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Yeah professionally made agar, on a scale from wax to jello, is about 3/4+ the way to jello.

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It this the Jello scale?  I think I read something about theat in Science.... 

Seriously, though, I think you're using too much agar.  I usually use 15g per liter but up to 20g is fine.  Divide by 5 for 200 mL and you should be using maximum 5g, but you could be using 3.75g for 200 mL -- I would recommend staying closer to that, as long as it solidifies.

As far as additives and stuff are concerned, you want the carbon:nitrogen ratio around 10:1 -- any less promotes waste accumulation.  You don't want too many water solubles, either, as it will screw up the osmolarity.  If you want to add other stuff, trade it for something, i.e. add less malt, but you're really making a judgement call unless you have specific information about the molecular constitution of the additive.  The best bet is to stick with time-tested recipes unless you have a reason not to -- MEA and PDA work fine without additives unless you're trying to cultivate a strange genus/species.

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Micro

micro said:

Seriously, though, I think you're using too much agar. I usually use 15g per liter but up to 20g is fine. Divide by 5 for 200 mL and you should be using maximum 5g, but you could be using 3.75g for 200 mL -- I would recommend staying closer to that, as long as it solidifies.

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