Phytoplankton Help !!!!!

[tom55228]

hey there I have started a batch of phyto , got it from florida aqua farms , f2 as well
I have started and I have had one batch nice and green .. it just seems that if I get one batch good I get one bad its so inconsistent , anyone out here who could help would be appreciated

I have been using plastic 1.7 l bottles
air pump , air stone with platic tubing
I am adding 1 ml f2 when I split
one seems really really good no floaties and such and the other is bright but just noticed floaties after a few days its starts to go transparent its been only 2 days but I can tell already with the floaties that it will start to lighten up .. running a led light and single bulb t5 ….
what am I doing wrong ….

cheers
tom

 

[Pistol]

Don't use an air stone, use a piece of rigid tubing and just enough air to make it a light boil.

 

[Pistol]

what is your light schedule, I had success with 18 hours.

 

[tom55228]

I have tried the 18 hours and off for 8 then back on … still seems to crash on me

so don't use a air stone ,can I ask what is the diff from the rigid tubing to that

 

[tom55228]

just a thought when I split culture,do u use salt water 1.020 or ro water ….is this my problem

 

[Pistol]

I have tried the 18 hours and off for 8 then back on … still seems to crash on me

so don't use a air stone ,can I ask what is the diff from the rigid tubing to that

the air stone is fizzing, the tubing is bubbling, you want a gentle bubbling boil

 

[Pistol]

just a thought when I split culture,do u use salt water 1.020 or ro water ….is this my problem

Yes you need to use freshly mixed salt water, 1.020 should work fine.
don't use aquarium water

 

[Pistol]

if the phyto crashed you probably won't get it back, you will need to start with a fresh disk.

 

[Pistol]

I used 2l bottles, filled about 12 of them 1/2 way with 1.020 at a time, I ran 2 with culture at a time and split them about 9 days, i added the f2 when i split(1ml), i used a cotton ball to seal the top around the tubing to keep the crap out.

 

[Pistol]

this was mine when i was running 6 bottles

 

[tom55228]

thank you … like I said I don't think my phyto has completely depleted .. I have had a few good batches but struggling with the consistency , I have 3 going right now and 2 seem to be nice bright green and the third is very opaque
what I think I was doing was starting the cultures very weak . I removed the air stones so just rigid tubing right now I think I will switch out the bottles to glass containers so they will be easier to clean if cross contamination is the problem

 

[Monnishan]

Very interested in this thread. I'm hoping to start my own culture cycle around Xmas as my 370 gallon system matures

 

[Pistol]

I had success with 2 bottles in an IO pail with a compact flourescent bulb hanging in it.