Which do you prefer, and why?

I do both, but I mainly culture my own, depending on what I'm going to use. For instance, I use RGComplete because of the ease of it, then I culture iso for more nutrients. In my opinion, the refrigerated stuff has MOST of the nutrients it originally had, but over time it loses some of its "spunk" if you will. Live algae can also multiply and grow, controlled of course, in the culture thus making the amount of times needed to feed your cultures less, and less worry in my opinion. 

Thanks for your input!   I think both my be better in long run.  Do you have any experience with RG Plus?

No problem! No none on me yet, I just use complete with mine, and some N-Rich on my other cultures, just for protein wise and "nutrient" rich copepods.

I use RGrow+ and RGreen Omega. Live phyto isn't worth the time and effort unless you need a particular type for some reason. RGrow+ and RGreen Omega works great in every application I've used it for.

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

 
Yea Ive looked at both the RG Complete and RG Plus for feeding cultures of rotifers.  And also enriching them with the N-Rich.

 
Thanks for your input too.  I've been reading through your webpage very good info!

I didn't know about any of that stuff when I started growing my own phytoplankton.  Now I just grow it and use what I need and put the rest in the fridge till I need it again. 
 
So far this method has been doing really well for me with my cultures of rotifers, copepods, and brine shrimp.  
 
I'm still a complete noob though lol.

 
lol Yea I'm a complete noob to breeding.  I can tell you a lot about reef tanks, but just learning on the breeding side.  I've cultured phyto in past to feed to tank but now seems to be easier ways to do things with the concentrated versions.  I believe I will do a little of both to see which works best for me. 

With RGcomplete and RG Plus, there is no need to enrich for any of the species hobbyist breeders are dealing with when using those two.  They are an all in one.

 
Good to know.  So using either RG Complete or RG + is only product you need to feed rotifers or copepods for feeding?

No need to enrich copepods on any feed.
 
With rotifers, yes, if you are feeding either of those and just doing the typical MO species, no need to enrich.  If you need to boost the fatty acid profile to match the need of the species being cultured, that is where N-Rich comes into play.
 
Something that has no been mentioned here is RMI concentrates are harvested at peak nutrition, its what we do.  As a hobbyist, its harder to tell, or rather, gear your production, to match need vs peak nutrition.
 
 

What causes nutrition to wax or wane?

 
I apologize. Prior to posting my response I checked with one of our scientists to make sure my answer was correct.  I was using a marketing point taught to me (by someone in marketing with little knowledge of actual phytoplankton culturing) prior to me knowing what I do now, but I never had the background to that talking point.  He said there is no "peak nutrition" which makes sense :lol:
 
Now I'm on a mission to correct any use of that useless marketing point.  It has no place in our company

I'm so embarrassed :lol:

One free liter of RG+ to all that read this thread should make up for it. I can PM my address.

 
Might it be true that if a hobbyist were to let their algae grow too long, so that it was approaching the end of the "stationary" phase, and nearing the "crash" phase, then it might have significantly less nutritional value than during the "exponential" phase, or at the start of the "stationary" phase of growth?


 

Well the person who told me it, said it had to due with using up nutrients, but plenty of people add more F2 to ongoing cultures.  I never took the time to really look at what he was saying as when I entered the company, I considered what he said to be accurate.... mistake.

I use RG+ and RGreen Omega for my Clownfish, and trying it with Dottybacks too.  I do use N-Rich PL Plus to enrich rotifers even though I know I don't "have to".  I keep wanting to do a side by side comparison with my Clown larvae to see if there is a difference when using the N-Rich.  I have a hunch that N-Rich helps with misbarring, but I keep forgetting to run one of the tanks without the enrichment.

Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

I use refrigerated concentrates because I am crap at culturing my own.

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

I love RGcomplete for rotifers.  I love live Isochrysis for copepods. I culture Iso, and buy RG.  Wouldn't live without either.
 

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

I use rotigrow plus ( have used complete) and roti green
 
I keep wanting to try live but its just not worth it as long as the pastes are kept well chilled