Culturing phyto/rotifers

[inurmind]

Obviously there's a plethora of information online but I wanted to see what some of the locals are doing/have done.

My main question is what people have used as fertilizer for the phyto. I know there's F2 from Florida aquafarms, but I've also come across people using miracle grow. Anyone here using that? Or has most everyone stuck with the dedicated microalgae fertilizer?

If anyone has any other info/tips/advise I'm all ears!!!

[CMD2213]

Tagging along

[cshplumber]

Pick through Mikes (stupidted) brain but wear protection, it's pretty dirty in there. Whatever he's doing he's doing it right. He sells his home brew at Reefers Garage and by critters love it.

[inurmind]

Yeah I've actually been meaning to get at him...another reefer picked up some for me from Mike so it's his stock to begin with lol

[stupidted]

Hey Dan. I use an f2 two part solution for feeding. I don't like miracle grow because of the added metals and minerals in it. The rotifers are L strain and the phyto is a blend of 5 types. They should be listed on the label on the phyto, if there is no label I will send over the list of strains once I get a minute away from the family. For culturing phyto just make sure everything is sterile.


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[stupidted]

Nannochloropsis, Tetraselmis, Isochrysis, rhodomonas, dunaliella are what's in it. Since I culture rotifers, brine, copepods, tiger pods, and mysis I made my blend with all of them in one. I've recently added 2 more strains for my own personal cultures and once I see how they affect long term stability I'll start selling my 7 strain blend. It's kinda hard to mess it up so just make sure things are sterile and you should be good. I find the densest cultures are at the 3 week mark, any longer and they are more susceptible to crashing.

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[Drama D]

I have a lighting question related to this topic.
I have been reading a lot about how to set up and culture nannochloropsis and I see that a simple shop light consisting of 2 bulbs and about 40w on a 16hour light schedule will grow what I want. What I have not read anywhere is about other lighting types, specifically led strip lighting or the newer style led shop lights.
I'm trying to keep power usage as low as possible and am curious if I can use led strip lights or the newer style led shop lights and have success growing nannochloropsis. If so, is there a specific lumens I should shoot for? Cool white, warm white, daylight?? I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel here, just trying to save on power.
I have a 3 tiered shelf I made to house 12x 1l bottles, so I would need 3x 18-21" lights or stripes to illuminate each shelf. My front to back width is kinda tight so if I did find a shop light to use, it would most likely have to be a t5 set up and or low profile, or...more what I want to lean towards if it will work is some led strips.