Guide to Culturing Phytoplankton

Hello reefers, warmest welcome to our first blog post!

Today, I'll be sharing how you can start culturing your own phytoplankton at home.

The process involves setting up a sterile culture with seawater and nutrients, providing consistent lighting, and maintaining strong aeration to encourage growth. After about a week, the culture can be harvested and used to feed both copepods and corals.

Some things you'll need:

• Glass culture vessel e.g. conical flask, drink dispenser, etc

• Rigid airline tubing

• Cling wrap

• LED grow light

• F/2 Fertilizer

• Pipette

1. Prepare freshly-mixed saltwater at a salinity of 1.015 - 1.020SG for Nannochloropsis oculata, or  1.022 - 1.026SG for Isochrysis galbana.

2. Using a phytoplankton:saltwater ratio of 1:4, add in the appropriate amount of phytoplankton and saltwater according to the volume you intend to culture.

3. Using a pipette, apply 1ml of Zoop Aqua Guillard's F/2 Fertilizer per litre (L) of culture volume.

4. Place the rigid airline tubing in the culture vessel and aerate vigorously.

5. Cover the culture vessel with cling wrap to prevent contamination.

6. For illumination, LED grow light can be used with a photoperiod of 12-24 hours.

7. Depending on the amount of fertilizer used and the photoperiod, the phytoplankton would be ready for harvest in 5-9 days.

8. After harvesting, pour hot water (~90°C ) into the culture vessel to get rid of any possible contaminants and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes.

9. Upon completion of the sterilisation process, pour the water away and leave the vessel to dry.

And with that, we're done!

Overall, cultivating phytoplankton at home is a practical and cost-effective way to ensure a steady supply of fresh phytoplankton. Do feel free to play around with the ratio, photoperiod, and fertilizer dosage to manipulate the rate of harvest such that it is suited for your needs (1x/2x a week). If the excess phytoplankton is stored refrigerated and shaken daily, you can use it to start a fresh batch of culture even after 8 weeks!

All the best and enjoy the culturing process! I hope this post has been helpful :)

If you would like to discuss more about anything microalgae/live feed related, feel free to reach out to us on Instagram (@zoopaqua). 

Cheers!