Sterilyzing salt water

[Zante]

I have a 5 litre phyto reactor and I'm having problems with pollution of the phyto by algae.

This wasn't much of a problem this summer when I bought it, but it has become increasingly so. I have sterilized the reactor three times with a solution of half bleach and half water. It would work, but each time the culture would become polluted more quickly. This last time I only managed to split the culture once before the reactor got invaded with algae.

I have found a thread about sterilizing the water with chlorine every time on marinebreeder.org, and it makes sense, but I'm not too sure how to do this, so please bear with me and please tell me if I've understood the materials and the procedure.

So...

Step 1
I sterilize the water with this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sodium-Hy...Equipment_Lab_Supplies_ET&hash=item20c1dd1cd0
adding 1ml per litre

Step 2
I prepare a solution of 75grams of this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1KG-IN-20...Equipment_Lab_Supplies_ET&hash=item417c8fc4c3
in half a litre of water and use 1ml per litre of the solution to dechlorinate

Step 3
I add the appropriate amount of f/2 and add the water to the reactor

 

[billsreef]

That would be basics for the chemical sterilization.

 

[Zante]

Ok, thanks, It's good to know I'm doing it right (in theory at least) before I make a mess.

 

[GreshamH]

Bill, can't you also just nuked it for a bit? (my brain is fried, had a 102 for a week and still recovering)

 

[billsreef]

Yup, microwave is good for small volumes. That's how I do it for volumes up to 2L. Can't fit a 5 gallon carboy or larger culture vessel in the microwave

Hope your feeling better soon. There's been a nasty bug going around town here also. You'd think living in a warm climate we wouldn't get those pesky colds.