Phytoplankton

[modemfox]

I want to grow my own phytoplankton but havent been able to find someone local with a culture.

Now i live in Panama City Florida and was wondering if there was some way i could get my own starter culture from the Gulf of Mexico myself?

If someone knows I also wanted to ask some one who grows Pytoplankton about growing my own at home, Specifically about lighting.

Can i grow them with non-direct light from windows instead of florescent bulbs? I'm trying not to burn more electricity on my aquarium, wife is starting to complain.

I have also read that i can use liquid Miracle grow to feed but is that really safe for my reef? Wouldnt it contain copper and other things i dont want?

^^^ This info was gotten from http://www.melevsreef.com/phytoplankton.html

[Sig45]

Look at Florida Aqua Farms. Also get a copy of the phytoplankton Culture manual.
Raw cultures from the wild are difficult since there may be multiple strains growing in your isolate. A pure culture from innoculum or disc is definately better.

A low watt CP bulb will work as long as it's 6500K. Plant grow bulbs are a good alternative on a spot lamp. Window light is unpredictable up north but may work in the south.
F/2 fertilizer is cheap and what I would recommend.
Some cultures are easy to keep like Nanno, tetraselmis. Iso G. more difficult.
There are alot of threads on setting up phytostations at home. Do a search before you begin.

[ChadTheSpike]

Im going to post a bunch of links for you, but first, here are some answers to your questions:

You can get a culture from the Gulf of Mexico, but I wouldnt recommend doing so because the culture would not contain only phyto, or only one type of phyto for that matter, and I think that if you are not practiced with a method to separate to a pure single species culture, you will have great difficulty achieving success. If you havent cultured phyto before, its not difficult, but does require some technique (mostly sterilization). I highly recommend using a starter culture.

You can grow phyto in a window, but you may have problems with temperature control, in addition, esp. this time of the year, lighting cycles arent optimal for growth.

Yes, miracle grow will cause phyto to grow, but from a nutritional point of view, the phyto will not be as complete. I personally only thing this is really important if you are using phyto to feed rotifers or pods that you will in turn feed to fish fry, but I would use something intended for that purpose.

Finally, I recommend starting with nannochloropsus, it is generally the most forgiving. And +1 to picking up a copy of the plankton culture manual

here are some sites that you may find useful:
http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=145&sid=2cc5d59379506e9e0e90d376ac596230
https://3kserver7.com/~frank/secure/agora.cgi
http://www.breedclownfish.com/culturing-plankton/
http://www.sas.org/E-Bulletin/2001-10-19/labNotes/labNotes.html
http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=485
Good source for alternate types of phyto (not cheat though)
http://www.algagen.com/home.htm

[Aqua_boy]

Look through this link, which might help you.

http://superfoodmarinephytoplankton.com/