rotifer question

[bawla47]

just curious, if were to buy lets say a gallon of live rotifers, how long do you think theyd live? says there should be about 1 million rotifers in the gallon.


i eventually would like to start tryin to raise some clownfish babies, and if i could get away without raising phyto and rotifers myself, id be totally happy with that.

though i do know in the back of my head it might come down to that anyhow.

anyhow just wondering if anyone had a rough estimate. imagine if i just put a bubbler in the gallon that itd help prolong there life, but for how long?

 

[NirvanaFan]

They won't live that long without food. You could use instant algae though. I think that is what it is called.

 

[ramone58]

They need phytoplankton, and a small amount of bubbles, and a large water volume. Using at least a 5 gallon bucket or tank. There are many articles on the web concerning raising and maintaining rotifer cultures.

 

[msman825]

http://rotifer.pbworks.com/Culturing-Rotifers-At-Home

 

[reefstew]

The life span of a rotifer is aprox. 8 days if it is feed with algae.

 

[rkelman]

If you don't feed them they will have no nutritional value to your fry. You have to feed them. Your best bet is to culture the Rotifers which is easy and buy Rotifer Diet or Instant Algae.

 

[phil519]

they can also eat and completely empty their gut in 4 hrs. Therefore when you feed them you are more "feeding the tank" and less feeding each individual rotifer. By feeding the tank I mean you feed enough phyto to color the water a certain degree. As the rotifers feed, the color of the tank gradually becomes less green and more clear.

I actually feed the fry tank also - this way if the rotifers aren't eaten right away, there's food for the rotifers to stay nutritionally healthy.