Growing Algae...

[echinoidea]

ok sent u a mail.
maybe i try letting the spirulina adapt to freshwater first.
btw when u add bicarbonate, will your water be chalky?

[Jetijs]

Hi all.
So I got my spirulina sample from Savvypro today. The fluid is a little pale with lots of small green algae clumps floating in. If the solution is put to rest, most o these clumps settle on the bottom of the bottle. Is that ok?
Made some microscope shots using the fluid on top of the clumped mass hoping to see some unclumped free floating spirulina coil. Some of the algae are covered with something, might be bacteria? or maybe small mineral crystals? I am no expert. Some are clean. There are also very few straight ones. see for yourself:

[Savvypro]

Hi all.
So I got my spirulina sample from Savvypro today. The fluid is a little pale with lots of small green algae clumps floating in. If the solution is put to rest, most o these clumps settle on the bottom of the bottle. Is that ok?

Yep it's ok, just give the bottle a good shake. The Spirulina will start to clump together and float to the top, to form a matt when it gets lot of light. The sample you received is some time off before it will form a floating mat which covers the surface. Unlike the sample I posted above with the booster (did the booster vial arrive ok).

Made some microscope shots using the fluid on top of the clumped mass hoping to see some unclumped free floating spirulina coil. Some of the algae are covered with something, might be bacteria? or maybe small mineral crystals? I am no expert.

The grayish/brow fluff is undissolved chems. My last medium batch resulted in the fluff being formed. I first thought it was bacteria (it couldn't be as I was making the medium and the fluff was forming right before my eyes). But as time goes by less ans less is visible.

The Spirulina settles first, so you can remove the water while the fluff is still floating. If you have a syringe and some air pipe, suck out the water with the fluff and replace it with new medium. You may want to check the fluff water, under the microscope before chucking it as there could still be some algae in the water. You could start of backup batch with that.

Some are clean. There are also very few straight ones. see for yourself:

Can you get video off of your microscope?

[Jetijs]

Thanks for the answers
Yes, I can also make a video on my microscope

[Savvypro]

Thanks for the answers
Yes, I can also make a video on my microscope

Have you been able to get a closeup of the fluff?

[Jetijs]

There is nothing to see much, just some small and hard to focuss dots, but I saw als several latger crystals. You said that as time goes, these become less and less visible, that's probably because spiruline uses it up till the concentration is so small that everything is dissolved in the water. Lover temperatures also make high concentration chemicals to crystalize, that is why you can dissolve more salt in hot water than you can in cold.
BTW, the booster vial came ok, nothing broken.

[Savvypro]

There is nothing to see much, just some small and hard to focuss dots, but I saw als several latger crystals. You said that as time goes, these become less and less visible, that's probably because spiruline uses it up till the concentration is so small that everything is dissolved in the water. Lover temperatures also make high concentration chemicals to crystalize, that is why you can dissolve more salt in hot water than you can in cold.
BTW, the booster vial came ok, nothing broken.

I normally heat up the mediums in their jars, in a water bath, but forgot to do it last time.

[Savvypro]

I forgot to ask, how was the package, was it opened, was any of the tape cut?

[Jetijs]

The package was ok, nothing seemed to be opened.
Thank you!

[gene gene]

Thought this was right place to ask.

Does a mermaid wear an algebra?

[echinoidea]

haha thats funny. yes you are in the right place. i think they dont wear. that will be too fortunate for the algae. haha

[Savvypro]

I received a new binocular microscope on Saturday. Haven't used the halogen light that comes with it, as I don't want to cook my specimens. So I converted it to use an LED, without any alterations. I haven't been able to use it fully as the set of 15x eye pieces were missing on arrival. I've contacted the seller and should have them soon.

The image quality is unbelievable, the things I have seen so far using it, is amazing - all recorded, as I've been able to connect up a HD camera to one of the eye pieces.

I managed to observe a phenomena (with the Spirulina and it’s medium), that I’m currently running a test on (the quick test worked). If the second part of the test works in a week, as I hope. Then it may answer some questions about how Spirulina, has been able to survive for so long (billions of years).


@Jetijs
What is the magnification you use on the pictures you attached?

Currently I can only really observe the Spirulina at 40x and 100x (at the moment), if I use the 40x objective (which results in 400x). I can barely see anything, except some tiny crystals and what I think is the outline of a Spirulina cell. I can’t tell for sure as it’s so faint and I don’t have the 15x eye pieces yet. I may get a 20x eye piece to give me 200x capability, so that I don’t have such a large jump from 100x to 150x then 400x.

[gene gene]

@savvypro,
Good for you, nice microscope. Please post pics when you are able.
Thanks & Regards, Gene

[Jetijs]

savvypro,
I used 100x magnification, but I have also a digital zoom on the display and it was also used so I can't tell you the correct magnification. At 400x I can't get one healthy spirulina cell in the display, it is too big, but I can see detailed features.
The spirulina sample you sent me is still progressing very slowly, I increased the volume to about 0.5L and the bubbler is used non stop. I use LEDs 12h a day. So it will probably be another few weeks till the water is healthy green.

[Savvypro]

If anyone needs any "Parafilm M Laboratory Film”. Send me a PM.

I managed to get 6 boxes of 4 inch wide Parafilm at a bargain price.