My infusoria culture smells like sulfur!

[Rocky998]

I used banana peels to do my infusoria culture and it was going well until I added some more banana peel to add more nutrients for the infusoria... Now it smells of sulfur and its driving my mom nuts... I'm thinking that I should remove some of the older banana peels. I try to keep the water aerated to the best of my ability... But

 

[Slaphppy7]

Banana peel isn't needed

 

[Rocky998]

Banana peel isn't needed

Well so the infusoria can eat, grow, and multiply some form of bio-material is needed. I just figured banana peel would be the best option cause we always have them on hand.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Well so the infusoria can eat, grow, and multiply some form of bio-material is needed. I just figured banana peel would be the best option cause we always have them on hand.

Clean, pollution-free dead leaves from the yard will do the same thing

 

[Rocky998]

Clean, pollution-free dead leaves from the yard will do the same thing

Pesticide possibilities and larvae

 

[Back in the fold]

It turned . Throw it out and start over. Use dried lettuce leaves.

 

[Rocky998]

It turned . Throw it out and start over. Use dried lettuce leaves.

Well i did a large water change on it and then added more banana peel earlier this morning... How do I dry lettuce leaves? Just let them sit out for a long while?

 

[Back in the fold]

@Rocky998 There comes a point when there's no fixing it. Lettuce leaves laying out on the counter on some paper towels will dry overnight . Use a spoonful of the water from your old culture to restart it. Don't try to salvage the old culture. The banana peels are too much. You need a lighter culturing food like the lettuce leaves.

 

[Colin_T]

Infusoria cultures need constant aeration to stop then going off and turning black and anaerobic.

You can use any sort of plant that isn't toxic, to make infusoria cultures. The rotting plant matter causes bacteria to grow. And infusoria (paramecium) feed on the bacteria.

You don't have to dry out the lettuce leaves. I used to break the fresh leaves up by hand and drop them in the culture. The more the leaves are broken up, the faster they break down and the sooner bacteria begin to appear.

 

[itiwhetu]

Infusoria cultures need constant aeration to stop then going off and turning black and anaerobic.

You can use any sort of plant that isn't toxic, to make infusoria cultures. The rotting plant matter causes bacteria to grow. And infusoria (paramecium) feed on the bacteria.

You don't have to dry out the lettuce leaves. I used to break the fresh leaves up by hand and drop them in the culture. The more the leaves are broken up, the faster they break down and the sooner bacteria begin to appear.

Did you used to use lots of air? Like having the container tumbling, rather than just a trickle. That is what I did, I think Rocky may not understand what the system looks like.

 

[Rocky998]

Did you used to use lots of air? Like having the container tumbling, rather than just a trickle. That is what I did, I think Rocky may not understand what the system looks like.

Ive seen setups like those before but I don't have space for a container with a air pump atm. My mom already says no water upstairs soooo... My room aint an option lol. What I do to aerate is just get a turkey baster and pump it in a set of 3-4 times, 3-4 times a day.

 

[Rocky998]

Is there a way to have my 10g set up as a fry tank/infusoria culture? That may work if possible

 

[Colin_T]

Did you used to use lots of air? Like having the container tumbling, rather than just a trickle. That is what I did, I think Rocky may not understand what the system looks like.

Yeah I had a multi-coloured plastic airstone in each culture and a decent air pump blowing air into the containers. Everything was being circulated around. When I wanted infusoria, I removed the air stone and let it settle for 10-15 minutes, then scooped the infusoria out.

 

[Colin_T]

Is there a way to have my 10g set up as a fry tank/infusoria culture? That may work if possible

No. The rotting plant matter creates ammonia that will kill the fry.

If you want a low feed fry tank, make a heavily planted aquarium and put the fry in that.

 

[itiwhetu]

An Infusoria culture is just as hard to keep going as an aquarium. You are dealing with living organisms that need looking after.