Culturing Phyto with Miracle Grow?

[postie]

How many of you out there would try the following recipe in your tanks?

Recipe recap:
Starter culture from someone (even DT's would work, I've been told)
Tap water mixed to 1.019 sg
5 ml Miracle Grow Houseplant liquid food
1 ml Kent's Essential Elements

Lighting 16 hours of light, 8 hours of darkness regulated with a timer
Steady bubbling of air via rigid tubing to the base of the bottle
Shaken slightly each day to stir up the solution from the bottom.

Split the culture every week or two weeks, saving half for your tank and half to start new bottles. Repeat forever. (Bottles are 2-litre plastic soda bottles).

And...how many would hesitate to add Miracle Grow from Home Depot or a local Greenhouse to your tank?

What problems would you encounter with such a recipe?

I'm considering starting a batch of phyto to feed my tank and trade at the lfs, but don't know if I'd add commercial fertilizer....opinions????

 

[Anonymous]

Isn't miracle gro concentrated with phospates? I think maybe the residual effects would be detrimental more than helpful for the corals.

 

[postie]

Here's the answer...I ran over to my mom's as she had a bottle of liquid Miracle Grow (I have horse manure, never used the store-bought stuff). Here is the bottle label:

Total nitrogen 9%
1.2% Ammoniacal nitrogen
1.2% Nitrate nitrogen
5.6% Urea nitrogen
Available Phosphate 7%
Soluble Potash 6%
.10% Chelated Iron

Derived from Ammonium Phosphate, Monopotassium Phosphate, Potassium Nitrate, Urea, Iron HEDTA
May also contain metals

So...I guess we what...run the Miracle Grow through our RO systems...LOL
Or just throw some of my horse manure in the tank?

The website stated on the bottle is http://www.regulatory-info-sc.com
(haven't checked the website, just stating the bottle)

Here is the site that has the recipe:
http://www.melevsreef.com/phytoplankton.html

I think the best thing for us to do is make up a nice batch of Miracle Grow Phyto and donate it to all the lfs's that have lied, screwed us out of money on unnecessaries, etc...LOL I have a couple around my area!

Comments??? :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

Here's another good article on growing phyto. I did it for a long time and it was fairly easy to do. But believe it or not, unless you are breeding fish and really need a lot of the stuff, if you break down the amount of time and energy you spend growing phyto (which may or may not be good quality and is difficult to assess at home) vs. the cost of DTs you might be surprised. It's not such a savings, considering that you should grow at least 3 different types and sizes of phyto to feed a reef tank. Which means at least three different culture setups, that have to be kept pure without chance of cross-contamination (whoo boy do I know about that).

As far as using DTs to start a culture, it's not a good idea. You are better off buying algae disks to start with and having pure cultures. Before you feed you can mix them together. The problem with DTs is that it is a mixture of the different types of phyto which are in balance (because the culture isn't growing). If you use that as a starter culture and in a grow out situation, one type of phyto will outcompete the others for nutrients and eventually you'll end up with a not-so-nutritious batch of one type of green water.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/ ... reeder.htm

Good luck!

 

[Anonymous]

I have always used Micro Algae Grow to fetilize phyto.

The reason I wouldn't use that recipe, is because I would have to go out and buy "Kent's Essential Elements" (whatever that is) since I don't have any. If I was going to order something that I need to make a micro algae fertilizer, I would just order a premixed one intended for growing phyto.

Since a bottle of Micro Algae Grow lasts forever, I guess I have no need for a home brew version.

But growing phyto is very easy! You should totally do it if you can trade bottles to your LFS for stuff. People will trade frags for it too.

 

[Anonymous]

Why not simply use F2 nutrients like the rest of the phyto culturing world?