Most Commonly Used Species of Red Algae

Algae can be useful in many different situations. Algae are for instance used as food for humans as well as for live stock, and it is also included in various health products and cosmetics. Seaweed is predominately gulped down in South-East Asia, especially in China, Japan, and Korea, but it is becoming more and more popular outside this range for each year that passes.

If you want to include more algae in your diet you can for instance try red algae from the genus Porphyra for the help www.july4-recipes.com. In Asian cuisine, this alga is commonly referred to as nori. It is not commonly eaten fresh; it is instead harvested, dried and pressed into thin sheets. These sheets are then used in all sorts of dishes, from sushi and soups to sauces and condiments. The two most commonly used species of red algae are Porphyra yezoensis and Porphyra tenera.

Do you think that you have never eaten algae? I think you have! As a matter of fact, the next time you gulp down some ice cream or pour syrup over your desert you might be eating brown algae. Alginic acid, a popular stabilizer for emulsions and suspensions, is derived from brown algae. In addition to the food industry, it is also appreciated by paint producers.

Brown algae are not the only type of algae that can be used to stabilize food for cookies. Red algae are used to make the products Agar and Carrageenan which works wonders when you need to stabilize food products such as puddings and canned meat. Agar is also used by scientists who need to grow bacteria, fungi and cell structures on a nutritious gel, while Carrageenan is a popular addition to shampoos.

Wish to try some mouth-watering algae dishes in your own kitchen? Here is a recipe for Seaweed Soup.

Ingredients:
• 1 pound of chicken - sliced
• 2 quarts of water
• 1 cube of chicken bouillon
• 1 (8 ounce) can of sliced water chestnuts
• 3 sheets of nori (dry seaweed)
• 1 egg
• Salt to taste
• 4 green onions
• 3/4 teaspoon of sesame oil
What to do:
1.) Cook the sliced chicken over medium heat until browned. Use a large saucepan because you will be adding more ingredients.
2.) Drain off excess fat.
3.) Add water and bring it to a boil.
4.) Reduce the heat down to medium again and leave the dish to simmer without a lid on for roughly 15 minutes.
5.) Stir in the bouillon cube and make sure that it dissolves completely.
6.) Add the chestnuts.
7.) Break the nori into peaces and add to the saucepan.
8.) Beat the egg in a separate bowl.
9.) Stir in the egg.
10.) Add salt to taste.
11.) Chop the green onions.
12.) Remove the saucepan from the heat before adding the onions.
13.) Stir in sesame oil.
14.) Bon appetite!

Lets try it....

Seaweed: Rhodophyta

The Rhodophyta are a unique group of organisms, which, like the Chlorophyta, are thought to be very ancient. No cell, including reproductive cells, is ever flagellated. Like the Chlorophyta, the chloroplast is encircled by a double membrane, but thylakoids occur singly and are not stacked.

Only chlorophyll a is present, and cells are distinctively colored by the accessory pigments, phycocyanin and phycoerythrin, which occur in hemispheric granules on the thylakoids. The photosynthetic product is a highly branched form of starch and is stored outside the chloroplast. Most red algae belong to the Class Floideophyceae, which is characterized by proteinaceious "pit" plugs occluding the connection between cells (due to incomplete cell cleavage at mitosis). Most red algae are multicellular and marine, but unicellular and freshwater taxa also occur.

Red Slime Algae (Cyanobacteria)

Red slime algae is actually not a "true" algae at all, but classified as a cyanobacteria. Often considered to be the evolutionary link between bacteria and algae, cyanobacteria are one of the oldest forms of life on earth and date back at least 3.5 billion years.
These organisms produce oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis, and scientists believe that if it weren't for this microscopic organism, there would be no blue skies on Earth. Commonly referred to as "red slime" algae, the name cyanobacteria literally means "blue-green" algae. Despite the naming, only about half of these organisms are actually blue-green in color. Most forms found in saltwater are other colors, ranging from blackish green to blue-green, from orange-yellow to reddish-brown, and often appear deep purple to fully black in color. Starting out as small patches, it spreads out from there as a mat of sheeting covering.

What Makes Slime Algae Grow and Solutions For Eliminating This Problem

We suggest that you don't try to put all of these solutions into action at one time, because if you do, when the problem subsides you'll never really know where the problem was coming from and which solution worked to fix it. Start with one solution and see what results you get, and if that one doesn't work, try another one, and so on, until the problem is resolved. Now, in order for all forms of algae to grow, they require only two things; light and nutrients.

• Lighting: The use of improper bulbs, lack of maintenance, and extended lighting hours are contributors that can lead to all sorts of algae problems. While these organisms do well in the 665 to 680 nanometer (nm) wavelength range, they are quite active bewteen the 560 and 620 nm range as well.
• Solutions: Only use bulbs that are designed for aquarium use, run the lights 8 to 9 hours a day, and following the basic wattage rule of thumb, try different types of bulbs to increase the intensity and the spectral qualities of the light in the aquarium, particularly when it comes to any type of full-spectrum or color enhancing tubes being used.

• Nutrients: Phosphates (PO 4 ), DOCs (Dissolved Organic Compounds), and nitrates (NO 3 ) are primary nutrient food sources for red and other slime algae.
• Phosphates (PO 4 ) are commonly introduced into aquariums by means of using unfiltered fresh tap water, and through many aquarium products that may contain higher than normal concentrations of this element, such as sea salt mixes, activated carbon, KH buffers, foods, and many other sources. Also, for established reef tanks the long-term use of kalkwasser precipitates phosphates out of the water, and these phosphate based compounds can settle on and in the live rock and substrate.