About to give up

H

hawgman_98

Ok, apparently everyone that has ever walked past a salt water tank can raise phyto but me! What am I doing wrong here.

2ltr bottle, mix water to 1.020, 1ml of Miracle grow, 5ml of Kents Essential Element, about 1/2 of a small bottle of DTs, air tube, lighting.

Let it sit for a couple of weeks, i have a dark green bottle. Pour 3/4 of it off into a storage container, refill with more water mixed to 1.020, readd miracle grow and Kents. Within about 2 days, just junk in the bottom and clear water.

I have done this three times now. First bottle always turns out fine, crashes at the second bottle. So what am I screwing up?
 
Obviously the Jack in your blood stream has impaired your ability to follow the directions. :twisted: J/K



BTW Shoot me an email!
 
I have yet to talk to someone who kept a culture started with DT's. The most successful cultures come from Florida Aqua Farms or simliar vendor who sell pure cultures of one or two varieties of phyto. I suggest getting a starter from someone in the club. I use 18 drops of Miracle Grow and 2ml of essentials. i also mash up a vitamin B12 in RO and squirt a little of that in there. I can ignore mine for 3 weeks and get it to revive after splitting.
 
How do you get a starter from someone in the club Tony? If I bought a 2 liter bottle, could I split some if it to grow?

Thanks,
Chris
 
@mmiller40 wrote:
Obviously the Jack in your blood stream has impaired your ability to follow the directions. :twisted: J/K BTW Shoot me an email! said:
You ain't just kidding about that one skippy! But I swear I was sober when I split the bottles.

I will have to dig your email up at the house, I don't have it at work.
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@Olaggie01 wrote:
How do you get a starter from someone in the club Tony? If I bought a 2 liter bottle said:
Yes, that is how most of us get started, with a bottle from some one else in the club.
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hawgman_98 wrote:
refill with more water mixed

Quote:

I think this may be your problem. You need to not refill the previous bottle with new water but pour the starting culture and the new water into a fresh, clean, sterile bottle . There is bacteria that develops in the bottle during the culturing that crashes the new batch so you want to always start with a fresh bottle for every split.

BTW, I do it very similar to Tesfeld.


 
Thanks Jacob, I'll have to start my own next week when I get the bottle of phyto.

Could I keep the culture in the garage? If not, I guess I'll have to section off part of the guest bedroom closet.

Thanks,

Chris
 
Cool. I was reading Flame Angels website and I had a question. If I start of with a 2L bottle of phyto, I come in on step 9, correct?

STEP 9 - The initial cultures mature

After 6 - 9 days:

Rinse out and drill 2 more pop bottles.
Take each bottle of phytoplankton and pour half into another bottle using a funnel. Put one of the half bottles back on the culture shelf - this is for feeding the tank.
Top the other 3 bottles with culture medium. Add 1ml of fertilizer to each bottle if you didn't mix it into the culture medium.
Write the date on each of the 4 new bottles with a waterproof marker.
The new bottles started with mature phyto should mature a little faster than the first ones started from the disks but every culture is different. You should start new bottles with fresh phyto, within a few days of maturing.

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STEP 10 - Feeding phyto and continuing the culture

Start with 1/4 cup once a day for a week, then after about a week go with 1/4 cup twice a day. I'm feeding 1/2 cup twice a day but how much you feed really depends on what critters you have eating it, i.e. clams, feather dusters, gorgonians, etc.

You may notice an increase in small feather dusters on your rocks, more sandbed critters and pods, etc. After a while you may find you have less micro algae and have to scrape your glass less. The phytoplankton will, to some degree, compete with other micro algae in your tank. Go with what seems to work best for your tank but start with a small amount at first.

Don't be tempted to use phytoplankton that is too old, it will be at its best for 3 or 4 days after maturing but can be used up to a week. Remember, it's pretty much free from here on in, it's better to give it away or discard it if you have too much.

NOTE: Do not dump discarded phytoplankton in a sink or other drain. Nannochloropsis is both fresh water and marine, there is a chance that it could survive and cause an ecological problem.
 
One thing that those of you that are having trouble might try is to microwave the water you are going to use for a few minutes and let it cool just before you use it for a culture. You are not trying to get it to boil just letting the microwave radiation kill anything that might be in the water. I do a little and a half for 5 minutes. I have had darker phyto and about a 50% better hatching rate for brine shrimp using nuked water.
 
@Jdaddy3boys wrote:
[I]@hawgman_98 wrote:[/I][quote=" refill with more water mixed said:
I think this may be your problem. You need to not refill the previous bottle with new water but pour the starting culture and the new water into a fresh, clean, sterile bottle . There is bacteria that develops in the bottle during the culturing that crashes the new batch so you want to always start with a fresh bottle for every split.

BTW, I do it very similar to Tesfeld."]

That may very well be my issue. So let me ask this. Do I strain the remainder into the new bottle? Doesn't make much sense to just dump it in.
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Some strain, some don't. I do, I use a brine shrimp net. A regular fish net won't catch anything. I have heard of others using coffee filters.
 
I only strain when it gets nasty due to neglect. I reuse my bottles, but rotate them in and out as i clean them and let them sit open for a week to dry out.
 
Your recipe is listed differently from mine. I use 5ml of Miracle Grow and 1ml of Kent's Essential Elements.
 
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