Rotifers green enough

[thedasher]

I just started my culture today and was wondering if my water was green enough and if it looks like there is enough bubbles for oxygen.

Should it be this clear in the syringe or should it also be greenish

 

[gogo7]

if that bucket has a healthy roti population, that bucket should be clear in the morning.
the syringe looks green-ish. and as for air, i'd turn it down. others might disagree. two or three bubbles a second. i go very slow in smaller containers. one bubble evry two seconds.... but that's me. i know a guy got them in a five gallon like yours and his are on a rolling boil....
are you using cysts or fresh rotifers?

 

[thedasher]

if that bucket has a healthy roti population, that bucket should be clear in the morning.
the syringe looks green-ish. and as for air, i'd turn it down. others might disagree. two or three bubbles a second. i go very slow in smaller containers. one bubble evry two seconds.... but that's me. i know a guy got them in a five gallon like yours and his are on a rolling boil....
are you using cysts or fresh rotifers?

Alright thanks and I'm using fresh rotifers that I picked up locally from someone that cultures them.

 

[stinkyreef]

I always used a rigid 1/8 tube stuck in the bucket and a bubble or 2 a second. Airstones tend to spray the saltwater everywhere unless you are ok with that. The green will settle towards the bottom of the bucket and the water you are putting in the syringe probably is towards the top. You can give the bucket a gentle stir. If your population of rots is great, it would look like a snow globe in the syringe!

 

[thedasher]

I always used a rigid 1/8 tube stuck in the bucket and a bubble or 2 a second. Airstones tend to spray the saltwater everywhere unless you are ok with that. The green will settle towards the bottom of the bucket and the water you are putting in the syringe probably is towards the top. You can give the bucket a gentle stir. If your population of rots is great, it would look like a snow globe in the syringe!

I started off with 2 liters of rotifers and dumped them in a 5 gallon bucket. So hopefully in 2 or 3 days it does look like a snow globe.

 

[GreshamH]

I'm in the disagree camp, as is the company I work for (Reed Mariculture). We suggest a stronger aeration then that even, and place it on the bottom. The amount of feed depends on how many rotifers you have. Too much, just wasted algae, too little, starving & stressed rots.

 

[billsreef]

I used to be in the low aeration camp, Gresh convinced me otherwise, and I did indeed find better production with strong aeration.

 

[GreshamH]

I'm afraid we where at fault for many years by suggesting strong aeration would knock eggs off... yet the entire time our system ran at a boil. We corrected that path and we're pretty set on the strong aeration now.

 

[Lou Young]

I'm afraid we where at fault for many years by suggesting strong aeration would knock eggs off... yet the entire time our system ran at a boil. We corrected that path and we're pretty set on the strong aeration now.

I dose my rot buckets 2 times a day, every 12 hours. When is the best time to harvest the rots to feed them to clown larvae?

 

[GreshamH]

I'd up the amount of times you feed your rots.... 2x a day is not enough. They can clear their stomach contents in 30 - 40 minutes. So if they cleared out your feed 8 hours in, they're starving for 4 hours.

saying that, I'd harvest a couple hour or so after your feeding, for full bellies and best utilization of the feed. You'll loose some algae that way, but your rots will be fully gut packed.