Some rotifer questions

[Sprockett]

Been struggling a bit with growing my rots, I'm using 3 blue buckets to store them, the water is about 70 deg's, salinity about 1.018 or so, low ammonia. They eat but don't propagate very fast, I harvest from each daily at least 1/3 of the bucket. I try to keep the water light green, which is hard because of the buckets color. I keep them in the laundry room, which was the only open space in the house, they sit above a sink with a light that I leave on through the day.

So a couple of questions:

1. How do I clean their water?, can I use an air driven floss filter?

2. would warming up the water cause a growth spurt?

3. I'm feeding them Nannochloropsis that I get from Brine Shrimp Direct.

4. Is there a reliable way to measure density?

I'm actually going to switch this system, and get two 2.5 gallon glass tanks, put small heaters, salinity gauge, Amonia Badge and thermometer. Then I can maintain better water param's and temp...

Any other ideas?, this is our first time trying to raise fry...

Thanks

-Paul-

 

[landlord]

1. How do I clean their water?, can I use an air driven floss filter?

Rots are pretty tough critters from my experience. When I first started with them I would do my harvest (1/3 of a 3 gallon white bucket) by sieving them through the strainer and I would throw out the sieved water and simply replace with new. This got REALLY expensive in terms of salt. Now I simply do a full water change on the culture after 3 months. Sure the water gets funky (You could always add an Ammonia binder if you choose) but I have been working with my latest culture for over 6 months and they still produce.

2. would warming up the water cause a growth spurt?

YES - I have had cultures at 80 degress with a small heater and seem to notice quite a spurt in growth and reproduction.

3. I'm feeding them Nannochloropsis that I get from Brine Shrimp Direct.

I have used RotiferDiet (Reed's Mariculture) for the last 1.5 years. I cannot say for sure what is in it, off the top of my head, but I believe it to be a blend of nanno and some other strain. I have recently switched to Rotigrow+, same company.

4. Is there a reliable way to measure density?

reliable.... Well a microscope and a known sample size of water, followed by a lot of counting

I'm actually going to switch this system, and get two 2.5 gallon glass tanks, put small heaters, salinity gauge, Ammonia Badge and thermometer. Then I can maintain better water param's and temp...

I never had to take it this far. I simply use two 2/3rds full 5 gallon ReefCrystal buckets, each with 1/4 inch airline on a 5 bubble per second (guesstimate) flow. When I need to bump up the population I either stop harvesting or add a small heater set at 80 degrees. I think my salinity is around 1.020 but I honestly never check it, once I get it going. My buckets have lids to reduce evaporation but I simply replace what does evaporate with fresh water. Maybe I am a little lax with my rotifers but what I do has worked well for me, sure I've had a culture go south on me every now and then but with two buckets worth, recovering a crash is as simple as splitting the remaining bucket.

Kurt

 

[Sprockett]

Part of the issue is there is so much information, and very little of it matches. One site said white buckets slow growth, another said white ones are better. Some have lots of water standards, tweaks, checks etc etc.

It's frustrating because when your under pressure to save fry you just want the basics

Thanks for the info, I may just move to 5 gal buckets with heaters and stop worrying about it...

-Paul-

 

[kbb0118]

I'm a simple gal. I don't even heat my rot cultures. They have been bulletproof for over a year. I change the water (what I consider restarting the culture) when it gets stinky! I usually keep my airline bubbling just in front of the roti floss from Reeds.

+1 for Reeds algae pastes too. I use RotiGrow Plus - its very clean.

 

[GreshamH]

Part of the issue is there is so much information, and very little of it matches. One site said white buckets slow growth, another said white ones are better. Some have lots of water standards, tweaks, checks etc etc.

It's frustrating because when your under pressure to save fry you just want the basics

Thanks for the info, I may just move to 5 gal buckets with heaters and stop worrying about it...

-Paul-

That's because like reef tanks, there are many ways to skin a cat, er, rotifer culture

 

[Sprockett]

I think one of my buckets crashed, no change for two days. I'm going to filter them out and start a new one, we also heard from a friend who said when harvesting to pull from the middle where they float in the water column. He said stay away from the bottom where the detrius collects, so no tanks.

Thinking of getting some 3 gallon pails (food grade), installing a valve in the middle for harvesting, just run that into a large cone filter. Catch the run off and put it back in, easy peasy

The easier I can make this the better, a couple of small heaters to keep the temp consistent and I should be all set...

-Paul-

 

[Sprockett]

So what about water conditioners?, are they safe to put in to lower ammonia?

 

[kbb0118]

I'm not sure about all water conditioners. I use Cloram-X when I sell them to local people but generally don't use ammonia remover.

 

[GreshamH]

IF you are using an algal paste for rotifer culturing, Cloram-X is highly recommended.

We suggest using it if you are using any Instant Algae product for rotifer cultures. We use it in all our rotifer cultures.

 

[Sprockett]

IF you are using an algal paste for rotifer culturing, Cloram-X is highly recommended.

We suggest using it if you are using any Instant Algae product for rotifer cultures. We use it in all our rotifer cultures.

Could you use a product like this for a fry tank??