ROTIFER CULTURES
To start here is a little bit of info on the rotifers to begin with. There are 2 different species of rotifers used in home aquaculture; Brachionus rotundiformis (S-type rotifers) and Brachionus plicatilis (L-type rotifers) are staples in all sorts of marine fish breeding projects. Rotifers will grow best in a salinity of 1.007 – 1.013. ammonia, and nitrites should be at 0ppt and pH between 6.5 – 8.5. Room temperature is perfectly fine for rotifers and light is not a requirement for them either. As far as feeding goes I use RG complete from Reed Mariculture however if you want to use live phytoplankton that is fine too. If you are going to feed live I would use Nannochloropsis mixed with Tetraselmis.
Things you will need
5 gallon buckets with lids
Means of poking a hole
Flexible airline tubing
Ridged airline tubing
Air pump
Starter culture
Saltwater mixed to 1.007-1.014
120 micron and 53 micron sieves
(Step 1) - Find a starter culture form a local breeder, LFS or, order online. Online you can find them at https://reedmariculture.com
(Step 2) - You have obtained your starter culture and now you will need to place the starter in a 5 gallon bucket with enough fresh saltwater mixed to 1.014 to double the starter’s water volume.
(Step 3) - Add enough food to tint the water green with either RG complete or live phyto.
(Step 4) – Connect you ridged airline tubing to your flexible airline tubing and then connect the flexible airline tubing to the air pump. Plug in the air pump and let the bubbles flow. I don’t use an air stone due to the smaller bubbles seem to make a foam that can skim out the rotifers.
(Step 5) – Poke a hole in the lid of the bucket large enough for the ridged airline tubing to fit through, feed the ridged tubing through the top of the lid, and place the lid on the bucket. Leave the lid cracked to allow air to escape
(Step 6) – The next day double the water volume once again. And repeat the following day. I’ve noticed that about 4 gallons of water in a 5 gallon bucket is perfect.
Feeding
- Don’t let your rotifer water ever go clear. Daily feeding should be done to keep the water tinted a light green.
Harvesting
- Using a jar or pitcher of some kind I pour culture water through my 120 and 53 micron sieves stacked in that order with it pouring back into the culture vessel. The 120 micron sieve will catch debris while the 53 micron sieve will catch the rotifers. I then enrich the rotifers in live phytoplankton such as T-Iso, Nanno., and Tet.
Splitting
- To split the culture, I will remove 2 gallons of water from the culture, place into a new bucket and follow steps 1-5
Well I hope this helps some people out who would like to get a good handle on how to culture rotifers. All the equipment needed for this project can be found at
https://reedmariculture.com
https://www.algagen.com/
http://floridaaquafarms.com/
To start here is a little bit of info on the rotifers to begin with. There are 2 different species of rotifers used in home aquaculture; Brachionus rotundiformis (S-type rotifers) and Brachionus plicatilis (L-type rotifers) are staples in all sorts of marine fish breeding projects. Rotifers will grow best in a salinity of 1.007 – 1.013. ammonia, and nitrites should be at 0ppt and pH between 6.5 – 8.5. Room temperature is perfectly fine for rotifers and light is not a requirement for them either. As far as feeding goes I use RG complete from Reed Mariculture however if you want to use live phytoplankton that is fine too. If you are going to feed live I would use Nannochloropsis mixed with Tetraselmis.
Things you will need
5 gallon buckets with lids
Means of poking a hole
Flexible airline tubing
Ridged airline tubing
Air pump
Starter culture
Saltwater mixed to 1.007-1.014
120 micron and 53 micron sieves
(Step 1) - Find a starter culture form a local breeder, LFS or, order online. Online you can find them at https://reedmariculture.com
(Step 2) - You have obtained your starter culture and now you will need to place the starter in a 5 gallon bucket with enough fresh saltwater mixed to 1.014 to double the starter’s water volume.
(Step 3) - Add enough food to tint the water green with either RG complete or live phyto.
(Step 4) – Connect you ridged airline tubing to your flexible airline tubing and then connect the flexible airline tubing to the air pump. Plug in the air pump and let the bubbles flow. I don’t use an air stone due to the smaller bubbles seem to make a foam that can skim out the rotifers.
(Step 5) – Poke a hole in the lid of the bucket large enough for the ridged airline tubing to fit through, feed the ridged tubing through the top of the lid, and place the lid on the bucket. Leave the lid cracked to allow air to escape
(Step 6) – The next day double the water volume once again. And repeat the following day. I’ve noticed that about 4 gallons of water in a 5 gallon bucket is perfect.
Feeding
- Don’t let your rotifer water ever go clear. Daily feeding should be done to keep the water tinted a light green.
Harvesting
- Using a jar or pitcher of some kind I pour culture water through my 120 and 53 micron sieves stacked in that order with it pouring back into the culture vessel. The 120 micron sieve will catch debris while the 53 micron sieve will catch the rotifers. I then enrich the rotifers in live phytoplankton such as T-Iso, Nanno., and Tet.
Splitting
- To split the culture, I will remove 2 gallons of water from the culture, place into a new bucket and follow steps 1-5
Well I hope this helps some people out who would like to get a good handle on how to culture rotifers. All the equipment needed for this project can be found at
https://reedmariculture.com
https://www.algagen.com/
http://floridaaquafarms.com/
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