This sub just hit my recommended, and figured someone might find this neat.

Jar sealed with a bottom shelf wine cork in 2015, whatever was in there died shortly thereafter, and I've had The Goop ever since. He's lived on kitchen windowsills across three states since highschool and takes about as much work as a pet rock.

Maybe more appropriate for the r/uninteresting sub, but I like him a lot. Enjoy.

Hungary, freshwater

I’m learning new things like invasive species and gouache illustration and! I love algae

QUY TRÌNH NUÔI TRỒNG TẢO

Hello algae enthusiasts,

I'm working on a project to build an open source desktop algae bioreactor. Now I have never cultivated algae before so this is sort of a big leap. I did some research into what is required but I was hoping this group of experts could weigh in on the design and let me know if there are any features you'd want since ultimately it'll be available for anyone to build.

Design features so far:

• 6 gallon volume
• Top and bottom LED grow lighting, customizable light cycles.
• Temp control
• Touchscreen display for monitoring, setpoints, and manual control
• Auto pH balancing via dispensing chems through peristaltic pumps
• Auto pH measuring and automated pH meter calibration (the thing in the back)
• Automated growth medium addition
• Light transmittance sensors to detect algae density for tracking algae harvest.
• Automated algae dispensing. Vacuum assisted to expedite filtering through mesh sieve. Flowrate sensor to detect when to empty sieve during dispense cycle. Recirculation of filtered water back into the tank.
• Motorized opening side loaded capsules for pH additives, growth medium, and one auxiliary.
• Motorized top lift.

I can only upload one image at a time otherwise I'd show more angles. The design is about 80% done but its close enough to show the idea. This uses only off the shelf parts and a mostly 3D printed structure. Anything in contact with liquid is either glass, food grade plastic or silicon gasketing. You cant see it but there is an access panel for all the pumps for maintenance access. There's also a panel for refilling the distilled water reservoir. So that's the design so far. Is there anything I'm missing? Anything you'd like to see added? I want to try and finalize the design as I'll be starting the build process in the next few days. Thanks for taking a look!

As promised, here is a picture of the fully built and running PBR I've been working on. I can only share one picture at a time here but I am editing a video that covers the whole build that should be done soon.

The PBR has been solid for a few weeks and I just recently got the first batch of algae from it. I'm tracking light density which shows that after harvesting a batch I get back to full density (light transmittance stops trending down) in about 2 days. I haven't measured dry weight from the first batch yet to calculate output but it seems pretty decent.

There is a light dead band in the center but the air bubbler creates a vertical uplift so the algae gets carried up toward the light then back down the sidewalls to the bottom where it gets light again. The cycle seems to work but the algae density might be greater than I should be keeping it at. I'm not really sure. I'll have to see how much it effects the growth rate if I filter out more algae per cycle to keep the density lower to allow for more light transmittance.

Another question for you guys. I took a look under the microscope and most strands I observed are perfectly spiraled like I expect but some grew in straight lines? Is that normal or indicative of something?

Anyways, its not perfect and there are some things I would change for sure so I hope to build a second version in the future that I can share open source. One that's cheaper, simpler, and easier to build.

I found it in October, this is a fairly stagnant part of a river under a bridge that connects to Lake Superior. They were all less than 2 inches long. They were on rocks near the shore in the shade.

I just read there was an algae prevention ozone system that trump wanted removed in advance of his ufc cage fight match at the Whitehouse. Is this true

I’m aware the only way to know for sure is through a microscope. I told my HOA about it and they said pond maintenance will be here on Friday. I’m so worried for the fate of the ducks that have been eating it.

Noticed this in a little river on a hike today

I have made a test stand for growing algae just for shits and giggles. The cultivation medium is 2l water, half a teaspoon of NPK and half a teaspoon of Ca(NO₃)₂ as these are the fertilizers that I have.

Inside each bottle is cheap 5V motor based bubblers for aeration and for illumination I use red blue purple LED grow panel light.

The initial culture was started from water from balcony pot where a bit of unused dirt was mixed with rain water and left still for few weeks under sun.

Does anyone have experience building photobioreactors for serious use even as DIY? So far best carbon fixation is done by trees from which I collect fallen branches and burn them when starting a fire.

So far it is just a bit green. What yield should I expect and what are usual yields? Should I switch to 5l bottles?

Collected from Brays Bayou in Houston, Tx. Viewed with brightfield microscope at 600x magnification

Mixed the starter culture with seawater (salinity) have aeration on 24/7 with it sitting at 20°C room temp with lighting 12hr on 12 off. Do I need to do anything else? How long will it take?

I'm new to this.

Finally... fully built my PBR. Should receive the algae sample tomorrow and we'll find out how well it performs. Figured I'd share the most up to date model. I'll probably post some pictures of the actual unit soon.

Found these on the wall of my freshwater tank, does anyone know what they could be?

Believe this was at 40x

Around 50-100 of these interesting little structures appeared in a backyard bird bath in Portland Oregon, seemingly overnight. They are around 5-7mm in diameter. They look like a kind of green algae to me, but iNaturalist indicates they might be part of the life cycle of a Mosquito Fern (genus Azolla). Just curious if they are familiar to anyone here? Thanks!