Culture Stations....

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SquishyFish

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I found this article and was completely floored at the originality of it. Not only have I never heard of this during the time I have spent on this board or the other one...I have never seen it done. From the article...
"What is a culture station?" A culture station is a set-up allowing for the production of microalgae (phytoplankton), rotifers and/or brine shrimp (zooplankton). The station provides containment, nutrients, light, and aeration for the inhabitants.
Click to expand...


In other words...its a way to produce your own food for your tank. Feed the bottom of the food chain and they will feed the rest of the tank..

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-07/ds/index.htm
 
Oh Wow! Someone had alot of time on their hands... I must say doesn't sound half bad and in a way it makes sense..
 
For the person who asked, click on the Navigation bar on Susan's site, than go to the basement and click on phytoplankton
 
Sorry about all the posts!! This was the BEST thing I have done since I added a sump/refugium!! T My clams love it!! My Pods love it!! I am getting HUGE polyp extension on my Hydnophoras. And my xenia go mad. MyBubble tip Anenomes have split 8 times since I started it. My life in the sand is going mad!.

You can buy DT's and do the same thing but they are $25 for 32 oz. I grow 12 litres (equivalent of 24 bottles) every 2-3 weeks.

All you need is The starter culture, 2l bottles, a shop light and an air pump and the fertilizer
 
my husband has set one up for us, right under our stand next to the sump. it is so easy, and it works great. he ordered the cultures online (green water and rotifers). he just set them up using six empty 2liter soda bottles (washed out of course) and a dual output air pump. its awesome, we feed the green water to the rotifers, and the rotifers we direct feed to our corals. you can also use the green water and rotifers to feed to larval shrimps, if anyone is out there interested in breeding. yall should give it a try, its too easy not too!
good luck,
mermaid
 
So, I'm gonna venture out and ask potentially stupid questions. Aside from the initial setup using the "fertilizer" and "culture disk", what's the maintenance? Like, do you have to continue to buy culture disks, or can you simple take some from one jar, toss 'em in the other w/ a bit-o-fertilizer and fresh water and they start going crazy again? The rotifer process is explained, and I'm simply assuming the phyto is the same way. I know nothing about these so here go my feeding questions :)

Phyto: only used to feed the rotifers? What else in an actual tank will eat phyto? clams and filterfeeders? nothing?

Rotifers: Target feed to corals, anemones, etc?

If you use blender mush to feed the tank, do you still need these? Or should you feed blender mush cubes to fish and then feed the corals and stuff with these?
As a general feeding question, once in the morning and once at night? Or simply once a day?

Sorry for all of the questions, trying to gather all the info. :)
 
BOTH feed the tank. Phyto is the smaller organism. Phtyo IMHO is easier to grow. Once you get it started it is easy. I grow 4 bottles at a time. When it is mature, I keep one bottle and put 3 in the fridge. I split the 1 bottle 4 ways, fill with RODI water, add fertilizer and that is it! Wait 2-3 more weeks and do it again.

If you want to do rotifers, you need more phyto, since this is what they eat. You DONT want to cross contaminate or your phyto is history. To do rotifers, you basically take a bottle of Phyto and add the cyst, once the water is almost clear you strain and add to the tank. Different corals eat the different organisms. I think the Phyto is the most beneficial but the rotifers are more meaty.

Phtyo is microscopic and can feed more fine than your blender, plus Phto is the BASIC building block of the ocean. This is what everything eats. Remember some things filter feed, like clams, so they take in the water and phyto and strain it out.

These sites go into much more detail.
 
As far as how much, I would start out light, but now I feed once everyother day and pour in about 20-30 oz. in a 200 gallon tank.
 
Ah, so if I wanted to go this route, I could feed a high-quality blender mush to my fish and corals and anemones (when I get them), and I can use the phyto to feed clams, featherdusters, other filterfeeders, as well as supplement the blender mush the corals got, as some of the corals will filter out the phyto. Am I on the right track here?
 
You got it, but your corals and anenomes will benefit and eat from the phyto as well. Also your pods love phyto too. Also if you raise Brine shrimp, it is AWESOME to feed the brine shrimp Phyto before you feed them to your fish. It will fill them with REAL nutrients!
 
Wow...had no idea this would be so popular. I really want to do this....

Since you have some experience with this, do you think you could write an article or DIY on how to do it. I know you briefly explained it just now, but I would like to have something to put on our site to tell people how to do it.

It also says you can raise mysid in the bottles...any experience with this?
 
its funny, i just read about this in two of my books last night. Clownfishes and Book of Coral Propagation both suggest having this set up to feed newly hatched clownfish or any fish for that matter, and to use to grow numerous corals in a prop tank. The first of the two has a way detailed chapter on how to do it and what you need. might be worth checking out, but by the looks of these sites, they seem to provide just as much info, though i havn't read them all yet.
 
Would this setup be feasible for a 20 gallon tank or would I just have gallons of unused phyto?
 
WHy not? I would just do it on a smaller scale. Sell what you dont use, or give it away. Just grow 1 or 2 (2 litre) at a time. There is always another reefere that wants some. It will always be cheaper than Dt's.

Stay Tuned for my Rotifers that I will start growing in the next week or 2
 
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