ReeferKris Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 Does anyone in this club make their own phyto? If so, how did you start your culture? Did you find it to be more trouble than it's worth? TIA, Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Ask willow. She does it all the time and raises brine. I tried and failed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Does anyone in this club make their own phyto? If so, how did you start your culture? Did you find it to be more trouble than it's worth?TIA, Kris I make my own; have been for a while now. I started with a dry culture. It's no problem at all, never had a culture crash and I keep it out on my porch during the summer right in the hot Texas sun. Lol, after looking at the prices for live phyto; yeah, it's well worth it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckimble Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 care to share the recipe? I am sick of buying this stuff as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 care to share the recipe?I am sick of buying this stuff as well... Me, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 This is supposed to work, but I really want to hear what willow does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 Do I detect a topic for another meeting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeferKris Posted August 1, 2007 Author Share Posted August 1, 2007 Wow, thanks for the responses. I think this would be a GREAT topic for discussion at a meeting. Willow, so you just leave it out in the SUN? wow. Please tell us YOUR version of home brewing phyto. TIA Folks, threads like these encourage new members. Club cooperation is a great thing. Kudos! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 This is supposed to work, but I really want to hear what willow does. we just chenged from windows 98 to vista, so my husband doesn't have the camera program loaded back on yet... as soon as he does I'll take a few pics (with my crappy camera) and post them... I started out using that link Headless, I make mine in one and two liter bottles. I don't worry much about the SG of the water... anywhere between 1.023 and 1.026 .. doesn't seem to make any difference. I do rinse the bottles out with a diluted bleach solution and then rince with plain tap water, letting the bottles air dry before starting a new culture or bottling it up to give away. I got my starter culture from FloridaAquaFarms. But I only used it for the first batch. All of the others were started from whatever phyto I have growing. I know some people haven't had any luck with them (FAF), but I have never had a problem. I used only half of one disc and divided it up between two one liter bottles (saving half of the original culture in case mine ever crashes... which knock wood it hasn't). I do need to order a new disc though since our pup managed to get my reserve one and chewed it up on the floor... grrrrrrr... (You can use a razor blade to cut the culture disc from them in half) once I added the starter culture to the bottles of saltwater (after letting it soak of course, kind of following FAF's directions on how to activate it) I added 2.5 ml of the microalgae grow and .5 ml essential elements per liter. I drilled a hole into the bottle cap for the airline, capped the bottle and turned on the air pump. I let it sit out on my porch... night temps have gotten down into the 40's and since my porch is enclosed (sort of like a sun room) the day temps are anywhere from the 60's to 100's. It was 100 out on the porch yesterday and the algae doesn't seem to care at all. it's usually ready in about a week... depending on how much phyto I pour into the next bottle to start... and for the record I have let it sit for three months without doing anything to it... just Texas sunshine and air. Mine can get extremely dark (almost black) but I have never tested it to see just what it is density wise. It just depends on how long I leave it. If you plan on growing your own brine shrimp make sure you have plenty on hand and in production, since they can deplete it pretty fast! I hope I covered everything... if I didn't let me know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckimble Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 Very cool... Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 Thanks! Maybe I was making it WAY to complicated. Your method sounds like making sun tea for filter feeders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenM Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 I still do the brine shrimp thing, though not as often as I was (I think that was adding to my nitrate problem). I bought the "shrimpery" at the local big chain pet store along with packets of dried eggs. It's the kit for little kids. It's basically a little plastic black box with a hole in the top. A clear pill bottle with a small hole in it's top fits upside down into the hole in the black box. The idea behind this is the live shrimp will swim up into the clear pill bottle and the eggshells and unhatched eggs stay in the black box. I pour the clear pill bottle into a brine shrimp net to strain them, then feed them to my tank. I have, however, poured the entire contents of the black box into a clear container, let it settle an hour or so, then siphoned out the "middle" with a turkey baster (leaving the sinking shells on bottom and floating eggs on top). They seem to die after about 48 hours or so, so I only hatch out a small quantity at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 I still do the brine shrimp thing, though not as often as I was (I think that was adding to my nitrate problem). I bought the "shrimpery" at the local big chain pet store along with packets of dried eggs. It's the kit for little kids. It's basically a little plastic black box with a hole in the top. A clear pill bottle with a small hole in it's top fits upside down into the hole in the black box. The idea behind this is the live shrimp will swim up into the clear pill bottle and the eggshells and unhatched eggs stay in the black box. I pour the clear pill bottle into a brine shrimp net to strain them, then feed them to my tank. I have, however, poured the entire contents of the black box into a clear container, let it settle an hour or so, then siphoned out the "middle" with a turkey baster (leaving the sinking shells on bottom and floating eggs on top). They seem to die after about 48 hours or so, so I only hatch out a small quantity at a time. Are you feeding them? They die because they starve to death or because the ammonia levels in the container spike. I usually hatch out about a teaspoon of the eggs (decapsulating them first). And I use the two liter bottle method. I only feed about a 1/4 cup (give or take a little) of the phyto in that first 24 hours after hatch. After that I feed them every day. Once they really start growing they can go through 2 liters of the phyto in 24 hours with no problem. I also change out their saltwater every few days. I have had them grow to adult size and start reproducing in just a two liter soda bottle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 Is there enough interest here to do group order starter culture from FloridaAquaFarms? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenM Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 Are you feeding them? They die because they starve to death or because the ammonia levels in the container spike. I usually hatch out about a teaspoon of the eggs (decapsulating them first). And I use the two liter bottle method. I only feed about a 1/4 cup (give or take a little) of the phyto in that first 24 hours after hatch. After that I feed them every day. Once they really start growing they can go through 2 liters of the phyto in 24 hours with no problem. I also change out their saltwater every few days. I have had them grow to adult size and start reproducing in just a two liter soda bottle. What is "decapsulating"? I don't feed them. I have some Micro-Tech (or something like that). I tried to put some of that in there, thinking they'd eat it, but the next day the water smelled like a sewer so I gave up. Then I had the nitrate problem and figured uneaten brine wasn't helping, so I haven't hatched out any in the last couple of weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted August 4, 2007 Share Posted August 4, 2007 What is "decapsulating"? I don't feed them. I have some Micro-Tech (or something like that). I tried to put some of that in there, thinking they'd eat it, but the next day the water smelled like a sewer so I gave up. Then I had the nitrate problem and figured uneaten brine wasn't helping, so I haven't hatched out any in the last couple of weeks. it's removing the hard outer layer of the brine shrimp egg shell so you have a better hatch rate. If you go to the San Francisco Bay's brine shrimp website they have directions there... here's the link: http://www.sfbb.com/faqs/decapstulation.html I just follow their directions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.