Phytoplankton Culture Rack

Hello all...

I have made a rack/workstation for culturing Phytoplankton..

It looks like the one from Florida Aqua Farms,
https://3kserver7.com/~frank/secure/agora.cgi?cart_id=5707927.14754*zI30w4&product=PLANKTON_SYSTEMS

(the second one down, the 'TWO-SIDED' model)

Of course I changed it around a little to avoid any patent issues??? hehehe

anyways, i will take some pics tomorro, as it is dark, and the paint is drying..

I also need to buy one more 90 elbow, as I broke one while cutting the corner off it..

I am also using a single tube fixture for lighting..

I want to put some type of reflector on this so I can minimize the amount of light that is blasing all ovr the place. I was thinking of having the light onthe bottom, with teh bulb pointing upwards. and then using a reflecto, like a batwind, or otehr gull wing configuion, the reflector would look like it is inthe middle, with the shiny side down, and it would look like it is resting between the row of bottles, it might not be the best reflector but it woudl catch the light and kind of angle it back down or to the sides instead of coming straight up...

Anways, I will have pics tomorrow, but, I wont have enough bottles, as I dont really drink a lot of soda around my hous...




I also orderd some stuff from FAF, some starter batches, and some parts and a 'carboy' to start culturing brine shrimp...

I did this before but, I was using the cheap toy hatchery... this next one is a 5 gallon jug, that is almost plug and play... whoo hooo...

I need to see how to decap bbs eggs, so I can maximize my chances of a good batch..

thanks

b

pictures soon...

I broke a fitting that is on the end of the rack to attach the 2 liter bottles, and although it is easy to replace, I will ahve to paint it to match, as I painted everything last night.

Anyways, it is close, and hopefully I beat the ups delivery of my cultures that I ordered...

And where is everyone elses cultures? Am I the only fool crazy enugh to grow my own food stuff???

okay, i made more progress today... and made another mistake, WHOOPS, but it is minor only set my pride back...


Here are the parts to the rack, they are mostly assembled at this point, and painted one coat. (I painted cause I wanted it to look nice, but also wanted it white as white could get to help reflect any light)






you can see the piece that is missing n the middle, that is the part I broke. (I was cutting the top off the pvc elbow, (you will see why shortly) But the piece grabbed in my saw and kicked back,bent the guard on my saw, and the guard got caught in the blade.. and the piece broke.




Here it is assembled, but not quite plumbed, (air tubing plumbing inside the pvc frame) and the light fixture is not mounted.


And here you can see the mistake... (or can you???)




(the rack is 1 inch too short. look and see how the bottom is off the ground, now that the bottle is in place?)

UGGH

here is the finished product




And hre you can see a coupl things... you can see my fix... (I installed a coupling and stretched the legs a bit...)

And you can see the cut I made at the top of the PVC elbow... this gives me access to the top of the bottle, and to adjust the air flow to each bottle.


I dont have the phyto cultures yet, but figured I would break it in with some brine shrimp...



Thanks for looking

b

nice bill, ive been wondering when someone would venture into phyto culture. what type of algae will you use? any rotifers? ive been wanting to set up a small station but have been looking for someone to get some starter cultures from without ordering any. are you planning on breeding or just to supplement?
Nice work!

huh???


I just ordered some phyto and rotifer disks from florida aqaua farms, I think they are nanoclorisisisiss???

I did phyto before, and got two batches, but the system crashed... I think I didnt clean the bottles well in between batches..

I will do a better job thistime.

I am using the formual / recpe / directions from melevsreef.com It is basic, but, it is something that needs attntion daily... That is not good for most folks, and maybe me too???

I will gladly share with you, no problems... what I was plannng was, and per the directions, you splt the batch into three, one for me, one for my friends, and one to start a new batch...


And the reason I am starting or trying again, is my clowns are breeding... they laid a clutch last week, and I am hoping they do it again. (I may try to raise one or two batches???)

I dont want to have too many, (hopefully i am that successful), cause if I have too many, then I would not be able to keep them, and maintain them,and would have to cull them... I hate culling perfcetly good fish... again, wishful thinking...

anyways, I just want to try, so I can say I did....

Bill...what an innovative idea for our local reefers...great job bro

Looks great Bill. If you ever end up with Phyto for sale, I would buy some. Those BS are good size, did you raise them from cysts?

I sent an email about the DI resin, could we hook up tomorrow around noon?

The culturing is going well. I ahve even stopped and then restarted using my phyto as a Starter, after it had been inthe frig for more then two weeks...

The culture started up, just like it ws prior, with no visible affects...


The phyto is DARK GREEN, and then I screen/filter it to less then 100 micron. Then I usually let it settle out for a week, then take the super concentrated phyto at the bottom, and combine that with several other bottles, to get some ultra concentrated green goo, well okay, it is not THICK, but it is DARK

If you want some, please let me know.

I use about a 14-16oz per two weeks, to feed my tank. (A small water bottle size every two weeks)

This is free, but, if you want to trade or donate something, I probably wont object too much...

Thanks

Do you notice a difference when u feed these phyto's bill?

I've never actually fed my tank phyto so I don't know.

You did an awesome job, congrats.
I hope you dont mind me refering to this when i start up some cultures.

no problem X. Thanks

I did steal this idea/concept from florida aqua farms website, so you may want to reference there in case I forgot something or did somethign whacky-wrong

I do have phyto culture available, if youwant, i only I only ask for a 2-liter bottle, (empty), in exchange. Seems I dont drink soda, (i do, but I never buy it at the store), so I am out of large bottles.

I will probably be hitting up the recycling yard and buyin empty bottles from them... wondering if they will charge me the same as if the bottle was full of soda...

That's a nice lil DIY phyto farm! I might be tempted to try one myself...keep us updated on how things go

it's been up and going for a few months now... I cant run all six bottles at once, if I did, I wouldnt know where to throw all the phyto I generate.

I run about 2-3 bottles now, it seems to be more then enough.

I also, 'concentrate' it a bit more, after it settles out in the frig. I will pur off the clear water, and combine the phyto into a smaller bottle...

The phyto is almost black/dark forest green, smells good, not putrid like some store bought dead stuff.

I feed phyto to my tank about 2-3 times per week. with a couple squirts into my chaetos..

My params are good, and my nitrates are between 0-5.

i see definate extension on some of my softies after I dose...they know it is feeding time i guess...

anyways, I will see if I can go into full production to bring to the next get together...

whenever that maybe...

b

Great job Bill!

ty, hows the tank going, actually i know, i still get updates from scnrs via email notifications.