Phyto culturing methods

T

tesfeld

Premium Member
[General ponderings about this:

Do any of you culture in something besides 2L bottles? 5 gallon hex? 10 gallon tank?

Do you imagine the amount of unused fertilizer in the phyto could cause issues in the tank if you're dosing 1 to 1.5 cups per day? I'm working on my recipe to make sure it is all used or close to it.

Is culturing rotifers to feed the reef worth it? Stick to golden pearls or similar?]
 
[In one of those many threads...I think I linked to it from Marc's Phyto page. That person does it in a 2 gallon tank. The kind you buy from Wal-mart for 10 bucks. Comes with light and air pump.]
 
[I know Ken in Plano uses a 3 gallon container. I have used a half gallon jug myself but it is harder to keep the water circulation going in a bigger bottle.]
 
[Tony,
I use the 2L mainly because they are easily re-placable. If you are looking for something different I know George uses some small 1/2 to 1 G glass containers that are quite nice since the opening is large and easy to clean (cleaning is the main drawback of the 2L but most people just opt for a new one). I have also seen pics of someone using the large 5G carboys (water jugs) but that looks like too much effort for me.]
 
[Need input on other two questions! please!

Gonna start looking for those glass jugs too.
Thought about putting a spigot on a 5 gal hex tank with pigtail bulb and just take what i need out the bottom while adding more water and fert in the top. I worry about bigger batches because of unused fertilizer especially after my hair algae came back with a vengence. I bought that rabbitfish last week and I think the algae at him while I was gone. I can't him anywhere. (Hint, if your hermits aren't in plain site, they're behind the rock finishing him off)]



Edited By tesfeld on 1093900168
 
[I know several people who have done it in 5G water jugs. I don't see why any size wouldn't work as long as you had adequate circulation/right food quantity.

As long as the culture is pretty dark it shouldn't cause major issues. There will by some phospates in it but there is in most food. Test DTs and it is pretty high in phosphates but you only need a small amount. So you do have to be careful of overdosing. That is why if you are first starting you ramp up.

I culture rotifers also. I have found them super easy and even less trouble than phyto which is pretty minimal. In my opinion it is real easy to overdose Golden Pearls and end up with an algea bloom. I have fed a bunch of live rotifers with no issues so yes I would say it is worth it. Honestly if you are culturing phyto anyway it is very little extra work. The only extra thing you have to do is be sure to feed a rotifer culture daily unlike phyto where you let it go for a week.

I always have 2 2L of phyto and 4 2L of rotifers going for my 135. Every other day I split the oldest rotifer culture and feed a liter to the tank and add saltwater to top off the bottle then that 2L is now my "newest" rotifer culture. This way I harvest 1/2 of each bottle roughly once a week.

Only other thing I feed (besides daily fish food) is cyclopeeze once a week.]
 
[A while back someone posted in the Sell/Trade forum on the recipe he used to grow phyto in 5 G. I believe he used Miracle Grow and B vitamins...?

I can't seem to find that post anymore.

Does anyone more info?]
 
[That would be Ken, and Tony (the guy that started this thread) is doing that exact recipe.

Tony, I would suggest you feed phyto every other day. Every day is not ever recommended from what I've read. Even on my 280g, I'm only adding about 2 to 2.5 cups worth at a time. I really need to measure my 'serving glass' that I use for dosing.

I did the rotifer thing for about a month, but found it to be a little tedious. I'm gonna have to visit Keith to see how he's made this so painless. :cool:

Btw, I did pollute my tank with a few tiny salifert spoons of Golden Pearls. I had cyano for weeks after that.]
 
[This is the thread where he illustrates the recipe:
Phyto

I use 15 drops miracle grow, 1 ml vitamin b12 dissolved in 75ml of water, and 1 ml kent reef essentials. Split when it gets dark. I got my starter culture from florida aqua farms. i think part of the reason i'm having long term success is starting with a pure culture. I got my rigid tubing from them as well.

I have a 5 gallon sitting around that I just might use for this.

What did you hear that dosing daily would do?]



Edited By tesfeld on 1093962377
 
[Daily dosing will probably feed algae growth. I don't know very many reefers that does Phyto daily. I'd stick to every other day, because that has worked for me for 2 years.]
 
[Daily dosing cause a Cyano outbreak? I stopped dosing
after my breakout in my sump. I added a phosphate killer and did a 10 gallon water change. Cyano almost completely gone, going to start dosing a cup every Other day. Plus my lastest split of Phyto is very dark green the darkest i have seen since is started, seven days seems to be the magic number.]
 
[DIY recipe
<hr class="bbcode_rule" />
RO/salt mixed at a specific gravity of 1.020 (1/3 cup salt mix per 1 gallon water)
A. 1 ml per 2 liter (Miracle Grow All purpose plant food (12-4-8))
B. 1 ml per 2 liter (Essential Element (KENT))
C. 1 spoon (B-Vitamins complex) (spoon from Salifert Test Kit)
D 10 ml of DT's Plankton
E. Install air line and light on for 16 hours per day with 8 hours of darkness.
F. 7 ? 9 day splits ? liter to feed tank and ? to re-start new culture station

Thanks to Ken and Tony for sharing the recipe]
 
@kwl1763 wrote:
[I know several people who have done it in 5G water jugs. I don't see why any size wouldn't work as long as you had adequate circulation/right food quantity.] said:
[I have been successfully culturing phyto for several months now. I have been asked by another member to culture him a batch in a 5 gallon jug. Any suggestions on the best way to have adequated circulation in that size container?]
Click to expand...
 
[Ken is the guy that does it that way. Last time I saw a picture, it appeared to have 3 airtubes running in there to provide the necessary circulation.]
 
[I have extra carboys laying around and plenty of rigid tubing. I might have to give that a shot. I'm still hoping to do a setup where i open a valve on the bottom to pull out what i need and open one on top to fill with premixed water and fertilizer. I'd like to duplicate that phyto station that is sold retail, but finding the cone for the bottom has been impossible. AB Aqualine reactor
I may just build one out of acrylic sometime.
Does anybody see the drawback to mixing the water and nutrients for weeks/month in advance?]
 
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