Eatfrenchfries

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.

Feedback on phytoplankton: 1. Shelf life of less than three months 2. Falls out of suspension. Becomes less motile but still viable for feeding. 3. Strong sulfur smell develops when certain strains are added. Solution 1. The primary issue with putting multiple species of phytoplankton into a single container would be falling out of suspension->species die->bottle crashes via bacteria To remedy this I have begun adding trace amounts of sodium alginate and citric acid to all phytoplankton blends to aid in suspension, shelf life, and prevent bacterial growth. 2. I have narrowed down Rhodomonas salinas and Thalassiosira weissflogii to fall out of suspension the fastest. I am considering omitting them from the blend rotation. Them falling out of suspension is the a cause for bottle crash. More trials to be done. - Any PNSB product will have sodium alginate added to maintain stronger suspension. (Picture: I will begin to have sea purslane propogated in full strength saltwater available soon. Grown with PNSB)

Location: Scholls Ferry Rd x SW Oleson (Portland) Just some macroalgae clippings for sale. Currently consolidating my growout trays into one tank. Hypnea pannosa - $15 Ulva intestinalis - N/A Codium sp. - $5 Caulerpa mexicana - free Gracilaria hayi - $5 Gracilaria sp. dark - $5 Gracilaria sp. king thorn - $5 Eucheuma spinosum - $10 Halimeda optunia - $5 Halymenia dilatata - $15 Rhodopeltis sp. $15 Chaetomorpha sp. (Intertidal Pod Variant) - $20 *this chaeto variant is not the standard seen used in filtration. This is special to zooplankton cultivation. All grown in Par 325+ , high nutrient (ammonia dose), PNSB symbiont *photos are examples of the algae listed. Accepting trades for NPS or CUC

Closed all the other threads I had with items for sale since I have so many things going on. Will do my best to update this thread monthly with any changes to availability. Individual threads may be linked with more details on certain subjects. Mostly live foods for now. You name it, I'll figure it out. Everything is grown locally in Portland by yours truly. Local Pickup: Portland (cross street - Oleson x Scholls Ferry) Shipping: free on orders $30 or more. Phytoplankton Surplus: ($10 for 32oz) - mystery blend of phytoplankton that I phase out between batches. -Proportions of species vary - at least 5 species Phyto Blend 10 species: ($10 for 16oz / $60 for 1gal) ($8 for 16oz / $50 for 1 gallon ) - equal ratio of Chlorella, Nannochloropsis, Tetraselmis, Thalassiosira, Isochrysis, Rhodomonas, Porphyridium, Dunaliella, Phaeodactylum, Symbiodinium (A + B) Pavlova , Chaetoceros , Pyrocystis Zooxanthellae: ($20 for 16oz) -zoochlorella and Zooxanthellae for bleached corals. Color Enhance Phyto: ($15 for 16oz) - red phyto to enhance pigmentation Diatom Bloom: ($15 for 16oz) - diatoms made for competing with cyano / dinos Pyrocystis Fusiformis: ($10 for 100mL) - fun Phytoplankton individual: direct message for details Copepod Benthic: ($20 for 16oz / $120 per gallon) - Tigriopus, Tisbe, Apocyclops, Euterpina Benthic + Pelagic: ($30 for 16oz) - benthic listed above and Acartia, Pseudodiaptomus, Parvocalanus Individual Copepod species: ($15 for 16oz) - Tigriopus, apocyclops, tisbe Amphipod: Not Available Rotifers (L): ($8 for 16oz) Rotifers (S): ($12 for 16oz) Baby Brine: ($5) Adult Brine Shrimp: ($10) Purple Non Sulphur Bacteria: ($20 for 16oz / $80 per gallon) White worms: ($5) currently troubleshooting Black worms: ($5) - starter culture Daphnia + Moina: ($10) Cyclops + Diaptomus: ($10) Greenwater: ($5 per gallon) Ammonia Solution: ($8) - ammonium chloride Phosphate Solution: ($8) - potassium phosphate Nitrate Solution: ($8) sodium nitrate Macroalgae Fertilizer: ($10) -Manganese, Iron, Molybdenum, Cobalt, Boron, Zinc, Nickel, Biotin, Iodide, Zinc, Potassium Feel free to ask questions.

