I have couple questions. I have starter kit from Reeds. Can you see rotifers with the naked eye? Reading power magnifying glass? I started in a couple white 5 gal buckets. First few batches did OK, I think. I was wondering if I overfed them and crashed the last batch. Everyone says the water to be light green, is that looking in the bucket or in a white foam cup? BIG difference. Medium green in bucket is almost clear in cup. Thanks for any help. Doug
rotifer culture question
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flying_dutchman
New member
Yes, it looks like dust specks
White foam cup, clear water will look green in green bucket...
hth
agsansoo
Premium Member
Tahoe Reefer
New member
What does your response, "hth" mean?
If phyto is settling out of your culture you're feeding too much and it will crash sooner than later. You can feed different amounts of phyto, depending on time between feedings. Feed enough that the food isn't settling on the bottom of your bucket and there is at least a light green tint by the time you feed again. The goal is to never let it go clear. I run 2x 2.5G cultures and feed each 5 drops of Reeds roti-feast once a day per culture.
Hope this helps.
:fish1:
flying_dutchman
New member
^
hope this helps
green in green bucket... Didn't say anything about green bucket.
Andy, a deception of pictures, is that a test tube or 2 L pop bottle. To clarify, is there roti feast in the sample. If the rots are cultured in a 2L how green is the water? As green as phyto culture..
I was using 10 drops of roti food and taking out about 1.5 gallon per day. Do you replace with fresh seawater or tank water? Thanks guys
Andy, a deception of pictures, is that a test tube or 2 L pop bottle. To clarify, is there roti feast in the sample. If the rots are cultured in a 2L how green is the water? As green as phyto culture..
I was using 10 drops of roti food and taking out about 1.5 gallon per day. Do you replace with fresh seawater or tank water? Thanks guys
landlord
New member
Andy's photo is a test tube. There is a bit of distortion in the photo but that's what a good strong dense culture should look like. Love that picture BTW. If his photo did contain any rotifer diet you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at such a small volume.
Think of it this way. put 10 drop of food coloring into a galolon of water. You will see the color when viewing the entire gallon as a whole but if you took a clear spoonful you probably wouldn't see much color.
I was culturing at one time in 3 gallon buckets. Adding 12 drops of Rotifer Diet 2x a day. At first when the culturing process is new, detecting color seems difficult. I used trial an error. When the rotifers weren't multiplying I assumed I needed mopre food. When the cultures crashed I realized I probably added too much and the ammonia crahed 'em.
If you are siponing out 1.5 gallon of ritifer you could either put the siphoned water right back into the bucket (more ammonia this way) or replace with new salinity matched saltwater (more salt used this way). I use the first option.
Good Luck and remember, a lot of this is trial and error. Split your cultures so you can make errors without having to call up Reeds for a replacement!
Kurt
Think of it this way. put 10 drop of food coloring into a galolon of water. You will see the color when viewing the entire gallon as a whole but if you took a clear spoonful you probably wouldn't see much color.
I was culturing at one time in 3 gallon buckets. Adding 12 drops of Rotifer Diet 2x a day. At first when the culturing process is new, detecting color seems difficult. I used trial an error. When the rotifers weren't multiplying I assumed I needed mopre food. When the cultures crashed I realized I probably added too much and the ammonia crahed 'em.
If you are siponing out 1.5 gallon of ritifer you could either put the siphoned water right back into the bucket (more ammonia this way) or replace with new salinity matched saltwater (more salt used this way). I use the first option.
Good Luck and remember, a lot of this is trial and error. Split your cultures so you can make errors without having to call up Reeds for a replacement!
Kurt
landlord
New member
Pop the lids off your culture containers/buckets/etc. A good culture smells exceptable you'll start to recognize the good smell. A bad culture smells like Uncle Paul's nasty toe-jam. Makes me want to puke!
+You'll also see you culture go to nothing pretty much nothing in a very short time.
+You'll also see you culture go to nothing pretty much nothing in a very short time.
Roti-Feast is not a rotifer feed. Rotifer-Diet is
Roti-Feast is 5 million+ rotifers with eggs in suspension (not alive).I notice you are not using anything for ammonia control. This is a big issue with rotifers. I suggest using a product like Cloram-X.
Also, just a FYI, Reed's "L" strain is smaller then most. Reed's is a "L160" meaning it's an "L" strain that is 160µm rather then the typical +250µm.
For more reading on them and the Reed method see:
http://www.rotifersolutions.com/
http://www.rotifer.com/
Also, just a FYI, Reed's "L" strain is smaller then most. Reed's is a "L160" meaning it's an "L" strain that is 160µm rather then the typical +250µm.
For more reading on them and the Reed method see:
http://www.rotifersolutions.com/
http://www.rotifer.com/
April_Sherwood
New member
I culture my rotifers in 6 - 8 2L clear soda bottles. I only use salt water that is "fresh" and by that I mean non-tank (non-used) water. I use my cultured phytoplankton to feed my rotifers, 3 - 4 times a day and keep them at a lightly tinted green. Like mentioned previously, you don't want to overfeed them because the waste isn't good for the culture.
I also make sure when I'm checking for clarity that they aren't in a light ray making them appear lighter than they actually are. You don't want them to become clear as they will start to die off within hours.
I test all of my rotifers on a semi-daily basis under a microscope to ensure they are healthy and full of nanocropolis and re-culture them every 3 days.
Best wishes...
I also make sure when I'm checking for clarity that they aren't in a light ray making them appear lighter than they actually are. You don't want them to become clear as they will start to die off within hours.
I test all of my rotifers on a semi-daily basis under a microscope to ensure they are healthy and full of nanocropolis and re-culture them every 3 days.
Best wishes...
April_Sherwood
New member
Knew I should have just stuck with Phytoplankton...thanks for catching my typo ; )
