Making Algae Growing Media

Several people have commented about the amount of copper I used. Looking at things it seems that yes I had copied it over wrong and ended up with 10X the amount. This isn’t a big deal for spirulina since all the carbonate and high ph makes the copper only slightly soluble so it doesn’t really matter how much I add the concentration in Solution will be limited. It would however be toxic to other algae. I made this video on very little sleep so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised there were errors. I’m tempted to take the video down and redo it and also fix some other issues like not using a tripod. Thoughts?

In this video Cody makes some really weird soup from his homeland.

Sometimes I forget how many crazy and unique projects you have going at the same time! That's why I love this channel, randomly hopping between mining and refining minerals to algae to a self-sustaining "mars habitat" prototype to mushrooms to bees...

During my college days I was extremely into algae especially as a biofuel source. Seeing you experiment with algae makes me want to restart my own algae project.

I'm loving the algae stuff. Hope you're well Cody!

Your videos have never once failed to teach me things I likely never would've otherwise leaned, and somehow you've never left me uninterested. You've spurred curiosities in me which I've pursued into full-fledged projects, hobbies, and passions. You can post daily, or twice a year, I'll always be excited to see which rabbit hole you fall into next. Loved the video today Cody, never stop inspiring

I don't know a whole lot about algae (biology isn't my field), but if I had to take a wild guess at why the algae dislikes being diluted, maybe it's due to trace amounts of other bacteria? Where in a 'saturated' solution of algae, the algae dominate and cut off any foreign invasion at the knees, in a less 'full' environment, it's easier for other bacteria to build to large numbers and challenge the algae. Again, not my field, so I'm likely completely wrong on this. This is kinda an invitation for someone else who might have a better idea to share it.

I did a little research into growing spirulina after your algae panel video; in regards to the issue of algae dying from stepping up the media volume too fast, could it have something to do with the opacity of the solution protecting the algae against harmful UV light? when growing algae under artifical light, i saw some sources recommend starting with a lower light intensity immediately after propagation for this very reason. did a little more reading now, and apparently because of their structure "self-shading" is also a mechanism they use to protect themselves against excessive UV, ie the spirals can become tighter or looser coils to alter how much light is impacting them, and notably it takes some time for them to adapt. so basically you go from high density of algae causing a very opaque growth medium that shields against UV -> the algae adapt by loosening their coil to receive more light to compensate for the opacity -> you transfer them into a very LOW opacity solution where the UV immediately starts pummeling them and they die before they can adapt? just a theory!

I've been curious as to what happened to the algae panel, it seems the panel didn't go quite to plan. Here's to hoping revision 2+ can take off and be a sustainable farm!

@Cody'sLab as you know plants need Iron 2 and oxidized iron in this case is iron 3. EDTA, ethyldiaminetetracetic acid is perfect for keeping iron 2 safely where plants need it to be to access it unless you do something like bubbling air through the water. In the wild, plants live in the places where large amounts of Iron2 are available and thats in CO2 rich low disturbance water. The bubblers are what kills the algae in lower concentrations, the air has enough time to destroy the EDTA bond to the Iron2 making it into Iron3 again and starving the algae of photosynthesis. (the air pumps also cause biogenic decalcification further starving the algae) If you use an impeller pump to slowly circulate the water instead of air you will have more success keeping the nutrients available to the algae and therefore growing it in larger containers

Cody, I pretty much never comment on youtube videos, but I wanted to say that literally every time I see a new upload from you, my face instantly lights up with a smile. Always excited to see what you're working on, you've been an inspiration to me for quite some time! Edit: added in a missing word oops

Cody, I love that you want to keep the production a solo process, however I strongly recommend investing in a tripod so you have use of both of your hands 😂

In secret, Cody is actually just a collection of algae, and this is just his dinner.

You are the best Cody. I hope the algae grows and becomes sentient one day, and then takes you as their king.

Out of curiosity, what made you go with zarrouk's media instead of the simpler soilwater media or UTEX's Spirulina media?

That trick of dissolving a measurable quantity of powder to make a solution of known concentration and then measuring out drops of solution is gold.

Cody, this is why I like you! One week you are prospecting, another refining minerals and the next making algae!

Always a good day when Cody blesses us with whatever he's doing!

My 9yo daughter made a science fair project where she compared how plants grew with tap water vs water with multivitamins dissolved in it and the multivitamin water made the plants grow twice as big! Great video👍👍👍👍

Miss you Cody! Always nice to see a new video