Growing your own seaweed (sea vegetables)

[applestar]

Wow thanks for coming back and posting this.

I only got to see first part of it so far, but it looks very impressive. Amazing how fast and how much grows -- production looks excellent.

[SantaMonica]

Thanks.

One thing to keep in mind is that this is "low" nutrient reef aquarium water. With higher nutrient water in a dedicated cultivator (adding N,P,K, Fe), production should be more. Not too much higher though, because high nutrients will make the growth darken.

[SantaMonica]

Ok finally a drawing/diagram on building a seaweed cultivator; don't mind the term "algae scrubber" since that what these are called in the aquarium world. Also, you'd probably want a substantially larger version in order to cultivate handfuls of seaweed per week. But you should get the idea.

To run one in your garage, you might make it 12" x 12" x 3" deep, and put a 30 watt "UFO" plant-grow LED over it. It could sit in a 5 or 10 gallon tank or plastic container with saltwater and fertilizer. An air bubbler outlet every 2 or 3" should be good:

[applestar]

Thanks for posting this!
I wonder if this could be considered saltwater aquaponics?

You grow yours to feed your fish, right? Do you think it's possible to grow them for human consumption? Is yours same species as nori? Have you tried different species of algae?

[SantaMonica]

Well it certainly is saltwater, and if you consumed the seaweed then I guess it would be aquaponics too.

The ones we have in our office are growing in aquariums, and we do feed some of it to the fish, but most of the seaweed is thrown away. It could however be used as fertilizer, skin wraps, pet food, and food for us too. It taste more like iceberg lettuce.

It does not grow nori, because nori is more complex to grow, but it does grow Ulva, Cladophora, and Entomorpha. The way we grow it (in an aquarium), you don't get to choose what grows because it chooses its own. But in a stand-alone cultivator you could seed the water with what you desire, and adjust the parameter of light and flow to try to grow it.

[SantaMonica]

Have you tried to grow seaweed before?