ISOCHRYSIS GALBANA PHYTOPLANKTON
Hello,
The goal of this thread is to consolidate information, questions and answers for people looking to culture Isochrysis galbana phytoplankton
I appreciate those that have cultured isochrysis galbana sharing their secrets and knowledge with us
In this post I will write what I have learned so far - in the hopes that any wrong information can be corrected, and ask questions too
As I understand it there is
Isochrysis galbana T-ISO (Tahitian strain) (more nutritious and common)
Isochrysis galbana CCMP1323 (use in hatcheries)
Isochrysis galbana CCMP1850 (high growth rate / larviculture uses)
Isochrysis galbana strain S-ISO (colder waters)
Where each have different ideal growing conditions
However it appears (correct me if I’m wrong) that most hobbyists are growing Isochrysis galbana Tahitian strain, or it seems that this is the strain being sold by many vendors
I know that phyto can grow under a wide range of conditions, where some people can have a neglected, forgotten, half drank 2 liter of Mr. Pibb sitting in their basement that only gets hit by a patch of sunlight twice a year during the equinox, and they are successful at growing phyto in spite of the neglect; but if you had to ‘make it a science’, of growing Isochrysis galbana with the highest probability of success and lowest likelihood of crashing..
Ideal Isochrysis galbana (Tahitian strain) growing conditions:
Temperature:
68-78 degrees [however some threads mention that theirs may have been hotter in sunlight - others mention being much colder, but maybe they had S-ISO?) In general consensus seems to approve of room temperature for isochrysis galbana, that a heater is not necessary for success
Salinity:
35ppt 1.025/1.026S.G. seems to have the best success - however; the ‘official’ range is 20-35ppt - this is a very wide range, where I’ve seen some say it’s closer to 25-30ppt ~1.022 S.G. for isochrysis galbana (Tahitian), some say that slightly lower salinity is better; there doesn’t seem to be as much consensus on the ‘perfect’ salinity
Container:
Large glass jars / flasks are recommended, due to the ability to sterilize easier with boiling water, but any container can work - many use 2 liter bottles, others use large tubs or tanks. Protip was to use saran wrap instead of a hard lid to avoid lid contamination and cleaning, puncture one hole for gas exchange, the other for a hard acrylic tube to reach the bottom (or you can suction cup a soft airline tube in place at the bottom)
1-2 bubbles per second, not a roaring boil - just enough to keep the container moving [do not use airstone or will froth up]
Sterilization:
It appears that sterilization is extremely important for successful culture of isochrysis galbana compared to other commonly cultured phytoplankton - failure of sterilization seems to be the leading cause of iso culture crashes. You can either add boiling water to the container, pour it out, let it air dry; or you can add water + bleach and then use a bleach removing agent after. Any piece of equipment that touches the culture should be sterilized - bacteria/copepods/rotifers/other phyto species are all potential contaminants that can crash a culture of isochrysis galbana.
Consensus is to never use tank water or ocean water due to contaminants; to use freshly mixed salt water only for an isochrysis galbana culture. Many recommend to mix fresh saltwater, then boil the saltwater for 15 minutes to sterilize it, before adding it to the culture vessel (though this is ‘optional’) if boiling, to make the water slightly more diluted to account for the water that evaporates
It appears also that sometimes it may not be a failure of sterilization on your end, that it could be that the sample bought from various vendors may not be viable due to contamination on their end, and to try different vendors if one keeps crashing.
Nutrients:
What is needed 100% of the time is Guillard F/2 formula
Isochrysis galbana can benefit from supplements of the following, or can risk depleting these and crashing:
Lighting: 5000-6500K — cheap lights work fine; supposedly an adjustable LED light strip which you wrap around the container works well; any grow light, or light in this spectrum should work fine
Consensus seems to be that isochrysis galbana requires moderate to high lighting, ~200 PAR — in general requires more light than other phytoplankton species
However too much light can lead to photoinhibition / bleaching, and crashes
Ratio of start culture to seawater in vessel for a new culture:
It seems that isochrysis galbana is better to use 1-5% ratio, where if you had a 1 liter container of saltwater, to only place 10-50mL of isochrysis galbana, and allow it to grow and not start off very concentrated; this seems to differ from other phytoplankton species, where the starting ratio is much higher.
Misc:
On average, it should be harvested 50% taken out, 50% remaining, replace with sterile saltwater, every 7 days
It appears that isochrysis galbana can struggle to restart a culture if it has been placed in the freezer / refrigerator for any period - compared to other phytoplankton, where you can keep a reserve in the refrigerator to start up a culture if it crashes, isochrysis galbana does not work very well in this way to restart a culture if it has been chilled.
Questions:
Is there anything I’ve gotten wrong about culturing isochrysis galbana (Tahitian strain)?
What do you wish you had known at the start when you began culturing isochrysis galbana?
What has been the leading cause of crashes of isochrysis galbana cultures for you?
What change to your technique(s) led you to the greatest success?
Thank you very much for making it to the end of this long post!
I hope that you reefers out there successfully growing isochrysis galbana can share your tips and tricks here :^)
If you know anyone in the community who grows isochrysis galbana phytoplankton, please tag them here!
