We have 4 cultures of rotifers going. It's definitely a good idea to have a back up in case one crashes.
We bought our rotifers and Rotigrow Plus from Reeds Mariculture. (We tried the RG Complete, but didn't seem to do well with it. So we just dose an ammonia/nitrate/nitrite remover as needed)
1 recommendation I would make is to split up your phytoblend (whichever you get from them) either into small 8oz water bottles (don't fill to top, just 1/2 way) or in ice cube trays...and freeze them. A little bit of their phytos go a long way and you don't want the rest to go bad.
We bought 2 different size sieves from florida aqua farms (1 to capture the detritus and 1 to capture the rotifers).
(Go to lowes/home depot and get some of the plastic buckets that have the measurements on the side (we utilize the ounces alot)....just a tip. This allows you to measure how much you're removing each day)
We used a 5 gallon bucket and followed the directions that came with the rotifers. Once our water volume was about 4 gallons in that bucket, we let it go for a couple days.
Once the culture was dense enough, we started getting rid of about 100oz a day and replacing with newly mixed (and sterilized) salt water.
After a few weeks, we split the culture in 2...then eventually 2 again.
It isn't necessary to split more than twice, we just have alot of clownfish pairs. Like I said, good to have a backup.
You can also bottle up your rotifers with a couple drops of your phyto and keep in the fridge for 2-3 weeks as a backup if you don't have the space for another culture.
Rotifers don't need light, so using a white 5gallon bucket is best, IMO. Allows you to see how clear/dirty the water/bucket gets.
We feed the rotifers we cull everyday to our display tanks, and alot of the corals open up almost instantly. Neat to see.
Some people are intimidated by the amount of work. Once you get into a routine, it is pretty easy.
Just make sure not to cross contaminate your rotifer cultures with each other or with other tanks in your home.
Once a week, I pour each culture through the sieve that collects detritus to remove all detritus from the culture. I then wipe down the original bucket (as detritus collects on the sides) and transfer the culture back in.
As for heating the culture, I don't but that's because of my conditions. We have a separate bedroom in our house that is the "fish room" and the temperature is always very warm in there. So our rotifers are ok at room temperature. Depending on your situation, you may need a heater.
Stability in parameters is key though.
Good luck.
If you have any questions, feel free to PM me as I don't check this part of the forum often.