Thank you to @LavenderTi for hosting this month. Thank you to @obrien.david.j for a very hands on presentation about battery backup. Glad to see familiar faces as well as some new ones. Looking forward to seeing you in the community.

See you all there

In my understanding of zonal nutrient loops I sought to understand how cryptic zones may process dissolved organic carbon in a reef environment. Haven't quite figured it out but my culture practices provided some insight. Biological Carbon Pump: Dissolved CO2 in seawater is incorporated by phytoplankton into organic molecules -> grazing by zooplankton leaks organic molecules + phytoplankton decay leaks organic molecules = dissolved organic carbon + detritus (particulate organic matter) - detritus that cannot be easily processed sinks to the bottom to be cycled by different microbes Microbial carbon Pump: Dissolved organic carbon from phytoplankton and zooplankton fuel bacteria growth -> bacteria recycle what DOC molecules they can until nothing is "usable" -> bacteria release CO2 back into atmosphere + refractory dissolved organic carbon (unusable components) -refractory carbon is photodegradable Nutrient Zone Balance: Controlling nutrients in a reef tank is about stocking, filtration, feeding quantity/frequency, etc. Let us break it down to C : N : P , our tank requires some sort of ratio to efficiently function. Unbalanced Nutrients: excess Nitrate + phytoplankton ( leaking DOC) --> reduces zooplankton consumption -> no detritus being made + plenty of DOC -> microbes thrive -> high refractory dissolved organic matter (constantly suspended matter)-> in the ocean would flow with the current and be hard to sink/tank should be removed via fine filtration Balanced Nutrients: proper maintenance of the C : N : P ratio -> phytoplankton -> grazed by zooplankton -> detritus -> particulate organic matter is made of aggregate or fast sinking particles easily removed via filtration Marine Paramecium Culture: Primarily used in freshwater aquaculture as a food for fish fry. It is known to eat algae and bacteria. Developing a culture for marine turned out to be rather difficult since there are a number of harmful ciliates. Luckily a friend from across the pond recommended isolating "green" ciliates found in the same environments as rotifer and brine cysts. "Green" ciliates were isolated and put into production after the 5th attempt. They are fed a variety of phytoplankton but prefer leaky cells, smaller cells, bacteria smaller than them. No predation has been observed. *microbes make up 90% of the weight in ocean water. Corals are bacterivores. -Tanks nowadays are often started "sterile" which limits what our biodiversity can produce for itself. If our tank cannot produce a remedy for itself then why not make one for it. -A lot of my live foods are fed live phytoplankton religiously. You can imagine I have built up quite a large amount of detritus and organic carbon in these culture tanks (buckets) which do not receive water changes. -Utilizing Purple Non Sulphur Bacteria the dissolved organics were being processed and the molecules rendered inert keeping the culture from crashing when parameters become unbalanced -Constant microbial blooms can reduce visibility and suffocate copepod cultures - Paramecium helps reduce other bacteria in the water. Can be used as an intermediary food source on pod production Photos below are of Paramecium in culture being fed a mix of phytoplankton, cyanobacteria, zooxanthellae, and purple non sulphur bacteria. (oval figures with fine hairs and green dots) *Unsure of application for larval fish rearing. *high potential as a culture additive to reduce stress *food akin to rotifers but more readily consumed by corals *consumer of decomposing matter *microbial competitor

