Growing Pods and Phyto

[Ryan303]

I am thinking about starting to grow copepods and phyto. This is my first time so any recommendations for starter cultures and where to get them? Should I culture multiple pods in the same jar for biodiversity?

 

[SynDen]

Unless you complete restart the culture every time, Pod types should be cultured separately. If you mix them eventually one will dominate and take over.

Pods you can pickup just about anywhere. For Phyto you can get starter cultures of nanochloropsis and Tetraselmis, and fertilizers for them at Mercers of Montana https://www.mercerofmontana.com ... at least that's who I have used in the past. You could by different phyto types from various sources and then just use there fertilizers too

 

[Ryan303]

Thanks for the advice.

 

[jda123]

The most important thing is to have a place to offload the excess. Once you get going, you have to keep going and you will likely have a lot of extra. You might be able to sell a bit for a while, but that dwindles.

You also cannot have enough clear 2 liter soda bottles.

 

[SynDen]

Ya make sure to have lots of containers that are easy to clean and sanitize. This is the most tedious and arguably most important step to successful cultures. Even a slight oversight in sanitation can lead to full culture crashes, so dont skimp, or get lazy on this part

 

[Ryan303]

Is it a good idea to culture both the pods and the Phyto at the same time? My real interest is the pods for my mandarin but I red that the Phyto can be beneficial too.

 

[SynDen]

Ya generally you want the pytho to feed the pods, and it can be used to feed your tank as well.

 

[Fishfry14]

I've been happy with phyto & pods from Reef By Steele & Alage Barn. Reef By Steele is a better value IMO.

I like using 1 gallon containers because it's easier to reach into them to clean.

I agree that the best way to cultivate pods is to do the separately. They all have slightly different life cycles & one will take over. That's too much effort for me, so I'll just periodically buy a new batch.

I agree with all the comments on sanitizing between batches. I've gotten lazy and lost cultures.

Good luck