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Marksfish
01-29-2012, 12:39 PM
With the 660nm LEDs doing so well at growing algae on a screen, does anyone think they will be efficient for culturing phyto? I currently have a 20w 6500k cfl on my 2 litre culturing bottle, the consensus seems to be that other algaes grow at a better rate with the daylight spectrum.

Thanks

Mark

SantaMonica
01-29-2012, 02:25 PM
That's a great question; I'm sure the aquaculture people have some answers.

kerry
01-29-2012, 05:50 PM
Holy smokes!!!!!!! I have never thought about that!!!! I am sure that's a good idea!!!!! I have been wanting to culture some more Phyto in the near future and will have to try this. Let us know if you try and advise us on the out come.

Marksfish
01-30-2012, 11:28 AM
I split my original culture yesterday and put 1 litre of phyto into 4 litres of water. On one side I have the 6500k 20w cfl and on the other I have a 3x 3W 660nm LED fitting. So, hopefully there will be ample light from both sides to get the culture going. If it greens up nicely, I will use another LED fitting in place of the cfl.

Mark

kerry
01-30-2012, 12:31 PM
What recipe do you use for phyto?

Marksfish
01-30-2012, 01:01 PM
I got given 250ml Tetraselmis by a friend that breeds fish (or is attempting to with limited success). I used 1/2 of that to make a 2L bottle, using an F2 fertiliser for feeding phyto insead of plant food. I gave that 10 days and have just harvested 1L and put into old 250ml cola bottles. The culture is a bit weak and could probably have done with a few more days to concentrate them a bit. This is my first attempt, so am enjoying the experience at the moment :).

kerry
01-30-2012, 02:06 PM
I have tried before a couple times but I am not sure I was even really doing anything LOL.

Ace25
01-30-2012, 08:44 PM
Just wondering... why would one want or need to grow Phyto? I do think 3x 3w 660nm red will grow it much much better than a 6500k CFL, but that is simply an educated guess. I have no experience trying it, so please let us know how it goes because I am very curious as well.

kerry
01-31-2012, 05:01 AM
I had a lot larger pod population when I was using the DT's phyto.

Ace25
01-31-2012, 06:21 AM
I have never found a need to grow phyto because you can buy dead or live phyto in a bottle, like the type from Reef Nutrition. Copepods, rotifers, etc.. I understand why one would want to grow their own live stuff there, just phyto I never understood because it always seemed like more work than it was worth. Plus when you grow your own it seems like you always have way more than needed and end up dumping most down the sink. Stuff grows so fast and needs to by cleaned/topped up daily that I could never see how it would be possible to use all of the daily harvest. I know you can put it in the refrigerator and it will last a week or so, but you still end up with a large stockpile that spoils before you use it all. That has been my experience anyway (I tried doing a Phyto/Roti tank once, split a 10G with a divider, what a mess and a failure that was for me).

Marksfish
01-31-2012, 09:47 AM
I culture my own pods for my mandarins, so it is mostly food for them. Plus I have just started to "chuck" some in my main display tank at night to help the filter feeders. Yes, you do end up with far too much (and I have only just started), but you can swap it for other stuff and also flog it on the Bay for a couple of quid!!

It isn't difficult, just sits bubbling in the corner of my conservatory until I need it :)

Mark

kerry
01-31-2012, 11:42 AM
I breed my own pods in a 10g for my mandarin as well. I had better numbers with phyto, I am using blended peas and shrimp now.

Ace25
01-31-2012, 01:20 PM
I guess it just comes down to time/$ and how enjoyable it is for me, and growing phyto is really not that enjoyable to me. I can buy a 32oz bottle of Phyto for $30 (http://reefnutrition.com/phyto_feast.html) that will last well over a year, or I can spend time every day growing it.

Anyway.. enough about what I would do.. this is what you want to do, so again, go for it with LEDs and please keep us informed. Even if I don't intend to ever do this myself the information you gain by using LEDs will be valuable to many others.

kerry
01-31-2012, 01:27 PM
I hope to try it again but its a ways off.

