Dt Plankton

[Terryz_]

i got one bottle of DT plankton... can i used this to culture new ones... and wat will i nid...

[bawater]

YES if you got the old version of DT's which was a mono culture(single strain), but NO if you have the new DT's which is a poly culture(multiple strains).

here's why, explained on the DT's site:

Can I start my own cultures from DT's Live phytoplankton?

The old DT's live phytoplankton that contained only one species of phytoplankton were very much alive and it was possible to start new cultures, and many people used to do so. The new DTs now has more than one species and although still very much alive, it cannot be used as a starter culture. The species will compete with each other. Many people think that the 'strongest species will survive, but the only thing that is likely to survive will . The color of that cyanobacteria will likely be green, and the unsuspecting hobbyist will be adding cyanobacteria to there tanks, thinking that they're adding some pretty green phytoplankton. To grow good clean uncontaminated cultures requires a lot of time and effort. Many people that culture even a single species of phytoplankton eventually end up culturing cyanobacteria, and many times not realizing it. If you are going to culture you own, we recommend taking the time to do it right. Start by getting a copy of the Plankton Culture Manual, by Frank H. Hoff and Terry W. Snell. Before growing your own phytoplankton think about the nutrients and metals that are needed to feed the phytoplankton and how you can be sure they are removed from your cultures before you feed your reef tank. then look at our Cleaned and concentrated page.

www.DT phytoplankton

another reason is that even if they survive, which strain will be the one growing? you would need a microscope to check and then identify the exact phyto strain that survived & outgrew the rest.

[bawater]

I have managed to culture a batch of the new DT's(poly-culture)...only problem is that i do not have access to microscopes to check what the hell grew!.

Its a light green ###### yellowish mix colour.

i have abt 1 ltr of the stuff if anyone is willing to try to id it, Or maybe take some pictures.

need some serious magnification as the cells size may be abt 8 microns. maybe a 1000x.

You can keep the bottle, as i still have another culture of it.

let me know & i'll pass you the bottle.

[andysho]

i like to have a bottle of it

tks

andy

[coralreef]

how to see the diff?