Culture Station

[xclusive252]

Hello all I wanted to see if anyone on MR has a nice clean culture station they can share some pics and designs so I can put one together before my cultures arrive. If you know of a nice one to buy also please point me in the right direction. Last whats the best light to use?

 

[lnevo]

I asked that same question not too long ago but didnt get much response. C'mon let's see what you guys got!!

 

[evoIX_Reefer]

I need to get something fancy in the near future. My 2L tend to clump up do I shake the bottle 1-2timrs daily along eith the aeration from the bubbles

 

[NL146]

I don't have one but found this interesting article - http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-07/ds/

 

[Waleedwale1]

This is my little fugazzi setup lol, a tropicana bottle on a window sill.

Figure the sunlight is natural and helps.

 

[evoIX_Reefer]

I will probably look into containers like what ACC has because the phyto tends to clump at the bottom of 2L coke bottles. I think my bubble count is pretty violent but it keeps them suspended.

Anyone else find a good solution yet? I am thinking of making something out of those dosing containers then make a bubble wand to make a good bubble flow.

 

[lnevo]

Imhoff cones are cool. I saw some good deals and other equipment on a site somewhere but I lost the link

 

[Waleedwale1]

Where can you get these containers?

 

[lnevo]

The imhoff ones?

 

[Waleedwale1]

I found these thanks to Cmantis that are nice ordering one later today.

 

[xclusive252]

Walee how much where those?

 

[lnevo]

$39 its in the graphic

 

[xclusive252]

Didn't see the bottom pic sry. Let me know when you order I'll order one if you don't mind

 

[evoIX_Reefer]

So I was thinking about a resolution to my problem with the 2L bottles. I figured what is the difference between our setups with an obvious problem and the ideal more expensive acrylic hatcheries. Expensive (more expensive than a 2L coke bottle) but obviously very nice.

Eureka! Idiot why don't you just flip it upside down like a cone with 1 point where the phyto tend to clump, cut the bottom end and have your bubbles pointed at the cap where you end up with 1 possible weak point will be instead of 5?

I just did this and will see how well it turns out tomorrow. My hunch is that it will work 100x better than the right side up.

I used a chinese soup container with the bottom center cut to hold the bottle for support. It does wobble the bottle a little because of bubbles but nothing that makes me nervous it will spill over.

I am pretty confident this will be my "broke" man's solution.

 

[evoIX_Reefer]

Here is the solution to reduce clumping.

 

[arnaldolex]

evoix what kind of lighting r u using and how long do you have it on for I was thinking of buying a culture I saw on craigslist and start from there also what do you feed it miracle grow and is that drops or powder.

 

[evoIX_Reefer]

No to miracle grow. I believe it contains either iron or some other no-no even in small quantity and supposedly won't hurt but who wants to take unnecessary risks? Just get f2 from Florida aqua farms.

I personally believed that our light to grow macro should work and my culture did just fine with it so I have a 5500k cfl bulb just like you would use for chaeto.

My batches have done well so I won't change it.

 

[reefs4life]

Yeah this stuff is really easy to grow. I have the hard plastic straw myself like evo to give it proper bubbling from the bottom up and keep it constantly mixed. In terms of lighting, like he mentioned, a CFL works great and inside a bucket is the best because it keeps a nice even temperature. The other thing I would suggest, if you're using soda bottles, which I used (super simple) just drill a hole in the bottle cap and slip the air through so you reduce the possibility for contamination. That's one of the most important things to keep in mind, you're growing micro organisms and there are plenty of other micro organisms that can thrive in the same environment which leads to infection of the culture and usually kills the phyto.

 

[evoIX_Reefer]

When you state other micro organisms, are you referring to cross contamination or just from the environment?

I have it in a home depot bucket under an old stand on a carpet in my basement. I figured not likely to contaminate as long as I don't spill it somehow.

How long was your culture going for reefs4life and did you ever have a culture crash from clumping? Since switching to the current upside down configuration, I have not had to shake my culture since there is no clumping. I see everything well mixed.

Lighting is 16 on 8 off. They need a dark period.

 

[reefs4life]

When you state other micro organisms, are you referring to cross contamination or just from the environment?

I have it in a home depot bucket under an old stand on a carpet in my basement. I figured not likely to contaminate as long as I don't spill it somehow.

How long was your culture going for reefs4life and did you ever have a culture crash from clumping? Since switching to the current upside down configuration, I have not had to shake my culture since there is no clumping. I see everything well mixed.

Lighting is 16 on 8 off. They need a dark period.

Idk from all the reading I did before I started my culture, it said contamination can literally occur from anything like sneezing near it, touching it with dirty hands, etc.

No clumping for me, I had the straw all the way to the bottom of the bottle with semi aggressive bubbling to keep it well mixed. I just stopped my culture because I got too busy to keep emptying it and restarting it all the time. It was just another thing I didn't need anymore. It was running very smoothly for about 6 months, could've gone forever probably. I had 16 on and 8 off like you. I tried to grow that brown phytoplankton stuff but it's way more susceptible to contamination then green phytoplankton. I have to look up the names so I'm not just differentiating them by color