Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Has anyone tried raising spirulina in tanks? I am interested in trying it... it would make great fish food!

i was planning to, but if i remember correctly they like alkaline saline (but may grow in fw) conditions, and i wasnt sure if the "powder" was dormant algae cells or i would need a starter culture.

But it would be possible, and make an amazing fish food

Hopefully someone has tried it, as it would be an interesting project

I use it as a food. Grew it for a while. Starter cultures are available from CSIRO.

Spirulina needs warm conditions to grow well.

But the real problem is this: Spirulina normally grows in saline water. It can grow in fresh water, but normal alge tends to out-compete it. It becomes very hard to keep your culture as spirulina, rather than just "wild algae". If you keep the saline levels high, then the spirulina does well, but it is hard to feed to the fish without gradually increasing the saline level in your fish tank.

This is not necessarily bad for the fish. Perch cope OK and tilapia thrive - but most plants don't do well.

If you are going to grow spirulina for feed, then use tilapia as your fish (or another salt-tolerant fish), add brine shrimp for a treat (the brine shrimp can eat spirulina and, as a bonus, they concentrate the omega oils), and you will need to find very salt-tolerant plants.

Hi,

If you are thinking of algae culture, think about chlorella rather than spirulina (the broad growing conditions are probably better suited to freshwater aquaponics).

In Malaysia, and other parts of Asia, chlorella is grown in ponds for use as livestock and fish food.

Gary

That's good information, re: salt overloading & also about chlorella!!!

That seems an exciting prospect to me Gary, growing chlorella. I'd have to move somewhere warmer though... dammit. ah well...

Where would you obtain a start kit from?

Gary,

Thank you! That sounds much more promising!....

I will look into that...

C

Hi 'kat,

You may be able to get enough Chlorella from a health food shop to get a culture going.

From what I can remember of reading about the Malaysian operation, they grew the algae in ponds and harvested it by pumping the algae-rich pond water through a centrifuge arrangement (made from a spin dryer mechanism).

Gary

GD - Is it still active in the dried form (is that why you cld get it from HF store).

VB, I think it can be. I had a friend who would put chlorella in a glass to make it come to life and then drink it....

okay - I'll have to check to see how expensive it is. Will have a chat about it on Sunday GD, pick your brains.

VB,



Slim pickings, mate!

I saw a great weblink once and then lost it on some program teaching villages in 3rd world countrys how to grow spirulina in clay pots. Pots needed to be stirred several times a day and pH was like 10 or 11 I think. But ya kids got enuf essential nurtients from a little bit of the mix everyday to avoid most common health problems in the area.

In thailand people eat duckweed. Is true seen it myself

khai-nam or water eggs, I asked our exchange student if she had eaten this before and she seemed kind of grossed out. Only the more "rural" folks eat the stuff.

Here's a fun duckweed article:
http://www.morgenwelt.de/futureframe/00 ... ckweed.htm