rotifer question

[gopens]

well as some may have read my post, my maroons had there first clutch the other day. i was going to ask this question in that same thread, but i needed this thread to be viewed for some quick answers.

i am so lost when it comes to rotifers, green water, nanno (whatever this is). i know that i need rotifers to feed the babby larva. and i know that rotifers eat the nanno. but what is the best way to get all this done. i have found my copy of Wilkersons book "clownfishs". The way she has it set up is very confusing to me. i don't know why i can't grasp this. also were can i buy the rotifers to start. any help would be great. I honestly know NOTHING about this step.

Let me tell you what I think I know (correct me if I am wrong)

The green water is fed to the rotifers. The rotifers are in a seperate aquarium (aprox 5 gallon would work). The rotifers are than put into another seperate tank were the baby lara is. is that about right. I know its more difficult than that. but am i on the right road here.

also would anybody be willing to mentor me and let me PM them with questions. thanks K/

 

[flipteg]

i think the reason why most of these phyto/rotifer write ups are so confusing is because they are dealing with multiple bottles for harvest... it's much easier to think of it in terms of just one bottle...

the way i'm going to do it is i will culture my phyto in 2 liter soda bottles... when i harvest, i will only harvest 1.5 liters and leave 500ml in the bottle... the bottle will then be refilled with culture media and let the algae multiply for 7 days... after that, it will slowly be dripped in the rotifer tank to get a consistent green tint in the water... after a certain water level is achieved in the rotifer tank, 3/4ths of the water will be harvested and the cycle will start...

i think the most important thing to keep in mind when culturing phyto and rotifers is that you have to harvest them on schedule regardless if you need to feed something or not... you can not leave them in the culture as over population will cause a crash...

 

[Reefbox]

The Wilkerson book is a great read. I'm no expert but i have several food cultures going. brine shrimp, copepods, nannochloropsis and getting some rotifers soon. u will want to raise the saltwater rotifer and not the fresh water.

nanno is Nannochloropsis, your greenwater microalgae algae. very first food source in the ocean

That is your first step grow the nannochloropsis.

you need to feed your baby clowns rotifers in the first days of life, then they move onto eating brine shrimp.