Product Center

Use
BBL™ Prepared Tubed Media are for the isolation and identification of microorganisms. Tubed media are ideal for cultures requiring prolonged incubation, since many can be incubated with caps tightly closed to prevent dehydration and subsequent inhibition of growth.
BBL Prepared Tubed Media reduce possible contamination. Special long-necked, rubber lined screw caps eliminate danger of contamination. Larger-sized tubes with wider diameters permit easy inoculation and handling of media.

Types
Tubes are borosilicate glass with black screw caps securely fitted to prevent loss of moisture. Most tubes contain a special resilient rubber liner which resists displacement even during autoclaving.
BBL Prepared Tubed Media are manufactured in a wide variety of sizes dependent upon the application of the individual culture medium. Catalog listings indicate the type of tube in each instance; dimensions of each of the tubes are shown at the bottom of each page where tubed media formulations are listed.

• "A" tube size: 19.5 × 145 mm: The "A" tubes containing solid media (e.g., Trypticase™ Soy Agar) contain a media quantity equivelant to one plate (approximately 20 mL). These are also designed as "Pour Tubes."
• "C" tube size: 19.5 × 113 mm: The "C" tube is used for a variety of media such as Lowenstein-Jensen and Petragnani media, for those customers whose incubators and apparatus are not adaptable to other sizes, yet a large slant surface area is desired.
• "D" tube size: 16.5 × 125 mm: The "D" tube is utilized for certain general-purpose and special purpose media. These usually contain approximately 10 mL of media. When filled with TSI Agar or similar differential agars, approximately 7 mL are used to produce the characteristic long butt with short slant needed for these special-purpose media.
• "K" tube size: 16.5 × 102 mm: The "K" tube provides the convenience of a "D" tube with vertical shelf space-saving. Unless otherwise noted, slants contain approximately 4-5 mL, slants with butts approximately 6 mL and broths approximately 5-8 mL, depending on the formulation.
• Vials (19 × 53 mm) used for Amies: Amies Transport media are filled to the cap.

Storage
On receipt, store according to label directions. Media containing dyes must be protected from light at all times. In some tubes, agar and semi-solid agar (including thioglycollate-containing media) may become distorted within the tube during shipment. These can be restored to their proper condition by loosening the cap, bringing to 100°C in a boiling water bath and allowing the medium to resolidify in the appropriate position.

Packaging
Most tubed media are available in shelf packs of 10 and 100 tubes to meet the volume needs of various users.
Mycoflask™ media are sterile, disposable ready-to-use BBL™ culture media prepared in the special Mycoflask bottle. A variety of media for isolation and cultivation of tubercle bacilli and fungi is offered. The Mycoflask bottle’s special features include:

• A deep offset well providing a deep culture bed.
• Surface area of 5.4 cm for cultivation.
• Horizontal incubation to flood agar surface with inoculum.
• Flat-sided bottle to reduce chances of breakage.
• Tightly fitted screw caps to eliminate loss of moisture even when incubation is extended to eight weeks or more.

Mycoflask media are packaged in specially designed trays for ease in handling and incubation.