Anyone have Rotifers?

[akabryanhall1]

Hey Guys,
My Maroon/Ocillaris pair laid eggs on Saturday. I have my Rotifers comin in tomorrow, but it will take 3 days (Saturday) before I can harvest the culture. This means I may not be able to raise this batch of fry.
Does anyone have an established rotifer culture I can buy?
I would appreciate it!!
Bryan

[Iggy]

Hi Bryan, Congratulations on your success! What made you start with the hybrid? I'm sorry I don't have a rotifer culture to offer but I've been in the exact same spot (twice) and managed to find a workable solution that I'll share if you're interested. Good luck with your nest, either way.

fwiw, I think this event would win the Aquaculture contest, assuming you jump through the hoops. (breeding journal, etc.)

[akabryanhall1]

Thanks Iggy! I'm definitely excited about it. I am fascinated by the concept of hybrid mating as I am sure that this sort of thing has been going on in nature for as long as life has been around.
I would love to hear your work around for the rotifers! It will be a just in case scenario. Please send me pm detailing this, I would appreciate it!
I need to find out more about the contest, I think I saw a thread about it..

[Iggy]

I agree, nests are very exciting. I get excited even when I know I won't be raising the nests.

Here's my workaround (sending publicly in care anyone else can benefit also):

imo, You don't really have enough time to setup a continuous culture once the nest has been laid. Instead think batch culture. Typically, this is expensive but we live in FL and have lots of options. If (like me) you're east of I-4, look into MTI: http://bit.ly/m7J2jo. Their web-site is http://www.livebrineshrimp.com/ but I strongly suggest you call them. I decided it was cheaper to drive there and back then to have it shipped. If you're planning on culturing a large amount of phyto, you'll love to see their setup. It's awesome.

1. Over the phone, order 1G of rotifers and ask for them to be shipped in T-Iso. If you don't already have a phyto source, buy 1G of Nanno. Time it right and get them on Thursday/Friday.
2. Immediately split the cultures using sterile water and Guillards' F/2 then add light and air.
3. Plan on feeding the entire batch to your fry. I use a schedule of 1/2 from culture A on day 1 then 1/2 from culture B on day 2.
4. Use the Nanno for greenwater and to feed to the rotifers when their T-Iso starts going away.
5. Start providing Otohime A on day 0 or day 1 and be prepared to go up pretty quickly.

Why does this work? You only need to provide enough rotifers to make it through meta (day 8 - 10, can't say for certain with hybrids) and the dry food will help transition the fish more quickly.

Note - You may also want to get some phyto paste as they make life MUCH easier.

Here's the link to the MBI Points contest. If you haven't read Matt's book yet, it's a must read.