer (a.k.a F/2) and some sort of culture vessel. 2L soda bottles work well. I use 20 oz. Gatorade bottles (I drink far more Gatorade than soda).

Here's a little how to one of our Reef Club members put together: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=960390&highlight=phyto

[dreed]

Thanks.

Sounds like more involvement than I think I want to put forth. This isn't my first or main hobby. I'll keep it simple.

Dave

[Lawnmower Blenn]

flordia aqua farms 352-567-0226 sale the culture disk to start your own for 9.00 plus ship i think its easy to do

[jpitts101]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13266570#post13266570 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dreed
Thanks.

Sounds like more involvement than I think I want to put forth. This isn't my first or main hobby. I'll keep it simple.

Dave

before you say that go look at someone's set up, its really easy to do. i work 2 jobs and still culture this. its very easy. it sounds complicated but once you start you will laugh at how easy it is. just give it a try. Go check out melev's site and check it out.

[Lawnmower Blenn]

is it worth the maken of this stuff ? is it that much more better for your coral and fish than lets say coral vite? and all that other stuff on the market thanks

[IslandCrow]

I don't think it's very difficult. Once you get everything up and running, I'd say you invest at most half an hour per week. The initial setup is a bit labor intensive, but afterwards it's just a matter of harvesting your cultures about every 5-7 days, cleaning your culture containers and adding new water and F/2. This literally takes me 10 minutes or less. If you use plastic bags for your cultures like Mr James did in the link I provided, that eliminates cleaning new culture vessels, making the process even that much easier. You'll also end up making far more than you need, so you may be able to make a few extra bucks selling it to fellow reefers or fish stores.