Algae Culture Medium

[Francisco Andrade]

Hello,

I have been trying to figure out what do you guys use. I have no acess to a product like Florida aquafarm´s Micro Algae Grow, also buying all the ingredients to make up a F2 Guillard´s medium is way too expensive. I have been thinking I might use a liquid plant suplement , for N and P, and a few drops of a aquarium fertilizer like TLF´s FloraSan, Mydor´s Green & Grow or Tetra´s FloraPride. Would that work ?

Chico

 

[ShipMate]

The problem is that you will not know the exact composition/purity of these fertilizers. You will run the risk of adding compounds that could be lethal to some corals or invertebrates (like copper for example).

 

[danmhippo]

One of the possibility that I used to do is to store tank water from WC, age it and use them as feeding water for my phyto culture. To do this, you will have to sterilize the old tank water first, otherwise you will lose your phyto culture.

If each batch of your culture is small, you can boil it or microwave the old tank water. If each batch is large, I use a UV-sterilizer, however, I set the throughput rate very very low. Ensuring everything living thing in the old tank water got zapped before using it.

I believe Florida Aqua Farm is able to ship international, no?

 

[wade1]

The f/2 media (and other phyo media) uses not only available N and P, but also many trace metals and B vitamins. I would not attempt to run a good culture on anything less if you are using it to feed a tank.

Florida Aqua Farms and Aquatic Ecosystems both sell it in 1 or 5 gallon increments.... something to look into if you have not.

Wade