Mass Culture of Phytoplankton as Foods for Metazoans

An apparatus for mass culture of photosynthetic microorganisms has been developed to grow algae for use as foods for larval and juvenile mollusks in studies of their physiological requirements. The apparatus consists of a series of 5-gal growth chambers, and the system can be enlarged to yield any desired volume of algae by replication of basic units. Approximately 50 lit. of algal suspension, averaging about 0.5 ml of packed wet cells per liter, are produced daily.