Rotifers culturing question!

[chinmo]

helo guys! hope any bros who culture rotifers before help me out here, i just brought a small bottle of rotifers egg, i read the instrustion behind, very blur, catch no ball!

How do i hatch the rotifers? just like bbs?

[kareen]

From what I know it is more difficult to start the rotifer culture with eggs....... nevertheless since u bought it already, it should be hatch like the brine shrimps eggs. One more thing to do, remeber to monitor the situation closely. U need to add nanochrolis (I don't think the spelling is correct) when they hatch which is a bit difficult to see. One lazy method is to put live alage solution when u r hatching it so that the algae don't turn bad and there is food when the baby rotifers hatch.

There will only be female rotifers carrying babies only when food is plentiful.

Click on the link, then the 'Navigation' bar for the menu. U should find some info on culturing rotifers, brine shrimps, etc.

http://www.sjwilson.net/reef/

Hope this helps.

[chinmo]

Thanks bro!

[bawater]

open vial, empty into a petri dish or plastic cup, add 20ml water, leave for 24hrs.

After 24hrs transfer to 250-500ml saltwater, add phyto- enough to tinge light green.

Once phyto clear- tinge water 2nd time.

After 2nd feeding clears, density will be dense enough to

Transfer to bigger volume (your actual culture container 1 or 2 or 3 or 4ltrs).

from then to infinity maintain your rotifer culture factory.

you only need 1 to hatch and you will get a culture. (one vial should contain abt 6000 eggs,if you bought the smallest)

Try to use pure nanno in culturing rotifers, it helps to keep the cultures cleaner. Easier to strain and feed to the tank.

[chinmo]

open vial, empty into a petri dish or plastic cup, add 20ml water, leave for 24hrs.

After 24hrs transfer to 250-500ml saltwater, add phyto- enough to tinge light green.

Once phyto clear- tinge water 2nd time.

After 2nd feeding clears, density will be dense enough to

Transfer to bigger volume (your actual culture container 1 or 2 or 3 or 4ltrs).

from then to infinity maintain your rotifer culture factory.

you only need 1 to hatch and you will get a culture. (one vial should contain abt 6000 eggs,if you bought the smallest)

Try to use pure nanno in culturing rotifers, it helps to keep the cultures cleaner. Easier to strain and feed to the tank.

Thanks bawater! so i just use salinty of 1.024?

[bawater]

yup, if that's your tank salinity.

although they are brackish in nature- they can be acclimated to full strength SW.

you want cultures to run as near as possible to tank conditions so that you don't send them into shock and die when feeding.

[chinmo]

Thanks u!

[Chris Low]

helo guys! hope any bros who culture rotifers before help me out here, i just brought a small bottle of rotifers egg, i read the instrustion behind, very blur, catch no ball!

How do i hatch the rotifers? just like bbs? 

Hello Chinmo, kind enough to let me know the source of Rotifer. I am also looking for copepod culture. Thank in advance.

[chinmo]

Hello Chinmo, kind enough to let me know the source of Rotifer. I am also looking for copepod culture. Thank in advance.

u can buy rotifers eggs from reborn, copepods think can only culture urself.

[chinmo]

Hi bawater, how long will a culture take to matured and ready to split for furthur cultures? am using rotirich for roti's food, adding 1-2 drop per day, cultures size...using 1.5l coke can.

[bawater]

i don't know with rotirich (even though i got a 2 year old bottle in the fridge), its yeast based and i find water quality issues with using it.(water spoils within 1 batch)

and i have to change more water = more money for salt.

currently i only use the phytoplankton concentrate from aquaz (pure nanno) and i can get a batch ready to harvest in 4 days. (to split into a few cultures maybe in 2-3days)

for a 12ltr culture i use up abt a bottle($10) just over a month- at your volume that bottle most probably last u 4-6mths

1ml of paste will feed 1million rotifers per day. but i use the eye method, just tinge the water green and feed again when it clears everyday/every other day. (2-3 feedings and its ready).

2 mins per day for feeding and 10mins for harvest, that's all i spend on it.

i mix half a teaspoon with new salt water in a 500ml drink bottle and leave in the fridge (and leave paste in freezer). use this bottle to feed the cultures for the week,this feed solution can also be used for tank feeding . That's how i can feed everything so fast. The diluted solution will keep for a week easily in the fridge.

and the paste in the freezer can keep for a yr.

my batches are in 4ltrs. and with the nanno i can reused back 50-70% of the old water after straining.(meaning a 30% water change every harvest). saving me in salt.

[chinmo]

Thanks!

[KCK]

Hi Chinmo

Need to bubble the culture like bbs? Or just keep it in the bottle in the fridge?

[chinmo]

need to bubble, but not like bbs culture that kinda strong bubbles!

[KCK]

need to bubble, but not like bbs culture that kinda strong bubbles!

Thanks!!!

[Achilles Tang]

Hi Chinmo, why the sudden interest in rotifer culturing? I thought baby seahorses go for larger zooplankton?

[chinmo]

Hi Chinmo, why the sudden interest in rotifer culturing? I thought baby seahorses go for larger zooplankton?

well... according to seahorse.org... if fed rots and bbs for the first week, will raise the sucess rate of them to adults. hence trying to culture lor

[chinmo]

Bro Bawater, how does rotifers swim ard like? swirling in circular motion? i shine light through e cultures and see a lot of small specks swirling.... is that e rots?

[bawater]

yup, some will be on the walls of the container too.

abt 1/3 the size of newly hatched bbs.

[chinmo]

i 've got the rots culture going!

[Creetin]

i 've got the rots culture going!

congrats dude!

if i need some in future, can buy from u? acherly i can buy e live ones and feed phyto and den i will be able to sustain a culture too?

[ong]

I want lah! can sell me a bit ?????

[chinmo]

in future if have excess rots, will let u guys know.

[chinmo]

bro Bawater, let say if i go away for a week or a mth, i nvr feed the rots culture, will the culture crashed! and nvr be revive? or can soter a culture in frigde to save for future culturing?

[bawater]

for 1 month, yes they will die.

but for 1 week is fine, to be safe -harvest the culture the day before u go,(this will be fine for 4days on its own)+ 3days more of starvation. i usually don't worry abt going away for 5 or 6 days.

Keep a portion in a bottle in the fridge. And if u really want, keep another bottle on the shelf next to the running culture. So u get 3 chances to find at least 1 rotifer alive.

The thing is- the more you spread live cultures around between reefers, the easier it is to get starter cultures.

If u keep a bottle in the fridge(abt 6-8c)- these are the survival rates:

1-4 days 95%

4/7 days 85%

10 days 50%

14 days 30%