Culture Greenwater
Greenwater, or phytoplankton, are known by most aquarium hobbyists as good quality small fish fry food, like betta fry. This article will outline some of the ways you can make your own.
Steps
Simpler, slower method
- Put aged aquarium water in a clear container.
- Expose the water to the sun. Doing this takes quite a long time for the algae to bloom. See the next method for something faster.
Faster method
- Pluck 10 smoothly surfaced and thin leaves.
- Wash and rinse the leaves until they are clean. Don't use soap!
- Put the leaves in the blender with water. You can also add fish micro pellets to help the culture bloom more quickly.
- Blend the water with the leaves. Do this for about 1 minute.
- Sieve any blended leaves and put the water in a bottle.
- Put the bottle under a bright light overnight so that the phytoplankton will bloom.
- Fill a bucket with water.
- Put the greenwater that has been sitting under a bright light overnight in the bucket.
- Let the bucket sit under the sun. In about a few days, the phytoplankton will grow.
Tips
- Use smooth, thin leaves so they will easily blend in a kitchen blender. Avoid adding hard and thick leaves because they will not emulsify well.
- You will notice quite a lot of algae on the surface of the water- this is phytoplankton. At this time, you may add daphnia culture (water fleas) to the phytoplankton. Your local pet store is a good source of Daphnia. The adult stage of the Daphnia are a great live food for the aquarium.
- Microwave the leaves to kill the plant cells faster.
Warnings
- Do not feed the fresh blended greenwater straight to your fry! Let it sit under the light so the phytoplankton will grow and all of the cells in the leaves died first. Some cells in the leaves are the defense system of the plant and this can kill your fry.
Related Articles
- Raise Mosquito Larvae for Fish Food
- Grow Freshwater Aquarium Plants
- Make a Gentle Aquarium Siphon or Vacuum
- Control an Algae Bloom
