Rotipods?

[Toyfreek]

I bought some rotipods at a TCMAS meeting, Has anybody seen results from this product.
The reason I ask Is when I got home from the meet I put some rotipod solution under the microscope and found next to nothing in the water (a few phytoplankton per 1/2 ounce). I fed the rotipod Dt's and followed dwaynes suggestion of leaving the cap off (for O2) after a week of this I looked at the solutionm again at 10X- 100X- and 350X All I saw was Phytoplankton no rotifers or anything else in there?
Did I get a Bad bottle? has anyone had different expieriences with this product?
TIA,
Matt

[ReefJr]

I am curious to know the pros and cons of adding if any. I have heard varying personal opinions about the possible benefits, what is the consensus?

[Havre]

I picked some up at that meeting as well. Didnt look at it under a microscope, but my corals did not respond to it as well as when I feed DT's or golden pearls. FWIW

[Minnreefer]

Feeding roti or anything similiar does have its pro's and con's IMHO. The corals do love a good direct feeding but you can add a lot of nutrients to the water which can be bad. So some in moderation is good.

IMHO, FWIW, HTH, ETC.

Jon

[Dwayne]

Matt and Harv - If you didnt see anthing in the bottle then something happened. I check every bottle prior to putting a label on it for live zooplankton. If you still have the bottle bring it to the next meeting, I'll correct the problem.

The idea (which seems to get missed) behind Roti-Pods is to provide a starter for cultures. I know there are folks that would rather feed their tanks a bottle than culture them. I think is a noble idea and is good for the tank, but there just isnt enough in the bottle to see any effects. Its kinda like drinking slimfast for just one day, you just arent going to get the expected results.

The reefers that have started culturing their own and continue to feed on regular basis have seen benefits.

ReefJr and Minnreefer - I agree with the concern over adding anything to a tank. I add the zooplankton cultures to my tank as the phytoplankton is almost exhausted. In my mind (as weak as it is), this says the nutrients have been consumed by the phytoplankton and then by the zooplankton. When the zooplankton is added to the tank it should be loaded with the processed nutrients.

More feedback appreciated.

Dwayne

[Toyfreek]

Dwayne,
Thanks for the offer, maybe I'll take you up on it at a meeting when we both can make it. I wasn't sure but I thought something might be wrong with the bottle I recieved. I still have about 1/6th bottle left though I am sure whatever was alive is long since dead.
When you say these should be used as culture should I be running a bubbler and lighting on it? I dont go through enough phyto to make it worth the hassel of running a system, usually a 7oz bottle of DT's lasts me quite a while so I just pick one up every blue moon.
Thnx again,
Matt

[Dwayne]

Matt,

Sounds good. We can discuss how to keep them going and be able to feed more to the tank without worrying about too many nutrients.

Dwayne

[Graham]

Rotipods rule!

I've had a culture going strong for close to 3 months now. I feed about a pint or two every other day to my system of about 100 actual gallons.

The main difference I see is that my mandarin has always got a full belly. Can't say I've noticed much else, but I don't even bother to wait until all the phyto in the culture is exhausted before feeding them to the tank and I have had no associated nutrient problems.

I just culture them in a 2 gallon tank with a bubbler and small heater. I add phyto when the water is no longer green. It's that easy.


Dwayne,

Do you know what size meshing you need to strain rotifers? I want to change water because I'm getting some buildup, but I'm thinking that a brine shrimp net may be too large? Any idea?

[Dwayne]

Graham,

I use a 53micron filter. The same one that FAF sells with its starter kits. This is good if you want to extract the rotifers and copepods. If you just want the copepods, something a little larger will work.

Dwayne

[Cruehead]

I love the stuff! I used a bottle to start a culture and had a very dense culture going for about 4 months. My phyto cultures got contaminated and I got lazy about restarting them so the roti-pod ended up dying off. I had better polyp extension and growth of other various infauna. I'll restart it one of these days.