Finding studies of efficacy is not difficult but I don't have access to a library which has full access to the studies (would love to see the chemical analysis phyto - does it take up the metals?).
Anyone attending a university with access who might be able to get some of these?:
http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=1940819
http://tinyurl.com/3dmp62
Abstract
Growth, proximate composition and chlorophyll a content was estimated in static cultures of Isochrysis aff. galbana (clone T-Iso) to compare the quality and quantity of the biomass produced with an agricultural fertilizer medium versus f/2 medium. Culture of microalgae was done with controlled temperature, air flux of 4.5 l min?1, salinity of 33? and an irradiance of 110?3 ?mol m?2 s?1. Daily samples from the cultures were taken to estimate cellular density, proximate composition and chlorophyll a content during 7 days. Mean cellular density from samples with f/2 medium and with agricultural fertilizer were similar (no significance at P?0.05), and mean growth rates of 0.62 and 0.61 doubling per day, respectively. Maximum similar values of protein content of 7.3 and 7.6 pg per cell were estimated on the 5th day in f/2 and agricultural fertilizer medium, respectively. Carbohydrate and lipid content decreased during the first 5 days corresponding to the exponential growth in both experiments. Higher content of carbohydrate (no significance at P?0.05) was found in both media during the first 2 days, after 4 days the carbohydrates reduced three times theirs concentrations. Generally lipid contents in the cultures with agricultural fertilizer were significantly higher (P?0.05) than f/2 medium. The chlorophyll a content increased exponentially during the culture, and its concentration was similar in both experiments. In conclusion, the cellular density and the biochemical constituents were similar when using either media. This fertilizer can be used in the production of I. galbana (T-Iso) employed in aquaculture.
Study on keeping the fry tank dosed with phyto. The fry obviously don't eat all the rotifers but if they go empty the rotifers have no nutritional value. With a litte phyto in the water the rotifers will produce eggs and stay gut loaded.
An assessment of the beneficial roles of Nannochloropsis oculata in larval rearing of marine finfish
Masanori OKAUCHI*
?From points of both water quality management by algal nutrient absorption and a good live food of rotifer, the role of Nannochloropsis oculata supplied to larval rearing water was examined by a larval rearing experiment in this study. Larvae of Japanese red sea bream, Pagrus major, were reared being fed rotifers and subsequently an artificial diet during the thirty-day experimental period. In the four test tanks (100-L capacity) each with 1,000 Japanese red sea bream larvae in addition to the rotifers, N. oculata was maintained at a density of 5-10?105 cells/mL while in the four control tanks, no N. oculata supplemented, but all the other experimental conditions were the same as the test tanks.
?At the end of the experiment, the concentrations of inorganic nitrogen (NH4-N, NO2-N, and NO3-N) and inorganic phosphate (PO4-P) in the control tanks were 1.5-2.0 times higher than those in the test tanks. While, the number of rotifers with eggs in the test tanks was remarkably higher in comparison with that in the control tanks. Moreover, rotifers in the test tanks contained much more eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and n-3 highly unsaturated fatty acid (n-3 HUFA), so that their nutrient value is concluded as higher than that in the control tanks. From the results of this experiment, supplementation with N. oculata into the rearing water is concluded to produce beneficial effects on maintaining water quality and also enhancing the nutrient quality of the rotifers.
COMAS article on growing phyto -
http://www.mycomas.com/content/view/62/87/
This stuff is pretty cool isn't it? We need a presentation by one of the specialists from the MSI - http://www.utmsi.utexas.edu/
