Maintenance
Clean the heating and aeration equipment
Once a month
Unplug all electrical components (pump, lighting and heating)
Wear gloves
Remove the heating element and the aeration system
Soak only the submersible part of the aeration system and the heating element in water with white vinegar for half an hour
Rinse with water
Dry
Reinstall the bubbling and heating system in the tank
Check the hose connections at the pump
Plug the electrical components back in
Purge the medium
After 6 months of growth in the same medium
- It is recommended to purge ¼ of the tank and prepare fresh medium.
- If growth slows before 6 months, perform the purge earlier.
Harvest part of the culture over a clean bucket, so as to collect ¼ of the tank.
Finish the harvest through to drying, or place the fresh spirulina in the refrigerator.
Top up the tank (maximum 4 cm below the top of the tank) with culture medium: 12 g of nutrient salts and 5 g of fine table salt per litre of water added.
Drain and disinfect the aquarium
Once a year
Harvest half of the tank. Instead of putting the culture medium back into the tank, discard it.
Pour the remainder of the culture into a clean container, avoiding collecting the salt deposits accumulated at the bottom.
Cleaning
Unplug and remove the aeration and heating system.
Fill the tank with water and add white vinegar.
If the tank was very dirty, use bleach instead of white vinegar.
Fill the spirulina aquarium with water, then add 1/10 of the volume in bleach (that is 3 L of bleach for 30 L). Read the bleach safety precautions and the supplier's instructions.
Stir with a spatula and leave for 30 min.
Meanwhile, soak the aeration system and the heating element.
Rinse thoroughly using a sponge or a brush that does not scratch the glass to remove salt residues.
Do not scrub with the abrasive side of the sponge, so as not to scratch the glass.
Once the tank is thoroughly cleaned, pour the set-aside spirulina (inoculum) into the clean tank.
Prepare 1 L of culture medium per litre of set-aside spirulina, pour it into the tank, then carry out the step Increasing the spirulina culture volume.
Avoid thermal shockEnsure that the culture medium and the set-aside spirulina are at similar temperatures.
Spirulina healthIf the spirulina is in good condition, that is, if it is still growing well, use it as inoculum.
Otherwise, use a new spirulina strain.