Eatfrenchfries

Thank you for the shoutout. Just finished watching it. People have been telling me all morning.

I 20240402_134519.mp4 Running out of refrigerator space for all my cultures. Started spinning some at 1500 RPM for 10minutes to condense for feeding. The use of sodium alginate at 0.38 grams per liter has proven to be highly effective in keeping suspension. Realized that sodium alginate won't work on live phytoplankton unless it is quite dense. Currently running these at 1L masters and 3 - 5 gallon bulk. I can only store 500mL of each culture as a backup and 7G of blended feed. But now that I can condense phyto I can store 3 - 5 times the amount without breaking a sweat. -Nannochloropsis -Tetraselmis -Chlorella -Thalassiosira -Isochrysis -Pyrocystis -Phaeodactylum -Chaetoceros -Porphyridium -Rhodomonas -Symbiodinium A -Symbiodinium B -Dunaliella -Spirulna -Scenedesmus -Haematococcus -Pavlova -Synechococcus Couldn't have this many cultures running without @LavenderTi and the carboys. This was the tunring point that got me deeper into the rabbit hole. Biggest downside is that the phyto cells lose motility quite rapidly this way. But the consistency is akin to phytofeast. ***PNSB when suspended in the alginate will consume it over time. Not recommended. But it seems to have no problem losing suspension and being motile if concentrated. Shoutout to @CuttleFishandCoral for the awesome sea apple. This made my week. Thank you @Zach0225 for the CO2 tanks. My PNSB production takes a lot of my CO2 (20lb tank). But now I have enough tanks (2x5lb) to resuscitate phytoplankton cultures. Photo pictured above is CO2 addition bringing back a Chlorella culture. My hope is to fine tune a few of my finicky cultures to be bullet proof. So as not to renew them yearly. The CA reactors will be used to make a effluent reactor that I can use to grow more PNSB.

@cjmdh thanks for the link. Already got em all. Russ was actually one of the first people I had contacted after my wipe. Probably won't order from him again until the season changes.

Location: Portland (Raleigh Hills) After my recent system wipe I have been looking to fill in my tank with filter feeders + NPS. Hoping to showcase the purpose of cultivating a multitude of live feeds. Currently dosing PNSB and mixed phytoplankton kept suspended via alginate. All pods, brine, and rotifers are fed by hand daily. They don't do well refrigerated. It has been hard to locally source said critters. Any help would be appreciated. Currently have four species of gorgonians (7 total) who polyp 24/7. A local member has kindly offered some ball anemones to get started. I do have a couple dendros, hidden cup corals, and sun variations but I'm looking more for chilis, dendronephthya, sea apple, yellow cucumbers, gorgonians, feather dusters, clams, sponges I've dreamed of keeping advanced care critters but held off because I never had the means to feed them. Now with 18 strains of phytoplankton, 8 species of copepods, 3 rotifers, 2 types of brine, purple bacteria, and a refrigerated auto doser. Pretty sure I can feed whatever I want. No chemical or mechanical filtration as that takes food away. Haven't had to worry as live foods don't foul the water if consumed and the macroalgae growth covers the difference. Pictures of some survivors

Locally I source bulk amounts from Fisher Scientific. Online I use Florida Aqua Farms https://floridaaquafarms.com/shop/sodium-nitrate/ Currently am trying out PhytoTechLabs since a friend of mine who does shrimp aquaculture in CA has been enjoying their products. https://phytotechlab.com/

The meeting was a lot of fun. Thank you @Brittany for being a wonderful host. I need to find space for more phytoplankton.

https://reefbuilders.com/2024/03/13/the-microbial-men-discuss-all-things-bacterial-at-reefstock-denver/ Featuring our own @Lexinverts

Zeovit forum is the go to. Nano-reef (German) is advisable as Jorgen has posted some pictures of concept. Haven't checked this one in some time though. Never seen any visuals for a zeo system. A lot of it is literature and pictures of success tanks. I run a aquamaxx 3L but I think the preferred is the Bubble Magus Z. Do not get Vector. If I were to get a different reactor I would just replicate Donovoan Joanne's Nitrate Destroyer as I believe that would help me fine tune certain additives and focus bacterial function.

I utilize the zeovit system. It is complex to switch over to from an existing system but not if starting from scratch. It is very demanding in terms of consistent + frequent maintenance. Basic Items required: -Zeolites (rocks) -Zeobac (bacteria) -Zeostart (carbon) -A ton of activated carbon -Zeofood (aminos works) The blue bottles are designed to handle all of it via manual input. If you are into complete control and enjoy daily tinkering then I would suggest zeovit systems. Don't do auto dosing as that can mess the zeovit guidelines. The only thing you could potentially dose is the ZeoStart. Everything else you would have to time perfectly if you'd like to go on vacation. My take on it is that you are running a high input for a ultra low nutrient system because anything added is being consumed immediately. The dial in is intense.

A filter that can be charged with Diatomaceous Earth will work.

White, Red, Green. and blue are helpful for growing algae. White and blue may be a bit more useful in your case. Your dragon breath may grow better in the East. I have noticed PAR is less crucial than spectrum Blasting some flow through the tank would lean in favor of the macroalgae.

The flow within each individual tank matters. Inflow and outflow is how fast you filter. Recirculation is what you can actually filter out. Linking these three photic reefs via a central cryptic network (sump) will share chemistry but not processes. The physical environment being different will make it so only the best organism suited will colonize that portion. Akin to why people run an algae scrubber or even refugium. Mainly this is for management purposes. *if you equalized the flow within the tanks then the uglies would look for another ideal spot to grow in. Reef Succession: I think if anything this makes your system more complete as an entire reef. Incorporating zones into a reef tank is not something most people think about. Typical focus is on crests, flats, and fore reefs which are very much "display". Incorporating the algal zone (refugium) is a popular remedy to complete tank function. Adding sediment banks used to be common but are hard to manage. Replicating cryptic zones is starting to trend again.

Some more algae I have in grow out

Rsvp + 1

@Kerbash The PNSB is not needed to grow the plant. It is a happy "hitchiker" that attaches to the roots of the plant.