Culturing Rotifers

[steveybb]

I want to start to culture rotifers, but need some advice on getting started. I already culture phytoplankton, so I can use that to feed them.

[torrid_07]

hey i wanted to start on phytoplank. what kind of a system are you doing?

[fragNplug]

Rotifers are almost the same as phyto but with a slower bubble rate.
However you must feed them every 4 hours, or provide live phyto to always keep the water a slightly green color.

Phyto is simple get some live and add to a 2 litre bottle, there is a special food Called Guillard's F/2 you can find this online.
Some prefer to use the miracle grow and essential elements to produce the same type of food.

[rayjay]

If you are going to culture rotifers with phyto, you will need a lot of it.
They go through it so fast it's unbelievable.
I also culture brine shrimp adults on a large scale and they don't consume anywhere near as much as rots do.
You also have to keep the rot cultures away from the phyto cultures as they will crash the phyto very fast. I've had problems even with them in different rooms.
Don't use the same equipment to culture the rots and the phyto.
I no longer use phyto for the rotifer culturing and instead use a powdered product that I mix in a blender with water and is called Algamac Protein Plus. It means a little more frequent cleaning than with phyto, but I don't have to keep siphoning out culture water to add the needed phyto.
You can used powdered spirulina if that is available to you.
Depending on what you are using the rotifers for, you will most likely need to gut load them with a fatty acid profile food first.
If it's for clownfish fry or seahorse fry, you will definitely need products like the Selco type emulsions I used to use, or the Algamac 3050 powder that I now use. (even though the Algamac Protein Plus has some of the 3050 in it)
If you are just feeding the rots to your tank, then spirulina powder is an excellent food for growing and you don't need to gut load to feed to the tank.
As for fertilizer, I started years ago using Miracle Gro but stopped when I found out it has chemical elements not needed and not wanted in reef tank water.
Even if you don't use the greenwater in your aquariums, but use it to feed rotifers or brine shrimp, they ingest this chemical laden phyto and take it to the aquarium where it "outs" when the fish/corals/inverts produce their feces after eating the rots or shrimp.
If the rots/shrimp are just to feed fish fry then I don't know if it is detrimental to them.
I quit using the Miracle and always use the F/2 now.
You can order mass packs that make up four litres from Florida Aqua Farms, or you can order smaller quantities already mix up like from Reef Crew in Ontario.
http://www.reefcrew.com/index.php?op...id=5&Itemid=30

[howdy20012002]

http://www.seafarm.com/

I have bought from these guys a few times.
they are awesome to deal with...
and about the best prices I could find.
Hope this Helps
Neal

[biocuber]

Excellent info Rayjay, thanks for sharing. I am curious when you culture brine shimp how long does it take to get them to adult size?