Print PDF
Favorite
Email
Step 7Breeding the culture
In order to get visible growth as quickly as possible we will stage the individual colonies in a series of ever increasing reactors until we get a production batch. The first of these we'll call a multiplier reactor. Use a small flask ( 150 ml or so ), a baby food jar or a mason jar with a small amount of prepared nutrient medium (soilwater + plant food ).
Prepare as many jars as you have clearly separated individual colonies to sample. With multiple tries you will become adept at streaking the plates in ways which result in more colonies (and require less 'seed' stock).
Label the jars to match the sample designation and add a serial culture ID. Note in the log book anything particularly interesting, size, color what have you that might differentiate this culture from others.
Once you can clearly identify individual colonies scrape them off and place them in the multiplier reactors, cover the reactors and leave in the incubator. After a few days you should have visible algae growth.
If you have a microscope you should be able to track initial population growth. The chart shows algae growth rates through the exponential portion of the growth curve. After that algae shadowing becomes to come into effect.
With a microscope it is possible to start with a known population ( in theory one cell to provide a uni-strain culture) and breed up.
These reactors have a finite amount of nutrient, and when that is exhausted, the growth will stop and eventually they die. Experience will teach how long these types of cultures last and help to identify peak color conditions.
After that to continue the culture you must "sub-culture" by transferring this culture into a culture reactor containing fresh growth medium. I typically transfer from the breeder reactor to a .5 ml water bottle containing fresh growth medium. Open the lid a quarter to a half turn (you want it water tight but not air tight to vent). It is possible to use a bubbler apparatus on these but I find if I turn them upside down and shake them a couple of times a day they do fine.
After a week or two the breeder reactor will reach max density and should be transferred to a culture reactor such as one the we built in part I.
The pump we use in Part I will easily support multiple reactor vessels. These should be connected in parallel Single and multiple 'Tee' adapters are available at PetSmart and other fine aquarium supply stores as well as the specialty hardware section of your local ACE or Lowe's.
Simply split the output from the pump and distribute it to as many culture reactors as will bubble air through.
Monitor the color of the algae and experiment with the amount of nutrient solution required to maintain growth rates.
At this point you should have several well identified strains with which to experiment with variations in light, nutrient and so on and so forth.
Prepare as many jars as you have clearly separated individual colonies to sample. With multiple tries you will become adept at streaking the plates in ways which result in more colonies (and require less 'seed' stock).
Label the jars to match the sample designation and add a serial culture ID. Note in the log book anything particularly interesting, size, color what have you that might differentiate this culture from others.
Once you can clearly identify individual colonies scrape them off and place them in the multiplier reactors, cover the reactors and leave in the incubator. After a few days you should have visible algae growth.
If you have a microscope you should be able to track initial population growth. The chart shows algae growth rates through the exponential portion of the growth curve. After that algae shadowing becomes to come into effect.
With a microscope it is possible to start with a known population ( in theory one cell to provide a uni-strain culture) and breed up.
These reactors have a finite amount of nutrient, and when that is exhausted, the growth will stop and eventually they die. Experience will teach how long these types of cultures last and help to identify peak color conditions.
After that to continue the culture you must "sub-culture" by transferring this culture into a culture reactor containing fresh growth medium. I typically transfer from the breeder reactor to a .5 ml water bottle containing fresh growth medium. Open the lid a quarter to a half turn (you want it water tight but not air tight to vent). It is possible to use a bubbler apparatus on these but I find if I turn them upside down and shake them a couple of times a day they do fine.
After a week or two the breeder reactor will reach max density and should be transferred to a culture reactor such as one the we built in part I.
The pump we use in Part I will easily support multiple reactor vessels. These should be connected in parallel Single and multiple 'Tee' adapters are available at PetSmart and other fine aquarium supply stores as well as the specialty hardware section of your local ACE or Lowe's.
Simply split the output from the pump and distribute it to as many culture reactors as will bubble air through.
Monitor the color of the algae and experiment with the amount of nutrient solution required to maintain growth rates.
At this point you should have several well identified strains with which to experiment with variations in light, nutrient and so on and so forth.
| « Previous Step | Download PDFView All Steps | Next Step » |
2
comments
|
Add Comment
|
Sep 29, 2009. 1:10 AMaasong2001
says:
Dear Sir I have many "Dark Green" bottles,but in some of them which I can see little crust, not much,I try to harvest it ,but get nothing more than my bald head,would you please instruct me to harvest it. Dark green mean good density right?mean grow success right? Thank you so much!
Reply
33
Sep 29, 2009. 8:26 PM
egbertfitzwilly (author)
says:
egbertfitzwilly (author)
says:
Yes, dark green indicates successful breeding. There are several ways to harvest. Let me ask how do you want to use the algae? The absolutely simplest way to harvest is to close the jar and cover it with a cloth for a day or two. The algae will all die and settle out forming a very dark green sludge. Carefully pour off the top portion of water ( as much of the clear water as you can get out the better ). The remaining sludge can be sun dried in large, shallow trays. The resulting dried algae can be used for livestock feed, experimenting with biodiesel. The sludge can also be used directly as a fertilizer simply by spreading it around and working it into the soil. The algae can also be used in a microbial fuel cell similar to the ones in my other instructables to generate a trickle charge of electricity for recharging small batteries. The effectiveness of this is increased if one uses a 'joule thief' ( search instructables for that term).
Reply
 |
Add Comment
|
