how to culture rotifers?

[Dylan5359]

I will need a continuous supply of them. (for future dwarf seahorses) i am ordering a starter pack off this website. it comes with 200 rotifers, everything i need to culture them. and it comes with instructions. its just they don't answer emails so I just wanted to get some background information on what Im getting myself into. I decided I'm going to use a 5 gallon bucket, with a 5 gallon heater, and an air stone or thats what I hear i need! any tips? how to? full explanation would be helpful

-Dylan

 

[the_fish_man]

So far your doing everything good!

 

[Dylan5359]

-Dylan

 

[Cjm]

You can do without the heater, room temp is fine. Take a look at Reed maricultures site, lots of info and the best cultures.

 

[Dylan5359]

Thanks. Im probably going to change and buy from Reeds.

-Dylan

 

[David S]

5 gallon is fine.start with saltwater at around 1.018-1.020,water temp needs to be around the 20 mark,to cold and they won't reproduce,don't use an air stone just use some air hose placed 2/3 down the bucket and have 1 bubble/sec coming out.keep the bucket covered.You've probably got 200ml not 200 rots,feed the rots with the liquid algae just enough to keep the water a light green throughout the whole day,don't harvest any on the first 3 days.then harvest using a 50 micron sieve.remove 1/3 of the water whilst harvesting,rinse sieve in to your tank then replace the 1/3 of water with clean saltwater.I remove the whole culture into a new bucket every 2 weeks.feed the rots 10 mins before you harvest them to give your horses a boost.
hope this helps
david

 

[Dylan5359]

5 gallon is fine.start with saltwater at around 1.018-1.020,water temp needs to be around the 20 mark,to cold and they won't reproduce,don't use an air stone just use some air hose placed 2/3 down the bucket and have 1 bubble/sec coming out.keep the bucket covered.You've probably got 200ml not 200 rots,feed the rots with the liquid algae just enough to keep the water a light green throughout the whole day,don't harvest any on the first 3 days.then harvest using a 50 micron sieve.remove 1/3 of the water whilst harvesting,rinse sieve in to your tank then replace the 1/3 of water with clean saltwater.I remove the whole culture into a new bucket every 2 weeks.feed the rots 10 mins before you harvest them to give your horses a boost.
hope this helps
david

1/3 of the water each day?!

-Dylan

 

[David S]

1/3 of the water each day?!

-Dylan

thats what I do but as yours is for a couple of horses(I use mine for clownfish fry) you could make it less but no smaller than 1 gallon.you need to keep rots culturing,even if you dont need them you must harvest quite a lot so they dont grow,you only need them as babies.

 

[Dylan5359]

And then do you fill it up with fresh with new SW? Do you buy prepared or mix it yourself.? It must cost a lot new SW each day! And just curious you breed clowns? What size tank is it for the pair?

-Dylan

 

[David S]

I have a 22gallon container just for new saltwater,I mix myself.My clowns are in a 60g(uk) tank,I mark my rot container and any evap is topped up with RO/DI water and replace any water removed with the exact same amount of fresh salt water.You can always put some of your culture into a sealed container with dark green water and put that in the fridge for up to 2 weeks so you can start new cultures if you ever have problems.Any rots I dont use for the fry goes into my display tank.I only use rots for the first 10 days for the fry,so my cultures are restared when needed.

 

[Dylan5359]

Yes but for me I will need an endless supply. So replacing a gallon of water each day sounds impossible.

-Dylan

 

[Cjm]

You don't need to take the water out. Is a rotti sieve to filter them out, this returns the water to the bucket. Rinse the rotti and put them in you ponie tank. Every 2 weeks filter and dispose of half the water

 

[David S]

Yes but for me I will need an endless supply. So replacing a gallon of water each day sounds impossible.

-Dylan

I don't know if you realise how many thousands and thousands of rots are going to culture in a 5 gallon bucket,maybe just drop the bucket size.if you dont want to do the water changes you can use cloram-x.try looking at this site www.Rotifer.com - Your One Stop Source for Rotifer and Information