Check Water Temperature

Water temperature is one of the most important parameters for your kelp seed. You should do a daily check of your chillers and/or air conditioning to make sure they are operating properly. Use a thermometer to confirm that each tank is within the optimal 50-52°F (10-12°C) range. GreenWave has switched to a refrigerated shipping container nursery design outlined in the Seed Production Pathways to Scale course rather than using chillers. This chills the air and water in a cooling envelope and has made nursery operations significantly easier and tank temperatures to be more consistent. It has also helped with contamination mitigation because there are no small pieces to clean like in the chillers.

Check your chillers daily to make sure they’re functioning properly.

GreenWave Tip

If for some reason there is a malfunction with your cooling equipment and the water temperatures have risen significantly, one of the first things you can do is turn off the tank lights. Especially true for T12s, lighting can emit a lot of heat and, if the water is not being actively chilled, spike up the tank temps quickly. Once you find the source of the malfunction and gradually get the water temperatures back down, it will be safe to turn the lights back on!