An Algae Bioreactor from Recycled Water Bottles

Step 5 Make Algae Media

We next make the medium to grow the algae. Although there are many possible mediums, a standard garden store fertilizer contains all the nitrogen and nutrients that the algae need.

Comments

[GBlaze42]

What is the type of water you are using? is it distilled? normal tap water could be a problem.

[ap66218]

distilled is always a safe bet with any experiment, but tap water that has sat out overnight can be used too, for that gives time for the chlorine in the water to dissipate.

[tiny.ian]

This could be a problem... And there are other things to think about- such as minerals and metal content. The biggest problem is Chloramine, which does not evaporate. Some areas don't use chlorine. In Los Angeles, for example, chlorine and chloramine are used. Also, there's the possibility of copper (which kills algae REALLY well), lead, various salts, and other substances in tap water that are better removed by filtration. To remove both chlorine and chloramine, as well as reducing the other stuff, you can use a cheap carbon filter tube (found in many hardware stores for filtering water). Pass the water through the filter and you will be left with clean, chlorine (chloramine) free water thats good enough to put pretty fish in!

[GBlaze42]

Thanks for the tips!

[GBlaze42]

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[mlzupan]

In a closed loop system there is no way for it to get co2 from the atmosphere. If it is an open system it will get co2 from the air - and probably enough to grow algae - algae in a pond has no problem growing. However, if you want to accelerate the growth of algae - adding additional co2 will increase the speed with which it will grow and increase your harvest cycles.

[halera]

do you need to add CO2, won't the algae grow anyway getting the naturally occurring CO2 from the atmosphere?