Microfood culture: phytoplanktons, Rotifers, ciliates, Artemia, and copepods

[cwa46]

Post error

[buick48]

i have two breeding pairs of clowns and would like to try to raise them. i have not been having much success. i now have rotifers and phyto, but i still have very little success. i have only one baby clarkii clown left. i am using 10 gallon tanks with the water from the breeder tank. changing 50 % weekly plus small changes. the water seems fine, but the babies keep dying. if anyone has ideas let me know please buick48@juno.com

[Atticus]

Originally posted by buick48
i have two breeding pairs of clowns and would like to try to raise them. i have not been having much success. i now have rotifers and phyto, but i still have very little success. i have only one baby clarkii clown left. i am using 10 gallon tanks with the water from the breeder tank. changing 50 % weekly plus small changes. the water seems fine, but the babies keep dying. if anyone has ideas let me know please buick48@juno.com

If you want to start your own thread and give us a bit more information we will be able to better help you. We will need to know age of fry at die off, water parameters, signs and symptoms and anything else you find different than what you have researched already.

[Ducatti]

i need COPEPODS!!

[AquaNight]

Dr. Marini,

A quick question. After growing several bottles of phytoplankton from DT's. Will it be possible for me to store these in the fridge and expect the same storage period as the DT's??

If not. How long might I expect to keep it refrigerated.

Thanks,

Jeff

[Atticus]

Originally posted by AquaNight
Dr. Marini,

A quick question. After growing several bottles of phytoplankton from DT's. Will it be possible for me to store these in the fridge and expect the same storage period as the DT's??

If not. How long might I expect to keep it refrigerated.

Thanks,

Jeff

It is now impossible to use DT's as a starter culture as they have mixed phyto strains. As far as storage even if you could grow it you will not be able to concentrate it enough or strip it enough to get the self life DT's claims.

[The Escaped Ape]

Could the moderators sticky this thread?

[Atticus]

Originally posted by burntom
Could the moderators sticky this thread?

It is a sticky....

[The Escaped Ape]

Whoops. Glad everyone agrees with me though (ahem).

[newsalt1]

I used DT as a starter and it seems to have grown, in fact I split it for the third time last night. I have no way of knowing what species of the three grew, but grow it did. I also started a culture with a disc from Florida (hedging my bet )

[FMarini]

Becuz DT is now a 3 phytoplankton mix (it used to be a monoculture), it will be difficult to culture all three phytos.
However, if you use a standard culture mix, you will preferentially grow out nanno (N occultus). While its not a bad thing, its actually one of the better and easier to grow phytos. The reason DTs is now a mix is becuz its contains 3 varied phytos all have different HUFA profiles and together they make the mix much higher in nutritional value

[AquaNight]

Originally posted by Atticus
It is now impossible to use DT's as a starter culture as they have mixed phyto strains. As far as storage even if you could grow it you will not be able to concentrate it enough or strip it enough to get the self life DT's claims.

Great, thanks for the info. I have 3 bottles that today will be finished "cooking" I'll mark and put them in the fridge and see how long before they foul.

I'll post the results.

Thanks again.

Jeff

[Atticus]

Originally posted by AquaNight
Great, thanks for the info. I have 3 bottles that today will be finished "cooking" I'll mark and put them in the fridge and see how long before they foul.

I'll post the results.

Thanks again.

Jeff

IMO it doesn't really matter how long it takes for them to foul because you truely do not know what you have grown. This method may be ok for reef tank additions, but I need to know what I am feeding my rotifers for my baby clowns and bangaii so I can ensure they are getting the proper levels of nutrients.
As far as shelf life goes nanno is useless way before it dies. As it sits in storage it will slowly use its stored nutrients to maintain its own life thus leaving an empty cell with little or no nutrient value. With homegrown phyto in a clear refridgerated container you should use it up within 2-3 weeks. It is also necissary to shake the bottles at least once every couple days to resuspend the cells.

[AquaNight]

Great info thanks. 2-3 weeks would suit me fine. I only use it to feed the reef about a cup a day for now. That may increase as today was the 1st day I fed what I had grown.

Jeff

[Atticus]

If you want to continue to do this you should really restart your batch with fresh DT's everytime or you will have a single strain culture as the strongest strain will override the rest in continuous batches.

[shaw]

Does anyone use Kents f2 culture? i am having problems understanding the dosing
thanks
shawn

[AquaNight]

Originally posted by Atticus
If you want to continue to do this you should really restart your batch with fresh DT's everytime or you will have a single strain culture as the strongest strain will override the rest in continuous batches.

I had thought about this and agree. This way I can stretch the DT's out and make it more cost effective.

Thanks,

Jeff

[Reddhaus]

I am very interested in getting a pair of clowns and breeding them. I am still in the planning stages of my setup. I am glad I have found all of this information. What I have read so far has been very helpful and informative. Just wanted to say Thank You and I will more than likely be posting some newbee breeding questions in the future.

[jonny1972]

Are there any two types of phyto that will grow together?

[Atticus]

Originally posted by jonny1972
Are there any two types of phyto that will grow together?

Nope, It is survival of the fitest and the phyto that favors your conditions more will win out over time.

[jake levi]

Re culture containers :

I have used with success inverted 5 gallon water jugs with the bottoms cut off and the necks siliconed with a tap. These stand in a rack, with an air stone hanging down into the neck,

this will keep artemia, phytoplankton and rotifers in suspension.

Be sure to keep the jugs with the phytoplankton away from the rotifers, if the green water gets contaminated you'll ahve a great rotifer culture instead.

Depending on the set up you can use overhead flourescents and/or upright vertical lights next to the jugs.

[NicoleC]

Good news: Randy and Reed Mariculture told me that he expected to have S and SS rotifers available by the end of the year. I hope he meant 2004!

[Soujirou]

I've read the very informative article provided here in this thread concerning copepod cultivation. I was curious if anyone has actually tried the method written in that article? The main question I have is how much phytoplankton to use when feeding the copepod culture. The author states to keep the tank green, but what is too green? He also states to follow the directions for the phytoplankton you have, but from what I've discovered, most if not all of the brands simply state how much to add to a normal display tank, not for cultivating purposes where the tank stays green. Incidentally, I just picked up a 15oz bottle of DT's phytoplankton.

I'll basically be following the author's suggestions to the letter to give you an idea. With that having been said, DT's suggests I add ~5ml of their phytoplankton per 15 gallons. Can anyone help me out with how much I might use to cultivate my 'pods? I'll have about 1,000 adult copepods and a number of females with eggs. The phytoplankton mixture will take up ~5 gallons of the 10 gallon cultivating tank. Any help concerning how much of DT's phytoplankton as well as any other tips would be greatly appreciated.

[rsman]

you need to feed based on how much they eat, we cant guess because your densities will go way higher than a typical reef.

[Soujirou]

Has anyone here actually tried to cultivate copepods in this manner? Is there a general guideline which could point me in the right direction aside from the cultivating solution being "green?" The green tone accompaning the image of the setup tank makes it appear as though there's ~3 gallons of DT's phytoplankton, which can't be the case. IYO are more than welcome and I appreciate them, but IYE would be even more helpful. Thank you.