Phytoplankton Culture
This page will be dedicated to information about phytoplankton culture. I will share my set-up with you, some of the tips, tricks and short-cuts that I use, as well as any other topics relevant to the culture of phytoplankton species.
Here is a list of the equipment you will need to culture a phytoplankton species such as Nannochloropsis occulata at home
Equipment List
- 48″ Shop light
- 2 x 48″, 40 Watt fluorescent bulbs
- On/off Timer
- Air pump
- ~10 ft. Flexible airline tubing
- ~ 3 ft. Rigid airline tubing
- Multi-outlet airline splitter/valve
- 3-4 x 1 Gallon water jugs
- Aquarium salt
- Fertilizer f/2 Formula
- Phytoplankton starter culture, like Nannochloropsis occulata
Equipment Set-Up
- Mount the fluorescent light horizontally on a wall about table-height
- Slide the table up against the wall, just under the light
- Spread your culture bottles out to maximize surface area exposed to the light
- Cut 3 lengths of 12 inch rigid tubing and 4 lengths of flexible tubing, 3 long enough to reach from the bottles to the splitter and 1 long enough to run from the air pump to the splitter
- Attach flexible tubing to splitter, pump and rigid tubingInsert rigid tubing into culture bottle
- Turn on air pump
- Fill bottles with a small amount of freshwater to test and make sure all 3 airlines create a modest flow of bubbles. Adjust flow rate on splitter as necessary to create uniform moderate flow
This is what my set-up looks like:
Phytoplankton Culture Set-up
Making the Media
Make a fresh gallon of saltwater with a specific gravity of 1.014. Stir the water, then add the fertilizer according to the label–if using Micro Algae Grow, then add 40 drops per gallon. Let the water ’age’ over night before using.
Establishing the Culture
Add enough media to the culture to double the volume. Insert a rigid airline and start a moderate flow of bubbles. Watch the culture over the next few days. Diluting the culture should make it lighter in color–when the culture returns to the original color, or darker, dilute again by 50% and repeat until the culture volume reaches 1 gallon. Another popular culturing volume is 2L–you can use clear soda bottles to do that. The main point here is to take it slow in the beginning, allow your culture to take-hold and help keep possible contamination at bay. Once your culture has reached a deep green color in the 1 gallon vessel, you are ready to subdivide.
Grow-out and Harvest
Once the culture is up and running, you will want to establish a separate culture in a few different bottles. Pour 1/3 of the culture into each of 2 new bottles, so that there is 1/3 in all three. Fill them back up with fresh media, set them in front of the light and get ready to harvest in a week. From then on out, harvest 2/3 of each bottle, keep the remaining 1/3 in the original bottle and top-off with new media. Put the airline back in and you’re culturing like a pro.
Storage
Use the phytoplankton immediately or store it in the refrigerator until it is needed. If storing the phytoplankton for longer periods of time, you’ll notice that the phytoplankton cells settle to the bottom–make sure you shake it up at least once a week or the culture will spoil/rot.
Dosing Phytoplankton
Click here for more information about how to dose phytoplankton in your reef tank
Some other links to other information about phytoplankton culture or fish breeding
Best Book for Anyone Who Wants to Breed Saltwater Fish
Phytoplankton Culture: Initial Equipment List
Phytoplankton Culture: Equipment Set-up
