Algae Stock Culture Maintenance

The hatchery grows 5 different species of microalgae stock cultures.

Algae grows to the size of its container.

A look inside the algae lab.

Just like shellfish, the algae cultures need daily/weekly maintenance in order to grow! Stock culture maintenance is an import task that is done weekly or biweekly in order to keep fresh algae growing at all times in the hatchery. A stock culture is a small amount of algae that is used as a starter culture. Algae grows to the size of its container, so that small amount eventually grows into all the algae we use to feed millions of shellfish! These stock cultures live in the algae lab until they are ready to be moved into one of our other algae systems. 

Algae stock cultures are grown in flasks in the algae lab.

So, what do we do to maintain our stock cultures? Like the shellfish, the algae cultures also need a routine water change. We refer to these sterile water changes as transfers. As the algae grows, it uses up the nutrients in the water and produces a waste product. If the algae is left to sit in that water over a long period of time, the culture will die. To avoid this, a small amount of algae from a stock culture is added to a new flask of sterile water. Then, the newly transferred algae cells begin to divide and grow into a new culture! Theoretically, an algae culture can be kept alive forever providing there is no contamination during the transfer process. The process of preforming a transfer involves several crucial procedures that need to be followed in order to keep the cultures free of contamination. 

Check out the video below to learn more and watch our hatchery manager and algae specialist, Joshua Perry, preform a transfer!