Cnidarian Facility

Nematostella culture:

We have established a semi-automated culture system which allows for genetic approaches. A shelf system gives room for over 400 boxes for the different lines. The animals are kept in boxes with 1 L brackish water (1/3 sea water), which is replaced automatically once a day. The animals are fed daily with freshly hatched Artemia brine shrimps. The brackish water is produced automatically in tanks of 1000 L by diluting filtered sea water with reverse osmosis water. The sea water is pumped from 200 m depth out of the fjord of Bergen, in a distance of a few kilometers from the shore. Temperature, salinity and pH are constantly controlled in the tanks. This set up reduces the daily hands-on time of cleaning to a minimum.