Rotifer cultures

Twitterbait · 11-06-2006, 02:59 PM

Ok, so we have our greenwater ready and/or going... how do you culture rotifers? the process is very similer but unlike brine shrimp you should be able to keep rots going from a single batch of eggs unlike brine where you will need to keep buying eggs.

Casey · 11-06-2006, 03:19 PM

http://www.reed-mariculture.com/zoop...ifer/small.asp

Twitterbait · 11-06-2006, 06:09 PM

oh... i see make it easy...

Casey · 11-06-2006, 08:14 PM

of course

Spanky · 11-10-2006, 05:35 PM

I'll make it easier. I don't completely agree with Randy about this at all. For one thing (I stand a chance of getting cutoff here) Randy is pushing a product, a great product! but one that will give most hobbyists a lot more trouble than using live nanno.

Feeding live is the way for hobbyists to go, it's a lot more forgiving.

VWD · 01-29-2007, 09:43 AM

OK, back to this Spanky, Tomorrow I will if everything goes right get my rot culture for the seahorses and the clown at work, will be doing a few cultures. here at home and at work, You are saying that live nanno is better then the instant algae from reed. I was going to go with the instant, maybe try the two now after reading this.

Spanky · 02-03-2007, 06:00 PM

Vinnie, live can cover a multitude of sins for a hobbyist, and Instant Algae can pollute a small tank so fast that it can create a multitude of problems.

Vinnie, get your live cultures going. Get plenty of them and some extras to cover a crash. Baby clowns and horses are not that particular about which algae you pump the rots up on. Nanno works just fine and is mostly used a lot because it's so easy.
One of the tricks with baby clowns is to lower their SG to what you are culturing the rots. That way it's just sieve, rinse, and dump with the rots. No SG shock. The lower SG seems to help the clowns too.
The other trick is don't do anything to their tank for the first 2-3 days. No water changes. The live nanno will help you maintain water quality.

Get a bottle of the Instant. Divide it up into ice cubes, and freeze it. Zip lock

The Instant is good to have on hand in case of the crash. But it won't help you with water quality. You'll need to load the rots, sieve, rinse and feed them to the clowns. Use a little of the Instant to tint the clowns water pale green, that helps them see to feed.

But watch your water quality with the Instant.

I use a lot of Randy's Instant, and more that I make myself. But I have a unlimited supply of free water for water changes too.

VWD · 02-07-2007, 09:13 PM

Thanks Spanky, I have been doing it for about 1 and a half weeks with randy's instant, pretty cool doing it. I can see what you mean about pollute the water, I may have over fed at the start trying to make sure I have the green tint between feedings. I started with one 5 gallon bucket and split it into 2- 5 gallons, I will next start my live cultures, and get them going and use it for the ponies and clowns, when it comes to water , I am also lucky to have what ever I need, I will keep You updated here,

Thanks for the help

VWD · 02-11-2007, 10:41 AM

Here is My Rot cultures Spanky, Thanks for all the help, I have them on the instant right now

Spanky · 02-11-2007, 12:34 PM

That's about the right color, shade of green, that you want. As soon as it clears, sieve, rinse, and start over. Phyto and rot cultures are more work than the dang fish.

VWD · 02-11-2007, 12:46 PM

Thanks for the help

VWD · 02-14-2007, 11:22 AM

man they are a pain, I have been working on them and I guess I haven't been harvesting them all that much, I have 4 five gallon buckets with them all going , two are doing great and two crashed, I think they did , they stopped cleaning and looked more milkygreen and not clean green. I did them over with culturs from the other two.

Randy did say to harvest everyday and have better rots, younger and better, so I will start that now,

Hendersonracing · 01-30-2008, 10:16 AM

any update on does & dont's