>>6018607As someone who is currently researching algae as a replacement for food oils used in everyday cooking. I can say for such a small colony, the farms we currently have will be much less work to manage compared to mass algae consumption.
Generally, you could eat the algae. But honestly? eating algae fucking sucks. It is normally only taken as a food supplement because it tastes a lot like grass without heavy processing. And you need large areas of land to desiccate it. It only makes sense to do this on a larger scale with massively automated systems for industrial purposes.
I've been looking into algae oil specifically because after their cell membrane bursts, the collected oil will usually not carry with the taste of the algae itself. It is about as neutral as sunflower seed oil. As well as the fact that it can be used for a lot of industrial purposes that other dirtier oils are used for in the modern day.
If I were to recommend something, it would be that instead of eating the algae directly. We instead release shrimp into the water supply. Possibly carp as well. Since both of these creatures are Algivore bottom feeders. they eat the algae, and we get a source of meat onto supplement our farm crops. Any colony-starting kit with algae in it SHOULD have these creatures' eggs in it as an easy, reliable food source.
