Algagen Group Order?

What size are the $20 cultures? All you really need to start a culture is 20ml or so. We could split the cultures between a lot of people and save some money. Suzy, were you thinking about getting any of the zooplankton?

Edited by Adam Haycock - April 09 2007 at 12:27pm

How much is the Phycopure?

It seems to me that it would be very difficult to feed this to your tank every day as some people do with their own cultures due to the exobitant price.  I mean my family doesn't eat $25 worth of food a day.  I certainly can't afford to feed my tank at that price.

This is why I use Tahitian Blend.  It seems pricey initially, but it lasts forever.  Maybe I'm just not feeding enough of it.

Im basing a lot of what Im saying on the statements by Mr. Tagrin (im guessing he started DTs based on his initials). Here is what he wrote to Anthony Calfo to pass along to RC members...

"In contrast, centrifuging phytoplankton is a process used by some companies to make algae paste for commercial aquaculture. This process was not designed to harvest live cells and in fact, the cells are scraped out like clay. This method is fast and cheap, but it damages a large percentage of cells. Several companies are purchasing these algal pastes as frozen concentrated phytoplankton to use as ingredients in their marine aquariums"

But here is Mr. Randy Reed's (owner of Instant algae, the maker of Tahitian blend i think)....

I understand why Dennis has to make comments like that - otherwise he has no way to differentiate his products. But unfortunately his "facts" are not correct. Nanno is the only algae that we concentrate to the "clay" level and none of the cells are damaged at this concentration - Nanno is just too tough. Our other algae are concentrated at far lower G's to a thick liquid. They also come out whole and intact.

The algae that we concentrate for our "Live" product which is sold into the aquarium industry is concentrated using a different method that we have developed. I'm not going to reveal how we do this because it is a trade secret that we don't want to become publically known. I know everybody hates "secrets", but sometimes they are necessary - sorry!

Mr. Tagrin later writes...

EPA is Eicosapentaenoic acid one of the most essential omega 3 fatty acids.

DHA is Docosahexaenoic acid, another essential omega 3 fatty acid.

Although animals can synthesize one from the other it is not as efficient and the goal from our continued research is to find a species of microalgae that would be a good source of DHA that survives refrigerated storage.

Note: Isochrysis and Pavlova are dead within 2 weeks of refrigerated storage.

People are being mislead by claims that they survive in
refrigerated storage.

And Mr. Reeds follow-up...

EPA and ARA are found at the highest levels in green algae, but DHA is ONLY found in brown algae like Isochrysis and Pavlova. DHA is one of the building blocks of neural tissue and without it your animals can not be at their peak vibrancy.

By the way, Isochrysis and Pavlova can be kept alive in a refrigerator for far longer than 2 weeks. I’ve heard there is a study that somebody performed that claims only 2 weeks, but I’ve never been able to get my hands on it. If they killed the Iso/Pav after only 2 weeks they did something very wrong.

Its hard to believe either since they are trying to sell thier own product and discredit the competition. But I bet the truth is somwhere in between. Id say Isochrysis and Pavlova start to die off after a couple weeks but there are stragglers for a couple months. And that is probably more true for a product like Phycopure, not the super-concentrated Tahitian blend.

Im not too sure about the cryopreservation. They use MeOH, DMSO or maybe another chemical which I believe prevents the cells from freezing. So if you keep them in the freezer, the cells are not actually frozen, just very very cold. But once thawed, it can take somewhere around a month before the cells start reproducing again (but are alive).

Will, i would say that part of the algae you are adding is decaying in your water and producing a nutrient spike for other algaes. The algaes in Tahitian blend will not grow on the glass or substrate. Have you tried DTs or phycopure? The live cells will last much longer in your sysem and not as much will end up deteriorating water quality. After I stopped adding nannochloropsis and Tetraselmis to my tank, I could still find living cells in the water many weeks later, just by taking random samples near the substrate.  

Im not sure if its priced the same but this is from last years order...

The 8 oz retails for $16 and the 16 oz retails for $29-30. When you guys order I will take 25% off so that would be $12 and $21 respectively