Phytoplankton

[Crazy fishes]

I am trying to iron out the last details in how to culture phytoplankton. Does anyone do this? I was thinking of making the saltwater to do it from my freshwater aquarium water as it would be loaded with phosphates and nitrates. Well more than if I use just tapwater. Also can you use fertilisers like those used for terrestial plants? Just thinking of possibilities. Also what wattage light do people use? I am thinking 10-16x 2 liter bottles. Strip fluorescent, PC not sure any ideas.

Regards

 

[Colin_T]

Don’t use old tank water to make up the sea water. It will have all sorts of stuff in it that you don't want. In particular diseases that may survive the transition to salt water. Just use tap water and add some garden fertiliser. Anything with a high nitrogen content (ie: lawn food/ fertiliser) works well.
A couple of fluoros above the containers should work ok. You can have them on all day and night or just on during the day. Depending on the strength of light, you might need them on 24/7. If you find the algae survives with 16-18 hours of light then use that.
Aerate the mixture as the algae does better with some water movement. Use an airline but without an airstone. You just want course bubbles in the water.
You can use bottles or a spare fish tank, basically anything that holds water. If you plan on keeping rotifers then keep the two cultures well apart, preferably in different rooms. Otherwise the rotifers/ eggs can sometimes get into the algae cultures and contaminate them.