FS: Live Rotifers - Sale Price

[Guy]

8 oz bottles of live rotifers on sale for $10. Cultured in it's own system with it's own salt water, it's packed daily, rinsed with fresh salt water, then packaged in more fresh salt water before adding a little phytoplankton for the trip.

Use them to seed, dose or target feed. Extremely high in protein and fatty acids for all your coral, pods or fish fry.

Quick Videos - https://photos.app.goo.gl/rZgjmbieCYwTFEw97

[Guy]

Bump

Still harvesting daily and able to ship. Successfully shipped within BC through Canada Post for a very reasonable amount or FedEx next day for a pretty penny.

Live food, fed with Phytoplankton grown with F/2 fertilizer, filtered and packed into new salt water with a generous squeeze of phytoplankton to make it to your tank happy and healthy. Your SPS, Acans and fish will love them!

Pickup, hand delivery or ship it!

[LFT]

Do you sell copepods as well ?

[Guy]

Not at this time, but I will make a post when I have copepods available, I am currently ramping up production. Expecting to have tigger pods in a month.

[davidcalgary29]

Is shipping with Canada Post during the winter possible without the rotifers freezing?

[Guy]

The Too Long Didn't Read is: Hard to know for absolute certainty

The long version is: They do survive everything from -1 to +40 C. I put together a styrofoam box and if absolutely needed can use warming packs, but don't have real world experience on if they're going to survive the time through the rockies for instance or a possible overnight in the Yukon. All I can say is I try and take every precaution to keep the price reasonable with the utmost care based on the conditions they'll experience on the way.

Rotifers are strained, packed with new salt water with a generous squirt of phyto for the trip. I leave enough air in the bottle to make sure they won't suffocate. More on that below... Bottles are sealed and taped if using a disc cap then placed into a ziplock bag, packed with either bubble wrap, airbags specific for packing or styrofoam peanuts to ensure they are snug. They're placed into the styrofoam box that's been fabricated from rigid insulation (saves on costs for shipments, paid for in time to make) could use a single warmer unless it's not expected to need it (summer or local during warm spells). Then it's sealed and sent to the post office.

If shipping I recommend sending it off on Monday with Canada Post as it gives the full work week for delivery. I use the flat rate parcel box option. It offers tracking, ship as much as you can that'll fit in the box and be under the weight restriction and it arrives in 2-7 days. Shipped 11 bottles from Vancouver to Northern BC and it took the 2 days arrived perfectly with no heat pack but was also expected to just be hovering around that 0 mark for lows.

So more on what I mentioned above. I did an experiment. Took a normal bottle as if I were going to be sending it. Normal procedure, sealed it, topped it with phyto and left a bottle in front of the computer, never to open or top it up with phyto or air again. Checked it daily to see how it was doing. Rotifers at room temperature (didn't slow down the metabolism as it does at colder temperatures.. for instance, fridge of 4C they're at 1/10th of their usual reproduction, food and air consumption.) They lasted for 20 days before the bottle showed no life on the 21st day. There was a noticeable change in speed and size of rotifers after 14 days. If you were to open that bottle and top it up with phytoplankton you would be able to revive the bottle quickly to original culture levels... I would expect easily within a few days. 1 rotifer has 6-8 female offspring per day (males don't eat and quickly die after fertilizing the rotifer cysts for long term survival.) Females usually reproduce for about 6-8 days when culturing. So... that 1 rotifer is responsible for around 275,000 rotifers after 7 days and over 1.5 million in 8 days.

So long story short, it'll continue to reproduce in the bottle at varying degrees depending on the temperature... it is a benefit that they are cold but not freezing during transport. I'd be warry to have a perfectly sealed styrofoam box as the heating pad may either get TOO hot and kill the rotifers and it's debatable if it would get to be as cold as the outside of the truck that's shipping it considering it's packed within the cardboard box, the styrofoam box, the packing and the ziplock bag, THEN the rotifers. But I'd love someone to chime in if they have specific advice or knowledge as I'd like to know for certainty what the temperature outside would need to be to warrant a heating pack.

If you got this far reading, I commend you!

[davidcalgary29]

Thanks for the comprehensive reply! I'm going to wait for the weather to warm up before placing an order, as it looks like it's going to be frigid until the end of the month.

[Rpetersen]

Interested in a bottle of rotifers and copepods (when you make them). Just can't drive out there. Let me know if you're around Kitsilano. Happy to pay a few more bucks.

Originally Posted by Guy

The Too Long Didn't Read is: Hard to know for absolute certainty

The long version is: They do survive everything from -1 to +40 C. I put together a styrofoam box and if absolutely needed can use warming packs, but don't have real world experience on if they're going to survive the time through the rockies for instance or a possible overnight in the Yukon. All I can say is I try and take every precaution to keep the price reasonable with the utmost care based on the conditions they'll experience on the way.

Rotifers are strained, packed with new salt water with a generous squirt of phyto for the trip. I leave enough air in the bottle to make sure they won't suffocate. More on that below... Bottles are sealed and taped if using a disc cap then placed into a ziplock bag, packed with either bubble wrap, airbags specific for packing or styrofoam peanuts to ensure they are snug. They're placed into the styrofoam box that's been fabricated from rigid insulation (saves on costs for shipments, paid for in time to make) could use a single warmer unless it's not expected to need it (summer or local during warm spells). Then it's sealed and sent to the post office.

If shipping I recommend sending it off on Monday with Canada Post as it gives the full work week for delivery. I use the flat rate parcel box option. It offers tracking, ship as much as you can that'll fit in the box and be under the weight restriction and it arrives in 2-7 days. Shipped 11 bottles from Vancouver to Northern BC and it took the 2 days arrived perfectly with no heat pack but was also expected to just be hovering around that 0 mark for lows.

So more on what I mentioned above. I did an experiment. Took a normal bottle as if I were going to be sending it. Normal procedure, sealed it, topped it with phyto and left a bottle in front of the computer, never to open or top it up with phyto or air again. Checked it daily to see how it was doing. Rotifers at room temperature (didn't slow down the metabolism as it does at colder temperatures.. for instance, fridge of 4C they're at 1/10th of their usual reproduction, food and air consumption.) They lasted for 20 days before the bottle showed no life on the 21st day. There was a noticeable change in speed and size of rotifers after 14 days. If you were to open that bottle and top it up with phytoplankton you would be able to revive the bottle quickly to original culture levels... I would expect easily within a few days. 1 rotifer has 6-8 female offspring per day (males don't eat and quickly die after fertilizing the rotifer cysts for long term survival.) Females usually reproduce for about 6-8 days when culturing. So... that 1 rotifer is responsible for around 275,000 rotifers after 7 days and over 1.5 million in 8 days.

So long story short, it'll continue to reproduce in the bottle at varying degrees depending on the temperature... it is a benefit that they are cold but not freezing during transport. I'd be warry to have a perfectly sealed styrofoam box as the heating pad may either get TOO hot and kill the rotifers and it's debatable if it would get to be as cold as the outside of the truck that's shipping it considering it's packed within the cardboard box, the styrofoam box, the packing and the ziplock bag, THEN the rotifers. But I'd love someone to chime in if they have specific advice or knowledge as I'd like to know for certainty what the temperature outside would need to be to warrant a heating pack.

If you got this far reading, I commend you!

[Guy]

Bump