Rotifer.com Coming Soon - New Protocols for culturing Rotifers * What is a Rotifer? * Live "Instant Rotifers" / Prices * Receiving Your Rotifers * Rotifer Counts * Culturing Rotifers * Rotifer Floss (Filter) * Oxygen Generators * How Many Do I Need? * Enriching Rotifers * Rotifer FAQ * Rotifer Discussion Boards * Rotifer Production System Zooplankton   Copepods   Mysid Shrimp	Culturing Rotifers in Small Systems (Home or Lab)
	Rotifers are VERY  EASY to culture at home. I say that up front because rotifers have received a bad reputation in the past from people that try to grow them using live algae or artificial feeds. Live algae requires too much water turnover and can only produce low densities because of the small volume of algae in the water, and artificial feeds will quickly foul the culture. Using a microalgae concentrate eliminates both of these problems. Rotifers feed best on microalgae, typically in the 1 to 10 micron range. The most commonly used algae is called Nannochloropsis, a small green non-motile (non swimming) cell that is high in protein, carbohydrates, and lipids. Other commonly used algae are Isochrysis and Pavlova. Rotifers have a very high metabolism and need to eat every 4 hours. Fortunately this is easy to do by keeping a supply of microalgae in the water with them. Microalgae concentrates like Instant Algae ® and Rotifer Diet® can be added to the water once or several times each day to maintain a healthy culture rotifers. Simply add a few drops of Nannochloropsis or Rotifer Diet to the tank until you have a light green color. If the tank still has a light green color at the next feeding you are adding the right amount. If not add a bit more algae each time until there is a residual color. Note that the rotifers culture will be growing rapidly at first so checking on the color several times each day and adding algae if needed will help your culture. The most common practice is to feed the rotifers in the morning and the evening. A 5 gallon bucket is a typical setup for a small system.  They are inexpensive, easy to move around, and easy to clean.  A 5 gallon bucket containing 4 gallons of water at 500 rotifers / ml (low density) will hold roughly 7.5 million rotifers and yield 2.5 million rotifers per day with a 33% daily harvest. If you choose to set up a more sophisticated rotifer growing system please check out our Rotifer Recipe for Aquaculture. If you have not cultured rotifers before we recommend purchasing a Rotifer Starter Kit. Receiving your Shipment Click Here for more information Basic Components 3 to 5 gallon bucket or larger tank Airstone (set on low, do not boil the water) Dechlorinated salt water Temperature 25-28 C / 77-82 F is best, 20-25 ppt / 0.015-0.019 Specific Gravity Live rotifer culture Microalgae (Nannochloropsis based feeds are the best) Key Strategies Keep enough microalgae in the system so that the rotifers never go hungry Harvest at least 33% of your culture every day Your rotifer culture system must be set up in a stand-alone tank - they cannot be raised in a reef tank or co-cultured with other organisms. Glass aquariums don't work as well as buckets. Unlike many refugium organisms that are benthic (live on the bottom and in the rocks), rotifers are planktonic (in the water column) so if your tank is in-line too many of your rotifers will be pulled out of the system and you won't be able to maintain the densities you need. The Plankton Culture Manual provides several examples and details on setting up rotifer cultures. We recommend a very simple model consisting of nothing more than a bucket or tank with an air stone. For a 10 gallon system: Starting your culture Put the bag of rotifers in the bucket to allow it to slowly warm up. Wait 5 minutes then open the bag and add the rotifer starter culture Add 7 drops of Instant Algae Nannochloropsis or 30 drops of Reef Nutrition Rotifer Diet Add microalgae daily but wait at least 3 days before starting to harvest them. Daily Add enough Nannochloropsis or Rotifer Diet to maintain a light green color between feedings.  Typically this will be 2-3 ml's of Nannochloropsis daily per million rotifers. Harvest at least 33% of your culture each day. Harvesting Your Rotifers to feed a Reef Tank Before harvesting your rotifers stir the culture vigorously for 10 seconds. This will lift the detritus from the bottom, keeping the culture clean and running continuously for many months. This will not damage the rotifers at all. Harvest 33% of your rotifer culture. This can be done by scooping with a jar, our pouring the culture out of your bucket. Turn off your skimmer but leave your pumps running (many people put their skimmers on vacation timers so they turn on again automatically). Pour your rotifers directly into your reef tank. The water become cloudy momentarily until the detritus settles to the bottom. Remove an equal amount of water from your reef tank. Pour it through a coffee filter back into your rotifer tank to replenish the water. Harvesting Your Rotifers to feed Fish Larvae Turn off your airstone for 2-3 minutes. This will allow the detritus to settle and the rotifers will float to the top. Harvest as many rotifers as you need by gently scooping them off the top of your tank. If you have a reef tank follow the instructions above. If you don't have a reef tank you will periodically need to clean your culture tank to prevent the detritus levels from building up and causing ammonia. Use a modified version of the Reef Tank directions and either use or dispose of the rotifers. Tips Rotifers do not need any light, and will do best in the dark Do NOT let the rotifers ever run out of food.  The survivors will take up to 24 hours to recover and start producing again. For more detailed information about growing rotifers read the Rotifer Fundamentals section. The rotifers are shipped to you at a salinity of 20 ppt. They can be gradually acclimated to range from 4 ppt to 45 ppt. It's difficult to measure your rotifer densities without a microscope, so it might take 2-3 weeks before your find an equilibrium in your system for how much algae to feed and how many liters of rotifers to remove each day without affecting your culture densities.