Culturing phytoplankton using Miracle Grow...help!!!

[wala90]

I have a pair of B&W clown that are about 2 years old now, and they look like they might be spawning soon, (female fattened up in the past two days) so i thought I should get ready by have some phyto and rots on hand just in case. I did a research online, and that people have been successful at culturing phytoplankton using miracle grown as a fertilizer, so i thought i might give it a try. So this is what i did,

2 Liter Water at S.G. 1.019
5 ml Miracle Grow All purpose plant food
1 ml Kent essential elements.
few drops of Phytoplankton LIVE
Bubbles

Cultured outside instead of using lights. I live in Arizona and i though i might make use of all that energy. It gets pretty warm over 100F, but i have them on my padio were it is shaded, its about 80 to 85 when not in direct sunlight.

When i first added the MG, the water turned a slightly green, then after adding the phytoplankton LIVE it got a little darker. I started the bubbling, and the next morning i woke up and look what happend!!

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm195/Wala90_photos/1st_try.jpg

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm195/Wala90_photos/2nd_try.jpg

After about 2 days of bubbling!!!!


http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm195/Wala90_photos/2nd_try.jpg

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm195/Wala90_photos/Phytoplankton_live.jpg

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm195/Wala90_photos/both.jpg


Is that color change normal? Anyone have any ideas! Please help if you have tried this before. Thanks
-Wala

[FMarini]

wow- no idea- take a couple drops of water out of that container an look under a magnifying glass. I'm thinkin from the milky look its contaminated w/ bacteria, but its really hard to say
and
why did you add essentially elements? the fertilizer is really all you need

BTW is phytofeast live actually "living", ie viable to start a culture.
I'd ask some of your hobby buddies to get a starter culture of phyto

[billsreef]

Temps are too warm and allowed bacteria to out compete the algae. In general your better off culture phyto on the cool side, at least low 70's. At home I culture phyto in the basement, at work in a cold room ;) Also, while miracle grow will grow phyto, it won't yield phyto with the proper nutritional content for use in rearing larval fish. You can get proper Guillards inexpensively from Florida Aqua Farms (https://3kserver7.com/~frank/secure/agora.cgi?cart_id=167369.25385*zX34w3&product=MICRO_MACRO_NUTRIENTS), along with a good unialgae starter culture. I get the dry "mass pack" of Guillards, it's about $15 and makes enough for nearly 3,000 gallons worth of culture ;) Pretty darn cheap, and far superior to using garden fertilizer. While the phyofeast live is indeed viable and can be used to start a culture, it is a mixed blend of algaes and therefore not the best for starting a culture. It's best to start with a known algae that you know will be good for your purposes. I'd recommend Nanochloropsis, it's good nutritionally and fairly easy to culture.

[GreshamH]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15150045#post15150045 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FMarini
BTW is phytofeast live actually "living", ie viable to start a culture

The CCMP (https://ccmp.bigelow.org/) (Provasoli-Guillard National Center for Culture of Marine Phytoplankton) testing came back pretty darn solid if you ask me Frank :)

Report of Growth in Phyto-Feast LIVE (http://www.marketing-gone-wild.com/CCMP.pdf)

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15150569#post15150569 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by billsreef
While the phyofeast live is indeed viable and can be used to start a culture, it is a mixed blend of algaes and therefore not the best for starting a culture. It's best to start with a known algae that you know will be good for your purposes. I'd recommend Nanochloropsis, it's good nutritionally and fairly easy to culture.

Nannochloropsis is what most people get when trying to culture Phyto-Feast LIVE as it's simply the strongest phyto in the mix. Nannochloropsis isn't the greatest in terms of nutritional profile but it sure is a work horse. If you're growing rotifers and plan to enrich prior to use, Nanno is great :)

[rkelman]

I think if you lower your temperature as suggested in the basement and dump that whole bottle in and it will grow. I've never tried Miracle Grow so I can't comment on that..

[wala90]

[FMarini]

hi Gresh-
i was only asking the usual questions, no other point was meant by my asking.

[GreshamH]

I had no doubt in my mind Frank :)