Algae+(Students)

=Algae= We recently moved our algae into a relatively large fish tank where it has continued to flourish. The algae is still a dark green and we have noticed some algae collecting on the sides and at the bottom of the tank. We have removed the two lights from the front of the tank because we felt that there was too much heat on the tank, which was contributing to a higher rate of evaporation. We moved one of the lights underneath the tank to ensure that all parts of the tank received sufficient amounts of light. We've continued to feed the algae with Miracle Gro. Due to the continued growth rate, we assume that this continues to nourish the algae. Because we are nearing the end of the process, we have begun to think about separating algae in order to extract the lipids. We spent a week working with a centrifuge, a device which separates the algae from the water it is growing in through centripetal force. Unfortunately, we made a series of errors in working with the wiring of the device. This resulted in the centrifuge's short-circuiting. This eliminates, at least for the moment, the possibility of using the centrifuge, meaning we must now find another way of separating the algae.
 * March 2014**
 * A-block**

The algae growing in the smaller bottles was growing well, particularly those in Greg and Greg 2, so we decided it was time to dilute our algae by moving it into a larger container. We took two empty pretzel containers and emptied two smaller bottles into each of the larger ones. We also took some algae from Mary-Kate and Ashley to give to F-block because the air pumps in the green house shut off over break, causing them to lose the algae growing their. The two containers are named Greg and Carol. Greg is the healthier of the two, probably because it contains algae grown using the universal medium. Carol is a much lighter green, but we hope that its color will change and the growth will continue. We have been feeding the algae regularly with small amounts of Miracle Gro and so far the results have been largely positive.
 * February 2014 **
 * A-block**


 * From left to right, Greg and Carol **

We've been growing our algae for about a week now and the results so far have been promising. Both the algae based in the medium and the algae growing in the DI water are healthy shades of green. Our biggest problem so far has been maintaining a suitable level of medium in bottles 1 and 2. Bottle 1 dried up in the six days that passed between feeding it, so we'll be monitoring its progress going forward. Bottle 2 has is a dark shade of green, but has a low level of liquid within the bottle. Bottle 3's water level dropped drastically since its last feeding which we believe is due to evaporation. Nonetheless, the algae still seems to be growing at a healthy rate. Bottle 4 has the highest medium level and is showing signs of significant algae growth and is probably our most successful bottle at the moment.
 * A-block**

After a few weeks of solid growth, we reached February vacation and ran into some problems. The algae in the greenhouse was growing very well, much better than in the lab. Over vacation unfortunately, someone shut the air pumps off and we were unable to get into the greenhouse to try to fix it. In the last few weeks of group work we are planning on focusing solely on growing in the greenhouse. We will be using some of A Block's algae to grow upstairs. We are hoping to have strong and consistent algae growing before our Core Four time is up.
 * F-Block**

Since our last post, we've made a couple of changes to our algae's growing conditions. We ran out of the Universal Algae Medium we were using for Greg and Mr Brady, so we replaced it with DI water and began to feed it with small doses of Miracle Gro just as we are doing with Mary-Kate and Ashley. It is with great sorrow that we announce that Mr Brady is no more. Last week, we were unable to replenish his supply of medium, so the bottle dried out. Although we refilled it as quickly as we could, he never recovered. Bottle 2 has now been filled with algae and DI water from Greg and is growing well. In fact, all our bottles appear to be in good health. The water levels are about even and all bottles show healthy shades of green. Greg may soon be ready to move into a bigger container, which means we are slowly but surely advancing in the process. == =From left to right: Greg, Greg 2, Mary-Kate and Ashley= = = =**December 2013**=
 * A-block**

**A Block**
This is the A-block Algae group, continuing the work done by C-block last year. We started working on this project about a month and a half ago. At the start, we found four containers of algae being grown using the methods demonstrate below. After talking with Mackey Howe, a continuing Greengineering student, we decided to start working on a fully contained growth system. Our reasoning for this was that it would make the growing process a lot simpler by eliminating the need to change containers when the amount of algae became too much for its receptacle. It would also allow other groups to spend more time working on developing or improving methods of the removal of lipids from the algae. We spent a good amount of time debating how to create this system and finally settled upon creating two inter-connected tanks, one smaller one and one larger one. We obtained a second shelf and designated the top shelves for A-block. The bottom two are being used by F-block. We currently have two tanks; one is a place holder, as it has a large crack in its side and cannot be used. The other is a large tank formerly used to hold a turtle. Since we needed to create circulation between the two tanks, we acquired two pumps with the help of Mackey Howe. Now, we have a pump that can bring liquid from the top tank to the bottom and vice versa. We also have two lights, two air pumpers, and reflective material surrounding the two tanks. As we move into the new year, our goal is to get the system up and running, growing algae in larger amounts with less effort.!

We finally got algae to start growing last Tuesday January 21. We got two different types of algae: chlorella and a diatom mix. For each bottle of algae we have, we add 3 drops of the Universal Algae Medium every week. So far the chlorella is the one growing best, so we are planning to get more of it. But for the diatoms mix, we aren't seeing as much change to it. As of right now we plan on to just focus with the chlorella instead of the diatom mix although we will still keep it stable. We are ordering more Chlorella, and planning on testing different growing conditions. We are going to try to start a few 16ounce bottles growing in the greenhouse, using natural light instead of lamps.
 * F-block**

=Check out last years information: here!=