Marksfish
02-02-2012, 07:16 AM
So, on Saturday, my freshly made culture was looking like this:

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd122/marksfish/Phyto/DSCF1219.jpg

Admittedly, I don't just have the LEDs at the moment, but a mix of 3x 3w 660nm on one side and a 6500k 20w cfl on the other side and it looks like this after 5 days, not bad for a unheated conservatory I don't think :).

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd122/marksfish/Phyto/DSCF1222.jpg

Next trial I think will be with 2 x 2x3W LED units

Mark

kerry
02-02-2012, 07:36 AM
I await your next test trial.

Bishop77
02-13-2012, 10:55 PM
Would either of you post pics of your pod setups? any advice on the matter? How much less are you getting with the peas and shrimp Kerry?
Thank you

kerry
02-14-2012, 07:49 AM
Would either of you post pics of your pod setups? any advice on the matter? How much less are you getting with the peas and shrimp Kerry?
Thank you
I seem to have pods crawling all over the rocks and substrate when I feed them the mix of peas, carrots, and shrimp. I will try to remember to get some pics, its not much to look at. I just have a horizontal scrubber (built onto a HOB filter overflow coming into the tank) with a CFL over the screen and another CFL over the other side of the tank. It grows pods and red feather dusters really nice. I swap out some of this rock every 5-10 days or so and after a couple days the rock I put back in it is covered with pods again so the tank still produces a lot of them but, with the phyto I had many more on the glass of the tank so there is a difference. If i had to put a number on it I would have to say its about 15-20% less then when I did phyto and the home made mix.

Marksfish
02-14-2012, 12:19 PM
My pods:

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd122/marksfish/MFUK/pod2.jpg

kerry
02-14-2012, 12:30 PM
You mean phyto?

Marksfish
02-14-2012, 12:42 PM
If you were aiming that at me Kerry, no, they are my pods.

kerry
02-14-2012, 01:50 PM
Oh, I seen the green liquid and thought you may have been talking about the phyto you have been growing. So those are containers with your pods and you are feeding them your phyto. I got ya.

Ace25
02-14-2012, 04:17 PM
Well, I already have to take back what I said.. lol. Last time I bought a big bottle of phyto I did so for my tank (don't ask why, I don't have an answer). It lasted years before I tossed out about 1/2 a bottle, so I couldn't understand how one could use enough to warrant growing it at home... until... last week.

I got my Rotifer kit from Reef Nutrition, came with an 8oz bottle of "Rotifer Food" which is supposed to be super enriched phyto. Says on the bottle it lasts 2 months for feeding rotifers. Well, I split up the rotifer bag into 5 containers to ensure I always have at least 1 or 2 good ones even if others crash. I can always re-seed them with good ones.. that was my thinking before I started. Now.. wow.. 1 week later, 1/2 a bottle of phyto gone already, about 20G of 1.018 saltwater used because of the daily maintenance. I didn't even think of how much water it was going to take for rotifers and I ended up using 5G buckets, 5 of them each filled with 4G. That is 5G a day in water replacement. I quickly realized I needed to downsize, so I bought 4 1G containers and just kept 1 5G bucket so now I just have to change 2G of water a day, which is still quite a bit just to grow rotifers. I also had to order a large 16oz bottle of phyto already, $28+shipping, so over $40 just for a replacement bottle that will probably last at most 2 months.

So.. long story short, I now understand the need to grow your own phyto and will be doing so myself shortly because the cost of buying it is way too cost prohibitive for me long term. So keep us updated on the LEDs, and try and remove the CLF and replace it with LEDs on the other side so we can have some really good data on if it works and how well.

tebo
04-19-2012, 12:33 PM
Marksfish, Greetings

Tell that to the past with this, it is more feasible the growth of phytoplankton with 660nm LED????

Marksfish
04-19-2012, 12:36 PM
Unortunately my culture crashed. I think it was because I wasn't cleaning the containers properly and ot the light. I will be using them on my new culture which is brewing up nicely now.