Rotifers or copepods

cfockler

New member
Hi Eric. I've got my nannochloropsis and BS nauplii cultures running pretty smoothly and am now ready to start culturing an additional food.

I just finished reading "The Food of Reefs, Part 4: Zooplankton" for about the fourth time and it dawned on me that rotifers are not mentioned. Rotifers seem to be the popular next step after nanno and nauplii and yet your article clearly shows that copepods are also a great choice.

Which would you recommend, rotifers or copepods? (And don't say both! :p )


P.S.
My beloved corals are mostly what came in on the aquacultured rock from the gulf. (http://www.gulf-view.com/deco_a.html). There are also a number of large clams and other bivalves and I added a rock with generic "yellow polyps" which eat like pigs on the nauplii and frozen adult BS. I would eventually like to add some sponges and gorgonions from the caribbean.
 
I am not sure of the nutritional differences between the two, although rotifers are freshwater and I assume you'd be using marine copepods. There might be some significant differences in terms of fatty acids or amino acids, but I just don;t know. Given the choice, I'd probably go copepods
 
hi
i'd go with the copepods as well. copepods move in a way most larvae can't resist. most species of copepods have nauplii that are smaller than rotifers which is a great if you want to raise very small fry. i've read (can't remember where but can find out with some digging) that copepods fa composition is better than rotifers, the latter need to be enriched prior to feeding.
copepod culture is one of then easiest things to culture. altough i must admit i've never touched rotifers.
greets
 
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