Phytoplankton

It's not that hard to start a culture...the hard part is keeping it going uncontaminated and without crashing.

Did you know that our own local producer of phytoplankton and Rotifers, Mountain Corals, is owned and operated by a third generation of WMAS members? First it was started by a local biologist that identified and developed a unique bright green strain of single celled algae as a food source for coral and rotifers. The business was then purchased by Tim Weidauer, WMAS founder and president for three years. Current WMAS members and past president and librarian, Joe and Cindy Jones then purchased it from Tim and operated it for about three years. And recently another WMAS member, Don Ballash, purchased it and is supplying local and national accounts including The Living Planet.

Give your coral the food they deserve: Velvet Green and Rotifers; produced locally by Mountain Corals. You will immediately notice the difference in color between the deep green of Velvet Green vs. DT's yellow-green.

I'm not sure, but Joe and Cindy might be willing to explain the basics of culture maintenance for those that are ready to do the hard work! Personally, it would be great to hear of another club member raising Anemonefish using Velvet Green fed Rotifers.

Mark

Yeah, I'm kicking myself for not making it to the meeting but I had a previous plans...  Anyway, my tank is back on track and ready for some new frags so I'll be stopping by soon (I'll message you).

I have always used the microalgae inoculants from Florida Aqua Farms Inc.

www.florida-aqua-farms.com

You can make hundreds of gallons of dense cultures with a single inoculant, or simply make a couple gallons when you need it.

As explained on their website.... 

"Want a guaranteed live alternative for not so live hobby liquid algae cultures? Then our "Micro Algae Disks" are the answer. Convenient live inoculants of microalgae ready to use when you need them. Unialgal, petri-dish cultures of microalgae specially sealed for extended shelf life. Simply store at normal cool room temperature in a dark area, "Micro Algae Diskâ„¢" cultures can survive for 6+ months. No liquids involved, small, compact, lightweight, easy and less costly to transport. Disks eliminate the need to maintain liquid sub-starter cultures in the lab. Cost of one disk is cheaper than hobby liquid culture. Place sterile culture water on disk, cover, provide moderate light, for 12 to 24 hours then rub off cells with a sterile cotton Q-tip, add to 250 - 500 ml culture water, fertilize (see our Micro Algae Grow), aerate and incubate in 16-24 light for 7-10 days then use as an inoculant for larger cultures. Five popular saltwater species available. Nanochloropsus (Japanese Chlorella) and Nannochloris can be grown in either saltwater or freshwater. Others tolerate low salinities but best growth normally obtained in 15 to 25 ppt. Sizes shown are maximum. Nanochloropsus, Tetraselmis and Isocrysis are considered the most important alga in culturing zooplankton such as rotifers and ciliates. Chaetoceros, a diatom is normally used in clam and shrimp culture. Tetraselmis, and Isocrysis are motile alga, normally used to culture zooplankton like rotifers and Artemia."

You mean this thread Suzy?

http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1825& KW=phytoplankton+density&PN=0&TPN=1

I'm not an expert so your opinion is appreciated.  I found 12 bottles on ebay for $50. 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2 0759&item=4317770343&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

If you think it's worth a try, pm me and I'll order them and we can split up the order.   Susan

The club may want to add Plankton Culture Manual to its library. Topics discussed include...

Aquatic food webs

Utilization of plankton

Microalgae identification

Microalgae culture (not what kind of music they listen to BTW)

Rotifer culture

Ciliate culture

Artemia culture

Copepod culture

Daphnia culture

Clam and oyster veligers

Amphipod culture

Mysis culture

Micro worm culture