Hello,
The goal of this thread is to consolidate information, questions and answers for people looking to culture Isochrysis galbana phytoplankton
I appreciate those that have cultured isochrysis galbana sharing their secrets and knowledge with us
In this post I will write what I have learned so far - in the hopes that any wrong information can be corrected, and ask questions too
As I understand it there is
Isochrysis galbana T-ISO (Tahitian strain) (more nutritious and common)
Isochrysis galbana CCMP1323 (use in hatcheries)
Isochrysis galbana CCMP1850 (high growth rate / larviculture uses)
Isochrysis galbana strain S-ISO (colder waters)
Where each have different ideal growing conditions
However it appears (correct me if I’m wrong) that most hobbyists are growing Isochrysis galbana Tahitian strain, or it seems that this is the strain being sold by many vendors
I know that phyto can grow under a wide range of conditions, where some people can have a neglected, forgotten, half drank 2 liter of Mr. Pibb sitting in their basement that only gets hit by a patch of sunlight twice a year during the equinox, and they are successful at growing phyto in spite of the neglect; but if you had to ‘make it a science’, of growing Isochrysis galbana with the highest probability of success and lowest likelihood of crashing..
Ideal Isochrysis galbana (Tahitian strain) growing conditions:
Temperature:
68-78 degrees [however some threads mention that theirs may have been hotter in sunlight - others mention being much colder, but maybe they had S-ISO?) In general consensus seems to approve of room temperature for isochrysis galbana, that a heater is not necessary for success
Salinity:
35ppt 1.025/1.026S.G. seems to have the best success - however; the ‘official’ range is 20-35ppt - this is a very wide range, where I’ve seen some say it’s closer to 25-30ppt ~1.022 S.G. for isochrysis galbana (Tahitian), some say that slightly lower salinity is better; there doesn’t seem to be as much consensus on the ‘perfect’ salinity
Container:
Large glass jars / flasks are recommended, due to the ability to sterilize easier with boiling water, but any container can work - many use 2 liter bottles, others use large tubs or tanks. Protip was to use saran wrap instead of a hard lid to avoid lid contamination and cleaning, puncture one hole for gas exchange, the other for a hard acrylic tube to reach the bottom (or you can suction cup a soft airline tube in place at the bottom)
1-2 bubbles per second, not a roaring boil - just enough to keep the container moving [do not use airstone or will froth up]
Sterilization:
It appears that sterilization is extremely important for successful culture of isochrysis galbana compared to other commonly cultured phytoplankton - failure of sterilization seems to be the leading cause of iso culture crashes. You can either add boiling water to the container, pour it out, let it air dry; or you can add water + bleach and then use a bleach removing agent after. Any piece of equipment that touches the culture should be sterilized - bacteria/copepods/rotifers/other phyto species are all potential contaminants that can crash a culture of isochrysis galbana.
Consensus is to never use tank water or ocean water due to contaminants; to use freshly mixed salt water only for an isochrysis galbana culture. Many recommend to mix fresh saltwater, then boil the saltwater for 15 minutes to sterilize it, before adding it to the culture vessel (though this is ‘optional’) if boiling, to make the water slightly more diluted to account for the water that evaporates
It appears also that sometimes it may not be a failure of sterilization on your end, that it could be that the sample bought from various vendors may not be viable due to contamination on their end, and to try different vendors if one keeps crashing.
Nutrients:
What is needed 100% of the time is Guillard F/2 formula
Isochrysis galbana can benefit from supplements of the following, or can risk depleting these and crashing:
- Silica
- Iron
- Manganese
- Zinc
- Cobalt for B12 synthesis
- Amino acids
- B12 + other vitamins
- Detectable nitrates / phosphates (ranges I’ve seen are 5ppm nitrate 0.1ppm phosphate)
- Seaweed extract for auxins/cytokinins etc
Lighting: 5000-6500K — cheap lights work fine; supposedly an adjustable LED light strip which you wrap around the container works well; any grow light, or light in this spectrum should work fine
Consensus seems to be that isochrysis galbana requires moderate to high lighting, ~200 PAR — in general requires more light than other phytoplankton species
However too much light can lead to photoinhibition / bleaching, and crashes
Ratio of start culture to seawater in vessel for a new culture:
It seems that isochrysis galbana is better to use 1-5% ratio, where if you had a 1 liter container of saltwater, to only place 10-50mL of isochrysis galbana, and allow it to grow and not start off very concentrated; this seems to differ from other phytoplankton species, where the starting ratio is much higher.
Misc:
On average, it should be harvested 50% taken out, 50% remaining, replace with sterile saltwater, every 7 days
It appears that isochrysis galbana can struggle to restart a culture if it has been placed in the freezer / refrigerator for any period - compared to other phytoplankton, where you can keep a reserve in the refrigerator to start up a culture if it crashes, isochrysis galbana does not work very well in this way to restart a culture if it has been chilled.
Questions:
Is there anything I’ve gotten wrong about culturing isochrysis galbana (Tahitian strain)?
What do you wish you had known at the start when you began culturing isochrysis galbana?
What has been the leading cause of crashes of isochrysis galbana cultures for you?
What change to your technique(s) led you to the greatest success?
Thank you very much for making it to the end of this long post!
I hope that you reefers out there successfully growing isochrysis galbana can share your tips and tricks here :^)
If you know anyone in the community who grows isochrysis galbana phytoplankton, please tag them here!
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