Is CO2 needed to make Phytoplankton

[irisservice1]

Is a CO2 setup needed to make Phytoplankton.
I was looking at this unit http://www.aquadirect.com/catalog/food/ab2.htm and it says it need a co2 setup but all the diy say just an airpump.
Can i just use an airpump?
Thanks
John

 

[LeoR]

Water, algae culture, fertilizer, light and an air-pump is all that is needed to grow phytoplankton.

Increase in CO2 does increase growth rate, but CO2 reactor is an overkill for small-scale operations. Most of those gizmos are made for high-volume (or fat-wallet) productions.

LeoR

 

[Louis Z]

If you are in full blown production and have a rotation going- you probably dont need one. But if you are just starting out - it sure would be nice to have one. The tubes are not that expensive its the CO2 cylinders, regulator,solenoid and pH monitors. I have seen where some hobbyists share the CO2 with their calcium reactors and their phyto. One thing about home grown with air pumps is that bacteria have the ability to bloom and outcompete the algae for the nutrients. With some sp of algae the CO2 does allow for quick growth and allows the algae to outcompete the bacteria. You would get a large population quickly and see a dense population. Some say it takes 2 days of CO2 to get where 5- 7 days would with just air. The only thing I would hate to do is clean the thing. So I would consider 2 tubes. While one is in operation the other is being cleaned.

 

[danmhippo]

CO2 is not necessary.

 

[irisservice1]

Thanks for all the replys. I will give it a shot without CO2.

Thanks Again
John

 

[andy-hipkiss]

Having tried it both ways, certainly CO2 makes life a lot easier.

If you have lots of space then the idea mentioned above of keeping many cultures on the go probably avoids the need for CO2 for our purposes.

However if, as I am, you are space limited, you can bring a culture up to density in 2 or 3 days which can quite literally be a life saver.

The BIG advantage to me of using CO2 is because I now have a second CO2 cylinder and support equipment. I have a tank full of SPS and without the Ca reactor, Ca and alkalinity drops frighteningly quickly. If the Ca reactor's CO2 runs out, not a problem. The phyto can easily cope for a few days without CO2 whereas the coral sulk pretty quickly. The extra security of having a backup system to the Ca reactors means that the only real cost incurred specifically for the phyto was a pH probe to plug into my aquarium computer.

I guess that means getting CO2 for phyto growing is a reasonable idea, but it’s a great idea if you have other uses for CO2 within your aquarium setup.

FWIW

 

[Anonymous]

What about iron? Been reading in SciAm about how a small boost in iron can give a huge boost in phyto (in situ--actual pelagic cultures).

 

[Louis Z]

Seamaiden, many of the phyto fertilizer formulas contain iron.