Phytoplankton Cultures

[voo]

I haven't got a clue about all this marine stuff, i keep freshwater fish. However i'm having a dabble with breeding Amano shrimp. They've already laid their eggs and i've got the new zoes in a tank of saltwater. To feed, they need green water. This is where hopefully you guys can help me.

I have my bottle of green water bubbling away with a light on it 24/7. How often am i supposed to feed it with ferts? Will the green water grow in freshwater, or does it have to be saltwater?

EDIT: Just thought of a few more questions. I've read of cultures crashing and ending up as a mess at the bottom. What causes this, and how do i prevent it? Also, the culture i bought says to store it in the fridge. Why is this, and won't it die off without light?

Hope some of you guys can help out.
TIA!

 

[Matthew5664]

Hi there!

I have been growing Phyto for a while now and I will help.

You will need to reduce the light time to 16hours a day to optimize growth.
You will need salt water @ a SG of 1.020 to grow out the Phyto
If you make a batch of saltwater in a 2l coke bottle then add 10ml of Phyto and 10ml of a coloured Aquatic plant fertilizer (APF). Then add the APF every two days. You'll want to add enough to turn the water the colour of the APF (usually red) this way you know that you've added enough.

You should have a green culture in 10-12 days this then can be drained half way and put in the fridge then topoff with new salt water and the process starts again.

Hope this helps you.

 

[voo]

Thanks for the help.
What can make a culture collapse ?

 

[Matthew5664]

They can collapse if they have too much light and too little. No enough food or the introduction of zooplankton that would eat the phyto.

 

[voo]

Too much light??

All the sites i've read about that have articles about successful shrimp breeding say to have the light on 24/7.
With the light off, the phytoplankton will use up the oxygen. Is it really a bad thing to leave the light on all the time?