# Questions about Pyrocystis fusiformis



## Chesh (Feb 17, 2012)

Hie, salty friends!

I was aware of the existence of such things as magical algae, but it never occurred to me that I could keep it, or that something like this was possible:

Living night light with glowing algae - YouTube

This is what I like to call a brilliant idea! I'm the kind of person that cuts open glow-sticks and pours them into jars to create 'nightlights' for my kids. . . I_ REALLY_ want to try this in_ so many_ different ways!

Caleb gives a bit of additional information on how he made his nightlight on his blog - but he's not a tanker, lol. I'm a low-tech freshwater girl, and a beginner at that! In my experience, algae isn't very difficult to keep alive :roll:, but I've never _wanted _ to, either - and salt is a whole 'nother thing, entirely. I don't know enough about saltwater to even interpret the care guides!

So what I'd like to learn from those with more understanding of such things is _if_ I would be able to keep this algae alive indefinitely in a small container, and what I would have to do to make that happen. :-D

TY!


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## wake49 (Jul 2, 2008)

Chesherca said:


> So what I'd like to learn from those with more understanding of such things is _if_ I would be able to keep this algae alive indefinitely in a small container, and what I would have to do to make that happen. :-D
> 
> TY!


We all know that algae, like anything else in our tanks, is alive and needs the basics to stay alive: a food source (which is light in most photosynthetic creatures), gas exchange and an enviroment suitable for that specific creature. The food source is a bit tricky with photosynthetic creatures since just light may be good enough, but other nutrients will help it thrive. These are the things that we try to avoid in a tank; things such as nitrates, phosphates, silicates, etc always increase algae growth. Gas exchange is important since carbon dioxide is a big ingredient in photosynthesis. You will need something to exchange gas with the algae (carbon dioxide for oxygen). The enviroment suitable for algae growth will be taken care of, since I assume you will be using water...;-)

I think that Water Change water from an existing tank may be the best way to keep this alive. I couldn't watch the video (I am at work and they are not too keen on my fishkeeping hobby...), but from your post I assume that this needs _saltwater_ to survive. I would say (as an experiment) use tank water from a water change out of your freshwater tanks and add salt mix (I use Instant Ocean. Do not use aquarium salt, it's not the same thing). This would provide the nutrients, such as phosphate and nitrate, to promote algae growth, and the water might be higher in Carbon Dioxide because it was lived in. I don't think that you would want to subject a fish to the kind of water that you will be adding to this experiment, so I don't think that using a fish for gas exchange would be a good idea...

THat is all I have. Hope this helped!


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## Chesh (Feb 17, 2012)

Thanks for your input! 

I'm not remotely considering fish, or any other animal - I don't know nearly enough about saltwater systems to contemplate life forms above algae, lol, not inclined to learn just now, either. Plus shaking. . . not a good plan!

I'm assuming that I can cross-apply what I know about freshwater planting (and algae) to salt, but _salt!!? _Instant Ocean, I can get - do I follow some happily included package directions, or is there a specific amount of salt that I could add into. . .say. . . one gallon of water, to get the proper dilution? *knows nothing about saltwater*

As for nutrients, I saw a listing for this type of algae for sale, and they recommended a specific product to 'feed' the plant. I'll look farther into that. For now, this is going to go on the 'things I MUST do someday list' which is getting fairly long!

Thanks again! Really appreciate you taking the time to help on with these random not *quite* tank related questions!

(glow in the dark algae is_ AWESOME!_)


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

I want to know too! thanks for sharing!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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