Eatfrenchfries

I still trade grunge. 

I think it has name J115 as the name because not all the gene sequence results are documented for proper identification. Most likely it is recently discovered and they are still mapping it. Usually they will match it to something with a similiar sequence/properties of it is unknown. 

J115 is nonmotile, gram negative, and anaerobic. Capable of metabolizing various "fat chains." Suspected of dealing in ammonia rich + nutrient rich environment. (No they are not the same)

Pathogen testing is useful but note it does not account for organisms that spread the pathogen. Ich for example. 

In your tank I would imagine there is more animal waste (ammonia) than photosynthetic waste (carbs mostly).

Looking at the presence of Piscirickettsiaceae, Mycobacteriaceae, and Hyphomicrobiaceae could to detritus plugged up somewhere. A skimmer would help regardless even if they are not all motile and have spores. 

This would influence your flavor in a way.

Interestingly some of these bacterias are found in gut biomes and even used as probiotic. 

Crenarchaeota has been shown to process ammonia to nitrite. It could be filling the role of other ammonia oxidizing bacteria. Probably in a lower nutrient environment. 

*shellfish are constantly filterfeeding in the ocean. Good and bad they incorporate and keep bacteria alive. Diversity bomb. 

*max potential diversity is best transfered in tanks between 5 - 10 years of age. Any less is "developing" and anything over is reduced diversity. 

*the argument with ocean rock is the rock goes through it's own mini cycle during transport and acclimation.  It may be  diverse but also in constant flux.  

So much has happened since attending the Coral Farmers Market. The amount of support we recieved in 2024 was beyond any thought possible. 

We started off supporting locals in Oregon + Washington but now word spread and are now regularly supplying in CA, NY, and FL. 45 more to go. 

Copepods, phytoplankton, shrimp, worms, macroalgae, bacteria, element supplements, fish and coral. Freshwater, Brackish, Saltwater. Who knows what is going to come next. 

Literally no words for how we made it this far. It's thanks to your support that the research continues. 

 (each dot is an individual pelagic copepod naupliar, the bright light startles them, daily separated to encourage adults over naupli)

*Currently taking new orders on all products*

Monthly Care Package 

-1/2 gallon phytoplankton blend

-16oz benthic copepod blend

-16oz rotating live item (includes test products and supplements)

definitely interested in feedback. That is the main thing. 

$50 shipping included (if pickup I will add a freebie)

Portland 

Nemastoma sp. (S pacific variety)

- rare red, gelatinous algae. Not like common pink nemastoma found in the gulf of Mexico. 

- orange growth tip (key feature)

-fluorescent in actinic lighting 

*multiple frags available, unattached

Bump.

Very cool event. Looking forward to the next one. 

1 hour ago, obrien.david.j said:

Thanks for laying out your thought process and progress.  

As you know, I'm culturing Nannochloropsis Oculata and Tetraselmis.   I'm harvesting straight into 32oz container(s), which takes me 2-3wks to feed them all to my tank.   Stored in refrigerator that long.   Am I still feeding with max(or close) nutrients, and good motility?

 

If the phytoplankton is refrigerated and agitated (daily is ideal) then it will keep nutrition. Up to 4 months if it is a single strain. The cold will slow the metabolism. 

Motility can diminish if not agitated or if multiple species are present in the storage vessel. 

Nannochloropsis is nonmotile. The higher the density, the faster it will settle. 

Tetraselmis is motile, this means that once it loses suspension it will no  longer be motile and cannot be resuspended easily. 

*motility only matters in rearing certain organisms. Pelagic pods need motile plankton as a large number of them are ambush predators. 

-if algae is allowed to settle at the bottom of the vessel then all the cells will begin to "suffocate

Some species of phytoplankton are easier to store than others. 

Isochrysis has a terrible shelf life in the refrigerator. Better to be room temp. 

Rhodomonas likes the cold but will degrade immediately and begin to stress making it difficult to store backups. 

Scrapped the idea of using glycerin or sodium alginate to keep the concentrates in suspension. 

Took a step back and realized centrifuge wasn't enough to layer phyto cells on one another and maximize storage space. 

 

1. Run phytoplankton through centrifuge 

-focus on removing water content

- keeping cells intact

- maximize storage 

2. Use 1um mesh to drain water further and create paste 

(5um did not work as some species are less than 2um)

*two methods from here

3A. Paste is stored in 20ml glass droppers and refrigerated for up to 7 days of use

- cells are intact therefore maximum nutrients

- motility is maintained for 4 - 7 days (some species do better than others)

- easy to store and use

- can be cultured

3B. Paste is flash frozen by making a dry ice sandwich with wax paper. (Thinner the better)

- cells are mostly intact (70%)

- some nutrition lost

- backup feed that can be stored 1 - 2 years for feeding purposes

- unable to culture

- easy to rehydrate 

Polyp response with frozen paste

I like the concept of high end / ultra swaps for reefers but those tend to turn into a farmers market / show for vendors with the purchases rather than swap. 

Need people to bring in hots to get hots. 

When my past clubs hosted we did not always have show tanks. Show tanks are nice but the logistics can be more trouble than it is worth. 

I think swap and show are two different things. 

Recent years are leaning more towards a "show" format for swaps. Less trust on what you are getting if you cannot see it. People just don't share as much as they used to and I can understand that with how tough the hobby is right now. Miss the days where people shared corals they thought were cool just to spread the love. 

We used to host a potluck and organize a couple people to bring totes with saltwater + heaters to hold everyone's coral.

-entry fee, bring coral frag (be respectful) 

- RSVP to attend. This is to account for who brings what. Had someone come uninvited with 5lbs of Kenya tree, pandoras, and other stuff no one wanted. 

- more than 10 people bringing frags. 

- The ask was to bring 1 - 5 (or more) frags that people would actually want to trade for. If you wouldn't trade/buy it. Why bring it. 

-No recent fragging unless healed over. Fresh glue isn't a good look. No night before fragging. Label all containers if placed in tote.

-People usually brought their own coolers to hold things.

- post pictures of what you are bringing if you'd like. Or list what you are bringing by name. 

-frags that are not traded have the option to be donated for a raffle. Each donation equals one raffle drawing. Towards the end we start doing the raffle, if you are picked then you get first pick from the frag pile. This continues until all frags are picked. 

Just came from a frag swap in San Francisco before the PNW April Coral Farmers Market. Little over 80 people met up at a reserved spot in a park with coral in coolers. Most items were pre bagged. 

-separated corals in totes by type. Everyone who put frags into the swap got an entry.

-when your name is called you get a couple minutes to check over the items before you and pick one. 

-keep going until all corals are gone. If you brought 5, you left with 5. 

Started as mostly small time vendors/private sellers who wanted to exchange recent goodies from events they had been to. A local store also invited its customers to see what we were doing. Had burgers, something like beer, and blue flashlights to check corals. Taught a lot of newer hobbyists how spotters pick coral without having to display it.

Example:

- use royal blue flashlights to display fluorescent proteins in corals. The light will reflect showing us the potential coral colors. Also a good judge if the coral you are examining is healthy. 

-  UV flashlights are not ideal because they do not charge the proteins as much to reflect color back. Also things other than proteins will be react under UV.

RSVP + 1

Thank you for the shoutout. Just finished watching it. 

People have been telling me all morning. 

I

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)