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Salt Bridges

I failed a three batches of salt bridges before managing to have one stable made.

The right protocol

  • Mix 200 ml water, 5 g of agar and 75g of salt in a cooking pan.
  • Bring it to a boil while mixing regularly.
  • Let it boil for a few minutes (not too much, otherwise you will loose your water)
  • Pour the boiling mix in appropriate containers
    • Reused glass jars (with an opening having a size close to the widest diameter of the pot)
    • Glass petri dishes
  • Let them cool down a bit
  • Place them in the fridge for a few hours

What not to do

  • Use hot water from a kettle and mix everything in a cold pot
    • This induces a very uneven mix, where salt and agar are not well dissolved
  • Let it sit in the pot beore pouring it on top of the substrate
    • Warm liquid may harm the microbes in the substrate
    • Most of the agar and salt will sediment at the bottom of the pot, and your mix will not become a gelatin
  • Do not forget that the fridge step is important !
  • I highly suspect gelatin to be inefficient for this process. My successful batch was made from agar-agar from a chemical provider. I think other sources may be fine, but I have not managed to use them properly yet.

Mud, Tall

Mud, Small

Vegetable Waste & Compost Tea

  • michka/research/microbial_fuel_cells/bruxelles2.1411724606.txt.gz
  • Last modified: 2014-09-26 09:43
  • by michka