Questons about culturing rotifers and phytoplankton

[trilinearmipmap]

I am thinking of culturing rotifers, I have read a fair bit about it, I have some questions about people's practical experiences doing this.

It seems there is a choice between culturing the phytoplankton (nannochloropsis) to feed to the rotifers, or using an "instant algae" type product to feed the rotifers. Which method do people find more successful?

I am also wondering about rotifer crashes, or phytoplankton crashes if I am culturing phytoplankton too. Is there a good way to have insurance against crashes, besides keeping several cultures going at once? Would rotifers or phyto survive either freezing, or being kept for long periods at near-freezing temperatures? Or is there another way to keep resting cultures of phyto or rotifers in case of a crash?

It is difficult for me to get starter cultures, so the issue of crashes is critical for me, with no one local to replenish my cultures if they crash.

[Invigor]

I haven't done rotifers before, but phyto is more easy than churning butter.

I started with a 1L bag of nanno phyto from reefcrew.com and now I'm up to 8 2L bottles. I've only had 1 bottle go bad, but why I'll never know..it just wouldn't mature. No big deal I guess.

I keep bottles in my fridge, and with 8 bottles, it yields quite a bit so I never run out. It doesn't take very much either to start a new culture, so I wouldn't be worried about everything dying.

[trilinearmipmap]

So do you mean you culture up the phyto and then when it has grown green you store it in the fridge? How long are you able to keep it in the fridge before it goes bad?

[Chad]

I treat my rotifier culture pretty bad sometimes, forget to feed.. forget to harvest etc.

They seem to be pretty stable for me :)

but generaly, you want to harvest regularly and make sure you feed every day but only enough so the culture is clear by the next time you feed.

Also, once a month I tear down my culture, strain it with a coffee filter (not the paper ones) and get the large ditritus out and clean out the bottle then strain it back into the cleaned out bottle. Some people recommend bleaching the bottle etc etc. but I do not do that.. also some people do not recommend a good scrubbing either because it may create a mini cycle and crash the culture.

Anyways, find a pattern that works for you. Run two cultures so you have a back up if one crashes.

btw, I just use the algae paste

[Invigor]

So do you mean you culture up the phyto and then when it has grown green you store it in the fridge? How long are you able to keep it in the fridge before it goes bad?

it lasts about a month.. i haven't had any that's around longer than that. I give the bottles a good shake about twice a week just because the algae settles at the bottom of the bottle.

given I don't have any bottles go bad, I get 16L of phyto every 2 weeks, but need 2L to restart the 8 bottles for the next batch. leaves me with 12L of phyto to play with.

[cc_bruno]

I've found that using cultured phyto, versus the paste / frozen stuff, gives me a more dense concentration of rotifers and, a lot less "crap" in the rotifer bucket, (what ever is not eaten, just multiplies, so, it's just more food for the rotifers :biggrin: ). Culturing is EXTREMELY simple, and, requires next to no time to maintain, (once a week, or so, depending on how long it takes to go dark green, I split the bottle into two bottles, top it up, and add about 2 mls of Miracle Grow Liquid, and put it back under the lights... that's it... well, along with providing light, (I use a 13 watt compact fluorescent, screw in bulb that's on 24 hours a day, along with an airling in each bottle). I've got seven two litre bottles right now, and have yet to have a crash. Just make sure you are careful about cross contamination, (all you need is one rotifer in your phyto to turn your phyto culture into another rotifer culter :eek: ). As for freezing... I'm not sure what will happen to it. I culture mine indoors, so, it might be a good idea to do the same, (unless it's really warm, or at least about, say, 5 - 7 C, in which case, you can do it outside, I guess). I hope that helps.

Robert

[trilinearmipmap]

add about 2 mls of Miracle Grow Liquid, and put it back under the lights... that's it... well, along with providing light, (I use a 13 watt compact fluorescent, screw in bulb that's on 24 hours a day, along with an airling in each bottle).

Robert

Miracle grow liquid, do you mean the "micro algae grow" liquid sold for culturing phytoplankton, or the actual gardener's type "Miracle Grow" plant liquid.

Also with the cf bulb setup, can you explain or post a picture, do you mean one helical cf bulb for all the bottles of phyto, or one for each. Most people advise 2 NO fluorescent strip light but the cf bulb sounds simpler.

[Invigor]

i have mine lined up to 2 6500k 48" bulbs. I use miracle grow as well. i bought it at home depot. don't use shultz, use miracle grow. mine's a 12-4-8 formula. 950ml bottle. I've had best results with 2-3mL of fert per 2L bottle with 16 hours of light 8 hours of dark. I also add in 1mL of kent's essential elements, whether or not it benifits the phyto, I'm not sure, but it gets to the tank eventually, which is good...I guess.

http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/food/miracle_grow.jpg

[cc_bruno]

I use the same Miracle Grow, but don't use Kent's essentials, (I've read that it's a good thing to add as well, but hey, I'm cheap :biggrin: ). I have one bulb that's over them and lights them in a half-a$$ed sort of way. Not exactly rocket science, and, since all of the bottles go dark green in about a week, it works, so, I'm not going to re-invent the wheel.

Robert

[trilinearmipmap]

Perfect, so just use a cf screw in bulb, a bunch of 2L pop bottles, aerate, add miracle grow, split the cultures every week or so, store it in the fridge if I want, and wash out the bottles every month or so. Is that about it?

[cc_bruno]

Pretty much. I don't even wash out the bottles, (ok, ok, so I'm really lazy with this stuff... but, it seems to work just fine :biggrin: ). If you don't want to store it in the fridge, you can always use an extra bottle, upside down, of couse, with it's own aeration, on a constant drip, into your tank, so, all you have to do is refill the bottle everytime it drops to about half, (as the new half will still have some unused Miracle Grow in it), and this way, your tank will have a constant feed, (or, do the same with your rotifers, so that you don't have to worry about feeding them). That's going to be my final goal, after my tank and sump is all set up. It's hard enough getting out of bed at 5 AM, but having to feed everything is more than I want to do on a daily basis :biggrin: . Also, if you don't already have a culture going, don't even bother with DT's.... I tried that and wasted a lot of time and Miracle Grow, trying to get it going... that stuff is essentially dead by the time you get it home... it just takes a while to start to stink.

Robert

[props]

anyone want to share some rotifers? pls pls pls =o)

[trilinearmipmap]

That was my next question, I am not ready to start culturing rotifers and phyto just yet, but when I am, I am hoping these will survive 2 or 3 days in the mail.

[Invigor]

I've been meaning to start rotifers, but not anytime soon. We just bought a house so it's not worth setting it up until we move in.

I use coarse salt and a bit of bleach on my bottles when I reuse them because some of the phyto tends to stick to the side of the bottle..the bleach kills it and the coarse salt scrapes it off.

glad to hear about the DTs. I was going to try that for something to do, but I guess I'll save myself the $30

[cc_bruno]

Yeah, I tried a few times and blew a whole bottle of DT's trying to get it going. What a waste. You have to admit, they have a great marketing scheme going... I'm sure it was live when they bottled it, but, by the time you get it, there's not much left alive, if any.

Robert

[Chad]

That was my next question, I am not ready to start culturing rotifers and phyto just yet, but when I am, I am hoping these will survive 2 or 3 days in the mail.

you can always buy the rotifer cysts (eggs) and hatch away.. no big deal

[cc_bruno]

The rotifer cysts might be your best bet, to avoid receiving a bottle of freshly killed rotifers... unless there is someone close enough to you to deliver, or pick up from.

Robert