Hope everyone is doing well and they are keeping their tanks warm. Power came back on for me after 52 hours. Bad - Complete loss of life in all tanks (240g total). - Halted all pod production. Unknown if total loss. With my luck it'll just be Tigriopus and rotifers alive. - breeding projects....gone - bacteria culture projects..... gone Good - saved all of the phytoplankton in my collection. Shaken on the hour every hour. - only thing to survive the tank wipes was Sargassum (prefers cooler temps) - mangroves are fine Ran a Ecoflow delta, Yeti 1500x, and hooked up a marine battery. Managed to keep power up for close to 40 hours. After that I was charging power cells st work to take home. But in the end it was not enough. I staggered what I could, went manual where I could. The hardest part was keeping the heat up in my apartment. Next time I'll get a place with wood burning capability or allow gas/propane generator. Maybe I just had too many things to take care of. The big glass sliding door facing a frozen creek didn't help either, terrible insulation. Regardless, it was definitely a learning experience for me. Not sure where to go from here. Stepping away is not likely. Though my heart is definitely not in it right now.

Close to 30 hours without power. Main marine battery is keeping my reptile/invert collection alive. Ran out of backup batteries to keep the aquariums heated and aerated. Been manually shaking the phytoplankton cultures every hour. Fingers crossed power is restored soon.

(Acartia t.) (Pseudodiaptomus p. naupliar) parvo - Trim.mp4 (Parvocalanus c. jumping faster than I can focus) Pelagic inhabits the water column (excellent feeders or breeding) Benthic inhabits surfaces (excellent for foragers, colonizing, CUC) Benthic Copepod Blend (16oz): $15 the pods available in this blend will populate reef aquaria and consume detritus. No phyto supplementation is required but can be extremely beneficial. Tigriopus californicus Tisbe biminiensis Apocyclops panamensis Euterpina acutifrons Pelagic + Benthic Blend (16oz): $25 pods in this blend include four benthic species Tigriopus californicus Tisbe biminiensis Apocyclops panamensis Euterpina acutifrons and the addition of three pelagic species which require live phytoplankton supplementation to produce Pseudodiaptomus pelagicus Acartia tonsa Parvocalanus crassirostris Location: Raleigh Hills (Scholls x Oleson) Shipping: Yes Reference as of 2/6/ 24

Definitely remove the ulva as it can be quite invasive in a reef. As you can see it is already hampering coral growth by growing on fresh tips (skeleton). But it does make excellent export. If a nutrient issue arises, it could take hold and become unruly. It is the most palatable of all the algae. It'll grow faster than most CUC can eat it. Fish would be preferable. Manual export is advised. Some species of ulva are sought in culture. It can be quite a tool

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy new year. 2023 was an eventful year that taught me a lot. Thank you to everyone in the community. Special thanks to everyone who has supported my development. Would not be here if not for all of you. A lot of people ask me about my "setup." Tis not much but this is my primary workstation. Pretty much decided to see how much I can fit into my apartment without my girlfriend killing me. (Picture: zooplantkon production on the left rack / computer and more zooplankton behind it / 90gallon macro growout t5 top, led actinic bottom) Zooplankton production except rotifers and brine. Buckets have hardier species. Clear vessels contain pods that require fresh food daily. Fresh and salt zooplankton are here. 7 marine pods,1 amphipod, 2 rotifers, 2 fresh pods, 2 water fleas, black / white worms, brine (baby + adult) in full production. Currently developing the capability to culture 2 new marine pods. Top of the rack. Crayfish, black worms in the tubs. Buckets contain rotating pod cultures that I experiment with. Vases under the poster contain freshwater zooplankton (moina, daphnia, cyclops, diaptomus). Out of view. Brute trashcan for amphipod rearing. Microalgae culture station. Masters on top. Bulk on bottom are rotated weekly to keep water down. Currently maintain 15 distinct cultures. Currently only two breeding projects. Halocaridina rubra (top) and Pseudomugil cyanodorsalis (bottom). Got a little saltwater hydroponic set up. Mainly red / black / orange mangroves, but there is a bit of seapurslane grown in a coc coir. Stocked with guppies / ghost shrimp / purple and green bacterial mats @ 1.024 salinity Bacteria, rotifers, and brine are kept in a separate "office" room. Helps keep contamination down. Slowly learning to not be pulled in different directions. Just do what makes me happy.