Biomass was harvested from the rope substrata weekly by mechanical scraping and lyophilized for biomass determination, ash free dry weight (AFDW) measurements, and chemical composition. AFDW calculation was determined using lyophilized biomass at 550 ° C. Biomass productivity was calculated using the AFDW of the biofilm divided by the areal footprint of the reactor (0.0338 m2). Growth rates were calculated, and an Arrhenius plot of the data was used to obtain the temperature correction coefficient. ANOVA calculations were based on using biomass productivity as the dependent variable. Total theoretical productivity for the reactor was also calculated using measured growth rates. The Arrhenius equation was used to model the effect of temperature on the biofilm growth rate.