Average Scale-up Time?

The average scale-up time can vary between 2 and 5 days to fill up to full volume with a standard 10 to 20-liter inoculum for a 1250-liter unit. The time it takes to get to a desired density to harvest usually takes 2 or 3 days more, but it all depends on the growth rate of your algae.

Ideally, a standard aquaculture strain grows to the density of your inoculum within about seven days of inoculating the bioreactor. And then, we usually push it a few days more to get that density higher than what your inoculum carboy was. Once the desired density is reached, you can maintain a continuous harvest cycle or batch harvest.

Here is a time lapse scale-up video: