phytoplankton

[michelle]

fatman(i think) mentioned something a week or so ago about culturing your own phytoplankton. Do any of you guys do that? Is it complicated? Is it worth doing? what are the benefits?
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Thanks

[UnderwaterWorld]

it was also mentioned that it was hard and not really worth it

[Bifferwine]

Some people do culture their own phytoplankton, but it is time consuming. I find it easier to pay $15 for a bottle of live phyto that they sell at my LFS. It lasts for several months.

[yote]

I do like Biff.I dont have the time or the space to culture my own phyto,so I just buy the DTs.

[sen5241b]

I found a featherduster ( a worm that eats phytoplankton) in my tank a couple weeks ago and it has grown visibly. The only Phytoplankton in there now is algae. I assume, the featherduster is eating the algae.

[Bifferwine]

The featherduster isn't eating algae. There is plenty of microscopic food in the water that you can't see. Which is why corals like softies and mushrooms and hitch hikers like featherdusters can thrive without you adding any food to the water.

[fatman]

Originally Posted by UnderwaterWorld

it was also mentioned that it was hard and not really worth it

Actually, it is very easy, but it is somewhat time consuming in that to be successful at doing it cheaply and without crashes you have to give it the time it needs when it needs it. Usually never more than about 10 minutes at a time though, and only about once a week. Except for about once a month when it might take an hour, and the few minutes per day it takes to extract a feeding for your tank. However, as Biffer points out, if your LFS has it at $15 per bottle it might be worth not culturing it for just one small tank. Starting up will run around $50 maybe $75 if you do not use 1 liter soda bottles. And to really assure not crashing due to bacterial problems a laboratory grade air filter for your air pump is usually needed. They are not cheap or sold singly. They run about $60 a dozen from Millipore and will last about 3 years or more. You would probably pay half or less to grow your own, even less if using it for more than one tank or for raising brine shrimp to adulthood for sea horses or for rotifers or the like, and you could raise different types. Mainly though phytoplankton is grown more by people with clams, sponges, coral propagators, rearing new born fish and for feeding larger planktons and such. Do you want url's on culturing phytoplankton? As for space, I have seen systems set up inside a 5 gallon bucket and inside small plastic storage containers of about 12 gallons in size. One power compact screw in bulb between four 1 liter bottles with some airline tubing, air hose and an airpump is a complete system. Gives you a bottle every 5 to 10 days depending on your culture and a few other factors.

[michelle]

thanks guys. I was just curious about it. I appreciate the responses

[fatman]

And lots of corals and filter feeders eat dissolved organic compounds and fine particulate detritus. Lots of things are extracted from the water that is why it is nice to innoculate your substarte with live sand from several sources as well as getting live rock from several sources. Lots of people, several times each year, reinnoculate their tanks with purchased innoculation packages and small amounts of live sand and live rock from healthy well established tanks. Reefers with well established deep sand beds are good people to know, as are people with old refugiums with deep sand or mud beds.