Powerhead in phytoplankton culture?

[Elbereth]

I've recently begun culturing phyto (unknown species) but my air pump isn't quite strong enough to prevent some settling at the bottom of the container. Is it safe to use a small powerhead/pump in a phyto culture or could it potentially harm the cells? Thanks in advance!

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Some settling is fine. I run a hard line down to the bottom with no airstone. You want a low to medium flow of bubbles. If you are running a big container just use more than one air line.

 

[Elbereth]

Thanks for responding.
I have three airlines in the container actually (ridid, no airstone, same as yours). I think my air pump isn't strong enough but a small powerhead would be considerably quieter and cheaper than a bigger air pump.

I'm also planning to culture in this container continuously instead of splitting into new containers so the settling will get progressively worse, hence why I want to avoid it as much as possible.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Thanks for responding.
I have three airlines in the container actually (ridid, no airstone, same as yours). I think my air pump isn't strong enough but a small powerhead would be considerably quieter and cheaper than a bigger air pump.

I'm also planning to culture in this container continuously instead of splitting into new containers so the settling will get progressively worse, hence why I want to avoid it as much as possible.

I see. I would use something that if it didn’t work out you can use some place else. Maybe a Sicce Micra. They are only $20 USD so that is about... $327 CAD...
Doing a continuous culture may have a few issues you will have to work out, Providing nutrients in a proper balance being one of them. I generally do not split mine, I just use it till its gone and then get a new culture from here;

Store 2 — Holdfast Aquaculture

www.holdfastaq.com

Because they are down the street and I just get a liter of each. Sometimes if I am lazy I will fill it up and add a bit of iron or just some tank water. I tend not to have any contamination issues when I do that because their strains are so dominant they outcompete anything

 

[MBruun]

I used a powerhead in the phyto culture before, but phyto keep setteling on and in the powerhead and wire which required much more cleaning.
I would say just use the air tubes, that is a more stabil way to run the culture

 

[LordofCinder]

What kind of container are you using? How can 3 airlines not be enough?
Maybe try a smaller container, I use 2 litre pop bottles.

 

[Elbereth]

Lol a $40 powerhead would do just fine too.

Not enough because more airlines won't help if air pump output is weak. Container is about 5-6L.

Didn't consider the phyto settling on the powerhead. Thanks for pointing that out MBRuun.

But my original question was more about whether the pressure in the powerhead would rupture/damage phyto cells going through it. I imagine it can't be too significant since I've seen some people culturing phyto in buckets with powerheads but still wanted to check.

 

[Elbereth]

Bump

 

[dansyr]

But my original question was more about whether the pressure in the powerhead would rupture/damage phyto cells going through it. I imagine it can't be too significant since I've seen some people culturing phyto in buckets with powerheads but still wanted to check.

The average powerhead won't damage typical phytoplankton . For fun, google "bioreactor blade" to see the kinds of things used in large-scale reactors (think blender at low speed). Sterility is more the reason why powerheads aren't common; besides trying to sterilize the pump and wire it's usually more a pain to deal with getting the wire in and filling in that gap.

 

[Elbereth]

Thanks, that's exactly what I wanted to know.

I'm curious now - is it possible to get hobby grade powerheads/pumps that spin impellers that slowly?