Melanie Simpson yes! Super easy. If you want to culture pods, you just toss the pods in saltwater, add phyto and do weekly water changes. It's even more simple than making phyto!
Koaleigh Aquaria I did not think it would last that long honestly. I guess if you get and keep a good strain it will last quite a while. What strain do you have if I may ask?
Brian's Aquariums The strain I am using is Nannochloropsis phytoplankton that I got from a seller on ebay. I had used this phyto before from this seller and are happy with it so far.
I use scalding hot tap water to rinse everything off first. Then I use vinegar and paper towels to sanitize everything. Rubbing alcohol will work as well, although I have not tried that yet.
Awesome video Brian. Thanks for answering my questions on the live stream the other day about pods. Can't wait to see that video. Quick question on the Phyto. I bought a bottle of the Reef Nutrition Live Phytoplankton (Black cap) and was wondering if I can use that along with the F2 to make more phyto or should I start with something like the Sin City? Is there a difference??
Reefkpr there are different types of phytoplankton. You cant culture any phyto from Reef Nutrition. They put something in there that prevents it from being cultured once they bottle it up. You need Nannochloropsis phytoplankton. That is what this is.
I sort of go over it in this video. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zxMmmwm_Y3k.html. Once the phyto is ready i filter it then I will bottle it up. I feed the copepods about twice a week. But the amount depends on how many pods you have.
Do you think if you used a small fountain pump/ power head that it would work better to basically keep the water spinning? Or is that too vigorous? Great video! Thanks for sharing
lol. I spoke too soon in the video. The copepods crashed a couple days later after uploading this video and I never got a chance to make the copepod video unfortunately 😕
Is this stuff alive? I mean, I want to start mutating, experimenting and seeing their lifestyle and basically creating life. So is it good for that? If it isn’t, I’ll have to use sea monkeys cause shrimp is little bit easier to handle.
Thanks! I figured it out though. Zooplankton is what I was looking to experiment on, but since they are so hard to see without a professional microscope, sea monkeys are good enough.
Diatoms feed on phosphate and nitrate. Don’t keep it at 0 (unless you have nothing in the tank). Just keep it very low. Also, it’ll eventually die off because their cells are made of silicate.
Do NOT use wooden spoons/utensils to stir. Way dirty. Bits for food and oil and dirt are in them. I would STRONGLY suggest plastic rods (do-hickeys you use on your mini blinds) or re-useable plastic chopsticks. Best is a stainless spoon. The metal will clean the best. Sorry for the ‘shouty’ words but I wanted your attention brought to it.
I get what you are saying. I purchase new wodden spoons just for stiring my cultures but you are right wood can absorb a lot of things. A plastic spoon or metal spoon would be a better option. Thank you for bring this to my attention!
I do it two different ways. 1st way is I only feed f/2 at the beginning of the culture. Let the culture run for 7 days then harvest 100% of the phytoplankton . 2nd way is I feed f/2 one time per culture. After 7 days I harvest half of the culture. Fill the container up with freshly made saltwater and add f/2 again, then start the process over for another 7 days. After the 3rd time doing this I start with a 100% fresh culture.
@@bharathianu7 I have only used the phytoplankton I culture in a saltwater aquarium. I do not know much about using phytoplankton in a pond. I'm sorry.
You can use a small wave make. I use an air pump and air stone. I based my dosage on 1ml per 10 gal...but in your case I would dose 25-50ml every 2-3 days. Watch your nutrient level, if they rise too high reduce your dosage. Dump it all in your fuge where your pods live so they can eat it before it gets too diluted. I would even turn off your return pump for 15 minutes so the pods can eat.
Sorry about the questions, but for the remaining stock. Do you just add new salt water to remaining batch and then add fertilizer to get it dark forest green again? I guess my question is, how do you sustain the main stock? Thanks.
Once the phyto is 7 days old and done. I put it in 2 liter bottles and store it in the fridge. Once I get pretty low I start up a new 5 gallon batch all over again.
@@mogtrader8 Yep. I keep the last batch I made in my fridge. I will also keep an extra batch just in case the culture crashes. It will happen if you do not sanitize your equipment properly.
@@mogtrader8 I appreciate the support and thank you for watching my vids. What kind of videos would you like to see more in depth? Im always ready to help out!
@@Uncle_Diesel i mix my water to 1.024-1.026. That comes out to roughly 2.5 cups of salt per 5 gallons. Make sure you check your salinity with a refractometer and do not go just by measurements or weight when mixing saltwater.
@@BriansAquariums oh that's ok man, thanks anyway for your tips, I loved your video, I learned lot about and I will share my tank with you after one year, many mistakes, almost gave up, but I did. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dfhGT5-hKTM.html
@@BriansAquariums Thanks. I'm mostly trynna grow and sustain rotifiers. But worry about how the waste? Do I strain the rotifiers out and just put in new water kind of thing? If so, how and what do I do to maintain my rotifier culture? Do u have a vid?
@@mogtrader8 I do not have a video on it but what I used to do was: 1. Add phyto to rotifers 2. Every 2-3 days feed half culture to clownfish fry. (If you have no fry you will still need to dump 1/2 culture down drain or strain the rotifers out and add to reef tank) 3. Add fresh saltwater back to rotifer culture. 4. Add in more phyto to rotifer culture. 5. Repeat in 2-3 days. amzn.to/2TMhkdT - this company is great for supplies. I use this strainer to strain all the rotifers (every 1-2 weeks) out and add to clean bucket of saltwater..(then topped off with phyto)
First of all, I pressed thumb down on the first seconds of the video: the opening, the music is terrible. 😈😠😈😠😈 Second, I very liked the info and your presentation. 💚
I could not have agreed with you more. I was still pretty new to RU-vid and making videos when I made this one. The music is too loud and not the best. I do appreciate your feedback and agree with you 100%. I have made another video about How to Culture phytoplankton since then. I've gotten a little better a RU-vid. If you want to watch it you can watch it here, also let me know your feedback as well if you wish. Again, Thank you for your honest feedback! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8SmQM-v6RHo.html and ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pjkiN4hJl44.html.
