Growing Graciliria

Meredith SMYLIE

This past week, I have been setting up tanks to grow Gracilaria in the lab. First, we are attaching Gracilaria to three different structures to determine which method allows the Gracilaria to grow the best. These structures are a white plastic grid, a PVC frame, and hollow tubes with mesh on the ends to allow water to flow through. We also wanted to know if the Gracilaria grows better when we bubble air into the water or when water is pumped over the seaweed. To determine which methods allow the greatest growth, we are growing the Gracilaria in the lab for two weeks. Once we know which method works the best, we will be starting more experiments to figure out how well Gracilaria grows under different environmental conditions. 

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