Culture Journal, Species: Chaetoceros muelleri (aka C.gracilis)

Re:Culture Journal, Species: Chaetoceros gracilis (KathyL)

Fri, 13 Jun 2014 08:08:46 GMT

One more question: How did you discover that gracilis is the same as meulleri? I'm having trouble finding that. Lately, google has not been my friend….

Re:Culture Journal, Species: Chaetoceros gracilis (JimWelsh)

Thu, 12 Jun 2014 11:07:59 GMT

Most F/2 media is actually F/2-Si. The silicate tends to cause precipitation, and so is left out, as the assumption is that you are not going to be growing diatoms. If you are growing diatoms, you generally do have to add it back in, unless the media specifically says that it includes the silicate.

Re:Culture Journal, Species: Chaetoceros gracilis (shannpeach)

Thu, 12 Jun 2014 08:13:17 GMT

I used f/2 and always added more for this. If f/2 already has some in it, it may not be enough for diatoms so we need to add more. I haven't looked into it, or tried bottles where I didn't add more so I can't really say

Re:Culture Journal, Species: Chaetoceros gracilis (KathyL)

Thu, 12 Jun 2014 08:00:53 GMT

About silicate, it's hard to find information, but the f/2 or guillard's or L1 media that I've come across (and purchased) already comes with silicate in it, does it not? Is it really necessary to add more?

Re:Culture Journal, Species: Chaetoceros gracilis (JimWelsh)

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 18:53:52 GMT

The instructions say 13mg/liter.

Re:Culture Journal, Species: Chaetoceros gracilis (Charlie)

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 10:03:32 GMT

How much Sodium Metasilicate crystals would you add to 2 liter bottle?

Re:Culture Journal, Species: Chaetoceros gracilis (Tomngangan)

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 10:28:35 GMT

oh great.... haha 1kg was what i was trying to ask for... hopefully tell sell at that small quantity ^^

Re:Culture Journal, Species: Chaetoceros gracilis (JimWelsh)

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 09:12:23 GMT

Yes, it is the stuff, and you don't need very much at all. One KG will last a VERY long time.

Re:Culture Journal, Species: Chaetoceros gracilis (Tomngangan)

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 03:19:05 GMT

Jim,

This is what i can find... is this the stuff??

"Granular Sodium Metasilicate Pentahydrate"~

and if so.. how much do i need?

Real thanks ^^

Re:Culture Journal, Species: Chaetoceros gracilis (JimWelsh)

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 01:29:36 GMT

Yes. Can you get sodium metasilicate crystals? That's what I use.

Re:Culture Journal, Species: Chaetoceros gracilis (Tomngangan)

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 01:25:03 GMT

got a quick question,

im actually planning on starting a culture on cheatoceros too after trying nano, iso, tet and chlorella ... my question is.. is silica a MUST for cheato? cos its not so easy to get in Hong Kong specially in liquid form) =(

Re:Culture Journal, Species: Chaetoceros gracilis (j.p.harrington)

Thu, 30 May 2013 18:09:00 GMT

yea i like working with cheatoceros ive let mine go to the point of where it was almost the color of dark brown chocolate before.

this stuff is very easy to work with.

i might have to try and take my air down a notch as like jim mentioned mine does tend to clump up slightly every so often

Re:Culture Journal, Species: Chaetoceros gracilis (shannpeach)

Thu, 30 May 2013 12:40:10 GMT

Mild to moderate would be a good description...it definitely isn't a rolling boil. I haven't had it clump up on me yet and the bottles I culture in don't get gooped up the way other culture bottles do. I don't have to wash the bottles in vinegar to clean the sides, can just rinse it with water (and then sterilize, of course)

Re:Culture Journal, Species: Chaetoceros gracilis (JimWelsh)

Thu, 30 May 2013 12:35:01 GMT

Nice work! How much air do you give your Chaeto? It looks like mild to moderate air, rather than a roiling boil from the pictures -- am I right? Chaeto always has a tendency to clump up on me, but I think it's because I give it too much air.

Re:Culture Journal, Species: Chaetoceros gracilis (shannpeach)

Thu, 30 May 2013 08:48:52 GMT

Well, I am about a month or so past the continuation date and here are a couple photos of the cultures taken this morning. The first is the cultures lit from the front with the fluorescent strip light, and the second is without the fluorescent strip light, so just natural sunlight from the window.

As you can see from the dates on the bottles themselves, I let one go over thirty days without splitting/harvesting and it never completely crashed out... so this really is a good phyto to work with for those interested in trying a diatom that isn't too picky

Re:Culture Journal, Species: Chaetoceros gracilis (shannpeach)

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 22:57:03 GMT

Thanks It was actually a pain to get them simply because I have three dogs and I swear everytime I would get it focused one of them would jump or flop onto the ground or start scratching themselves so hard it seemed the the entire house would shake. Next time I may just try to get the pics when they are all outside playing or something.

So far, at least for me, this has been a relatively easy species to culture. It seems quite forgiving in terms of how much fertilizer and/or silica added, how infrequently it is split or how aggressively it is split. It sort of crashes slowly, and as long as you get it before it is completely clear, it comes back well (I usually let a bottle crash at some point so I get an idea of how dark it can get before NEEDING to be split). All in all, I would recommend this species for anyone interested in trying a diatom.

Re:Culture Journal, Species: Chaetoceros gracilis (JimWelsh)

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 22:48:05 GMT

Nice images! I can even see the setae. Good work! Just a few more days for culture continuation.

Re:Culture Journal, Species: Chaetoceros gracilis (shannpeach)

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 22:42:14 GMT

Some microscope pics:

Re:Culture Journal, Species: Chaetoceros gracilis (shannpeach)

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 11:51:31 GMT

Took me awhile, but I found the one paper that was definitely at the top of my brain for the better copepod culture with a diatom species:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2109.2011.02919.x/pdf

I feel like the other papers I had come across were ones it seems you already have, although I haven't had time to read them all in depth (I had to do a bit of reading for work related stuff to get ready for a presentation).

The C. gracilis/muelleri is doing well so far. It needs to be split about every 4 to 5 days. I now have 3 bottles of it going.

Re:Culture Journal, Species: Chaetoceros gracilis (shannpeach)

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 22:11:21 GMT

I will try to find the papers tomorrow when I can get on the computer. And I will look over the papers you gave links to