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culturing different reef tank organisms

3K views 17 replies 6 participants last post by  gerald 
#1 · (Edited)
I was curious if anyone knows the proper method for isolating phytoplankton from one's tank water? How about copepods, rotifers and amphipods? Is the best way manually with a microscope Louis Pasteur style?

Next question is what media should I use to culture strains of Symbiodinium? How about what media should I use for nitrobacters or other n/p cycle bacteria? I am assuming f/2 media would be a good choice to try for all of the above microorganisms?
 
#2 · (Edited)
So for anyone interested in the methodology to purify a strain of phytoplankton, serial dilution duh. But only with inorganic nutrients which will slow the growth of bacteria and eventually eliminate it from the sample. But how does one then separate the different plankton that are in this sample?

I will soon order some f medium and can't wait to get growing some plankton.. and subsequently anything else I can find floating around my tank water.. I know they are in there..

Can't wait so I made a few petris with standard MEA agar and some honey agar. Thinking about trying some nori agar if I can get it fine enough. I will update this thread as I go along with my research and of course there will be microscope pictures :)

Step one is isolate plankton. Step two isolate something bigger.. step three bigger.. I am tired of adding dead things into my tank. I see it as extremely counter productive to maintaining proper nutrient levels in line with the redman ratio.

My other experiment will deal with the isolation of symbiodinium strains and subsequent tissue infection in the hopes of altering phenotypes of various cnidarians. We have all seen grafting happening in a healthy aquaria, time to see if we can't flip a few of those transcription factor switches on and off.
 
#3 ·
it would be alot simpler on the phytoplankton side of things just to order a live strain then to go through all the steps its going to take for you to get a strain from your existing tank.

its been awhile since ive been in the phyto game but you can get a live culture from algagen through seahorsesource.com for 12-20.00
 
#4 ·
I figure the many strains alive in my tank are there because they were the best. Even though it is extra steps to isolate, perhaps these strains are 'made' for my environment.

Do you know what species you were buying? I have found many different species of plankton in my tank, sadly taking pictures does not work well with my phone. I promised though and they will be figured out eventually.

Anyone know if phytoplankton can be reanimated from a dry state? Where o where is a marine biologist to help me out?
 
#5 ·
Different phyto- and zooplankton species will likely bloom and crash sequentially in every tank, in response to seasons, nutrients, water chemistry, and most importantly Each Other. I doubt any two tanks will follow the same sequence, even if set up side by side with similar equipment and treated as identically as you possibly can. That's just the nature of mixed plankton ecology; you never know what you're gonna get and when, or how long it may last. That's why mariculture facilities needing particular plankton species or sizes to feed a particular larval fish or invert grow the ones they need in separate mono-cultures. Some marine algal species may survive drying, at least briefly, but I suspect most of them die pretty quickly.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I will paint a hypothetical situation:

Say one sets up an in-line phytoplankton reactor. Peristaltic pumps feeding proper nutrients and then the reactor has air bubbling through it. The reactor is fed by tank water and only drains once the nutrients are depleted. What happens after a few weeks?
 
#9 ·
Regarding plankton food for corals, I really don't know. But when I've grown "green water" cultures to support freshwater zooplankton (Daphnia, Ceriodpahnia, Moina, Cyclops, Diatomus, Philodina, etc) there are definitely some that perform better than others. I have had some cultures that were a lovely green color, but completely useless for growing rotifers and cladocerans. I did not ID the particular algae. "Green water" grown in outdoor tubs with leaves, dirt, bird poop, etc usually worked better for me than indoor cultures.
 
#10 ·
Thank you for your valuable insight Gerald! So your saying that a 'dirtier' green culture (multi species) may work better for my plans than a monoculture?

I would venture to guess that the size of the particular phytoplankton might dictate how large of a predator it can sustain? I'm sure phytoplankton have different survival mechanisms as well (chemical, physical) which might limit the types of heterotrophs that can successfully consume the different varieties? Perhpaps I could deactivate/kill or macerate the phytoplankton to give more types of heterotrophs a chance to feed?
 
#11 ·
I'm hesitant to speculate too far on extrapolating my successes and failures with growing freshwater zooplankton to your situation. We can guess and experiment endlessly, or you can research what specific zooplankton are known to be suitable for the animals you want to feed, and which phytoplankton work well for growing them. Several people have already researched and published plankton culture manuals for feeding larval fish and inverts. Experimentation is great and you may discover a useful new technique, but if your goal is keeping your reef animals well fed, I'd start by following the guidance of people who have already developed workable methods, like Martin Moe and others. Also, algal cell size is just one factor and probably not the most important one; palatability and nutritional value are more important.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Thank you for your response! I am off to read the Martin Moe manual. Be back with more questions surely. I would say that growing 'any' food for my tank would be considered a riotous success. My goal is to simply find a workable solution. Then to extrapolate to actual production.

Anyone with more interesting material for me to read?


Reading about ciliates this morning was rather interesting...
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/10/breeder

Holy cow I love Martin haha what a boss.
 
#13 ·
#14 ·
Maybe, maybe not (great answer, huh?) If all corals ate the same foods, there wouldn't be nearly so many different kinds on reefs. "Resource partitioning" (which includes eating different foods) is part of the "game" that allows large numbers of different species to coexist. Predation and habitat disturbance are also parts of that "game". So depending on which plankton species are blooming at a particular time, they might or might not be good food for particular corals and/or zooplankton.
 
#17 ·
Late to the game as always but it depends on what you are trying to feed. Most corals consume zooplankton as a mainstay of their captured diet but also absorb organic macromolecules depending on the species.

As a rube-goldberg grand master it seems like a lot of work for a maybe but I can see what you're going for. Essentially an automated self feeding system of polycultures that feed each other and your system as the reef naturally would yes?
 
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