Introducing copepods and or rotifers

[Reef Nutrition]

@Reef Nutrition How about that article on Rotifers? Very interested.

Thanks

I'll start a new discussion in our Reef Nutrition forum. I'll get it going now so that we can exchange thoughts and ideas.

Chad

 

[Bryn]

This would be great.

I see where you saw my other post about feeding a coral only tank. I would like to see if it is possible to just add phytoplankton and keep a population of Rotifers, and copepods, and have all three feeding the corals. Maybe also adding brine shrimp as an additional supplement occasionally. I know it is a bit out there, and might not be possible, but never know until we try. More concerned about the rotifers, than copepods.

I also have a stereo microscope and a path lab compound microscope if I need to go looking for "life".

So any suggestions would be appreciated, and eager to hear your thoughts.

Thanks

 

[40B Knasty]

I'll start a new discussion in our Reef Nutrition forum. I'll get it going now so that we can exchange thoughts and ideas.

Chad

My green mandarin and flame angel love Reef Nutrition's Tigger pods! I gut loaded them with spirulina powder in a separate 5 1/2g tank to improve their nutritional value. The tank is at a room temp between 62F- 65F. It has been only 5 weeks. It says there are 4000-6000 in the bottle. I have dumped at least that in my display tank every 5 days. There is probably about 40,000 pods in the 5 1/2g.

 

[Reef Nutrition]

This would be great.

I see where you saw my other post about feeding a coral only tank. I would like to see if it is possible to just add phytoplankton and keep a population of Rotifers, and copepods, and have all three feeding the corals. Maybe also adding brine shrimp as an additional supplement occasionally. I know it is a bit out there, and might not be possible, but never know until we try. More concerned about the rotifers, than copepods.

I also have a stereo microscope and a path lab compound microscope if I need to go looking for "life"

So any suggestions would be appreciated, and eager to hear your thoughts.

Thanks

Here are my thoughts, and thanks for asking. I would buy 1 million, Brachionus plicatilis, from us. Add them to the tank after turning off all filtration and pumps. Allow them to find the nooks and crannies. Give them like an hour to settle, or more. A week later, jam a transfer pipette tip into the rock and literally suck the life out of it! Toss them under the scope and report back. LOL

I'm not 100% sure anymore that rotifers can't live in a reef tank. You have presented us with an experimental option! Let's do this. http://www.reedmariculture.com/product_instant_zooplankton_rotifers.php. We have ciliate free cultures and at $20 for 1 million, you can't go wrong. Of course, shipping my be a bit chew on, but it might be worth it if the rotifers take to the rocks. Daily feeding of phytoplankton would be ideal. Small amounts, multiple times daily is ideal. You also don't want to limit the microalgae diet to one species - make sure that you are offering a blend of phytoplankton to your animals. You could also culture the rotifers and add them monthly to supplement the existing population in case of losses via predation. I'm sure some copepods, isopods and amphipods will feast on them.

Chad

 

[Reef Nutrition]

My green mandarin and flame angel love Reef Nutrition's Tigger pods! I gut loaded them with spirulina powder in a separate 5 1/2g tank to improve their nutritional value. The tank is at a room temp between 62F- 65F. It has been only 5 weeks. It says there are 4000-6000 in the bottle. I have dumped at least that in my display tank every 5 days. There is probably about 40,000 pods in the 5 1/2g.

Gorgeous! We typically put about 2,000 per bottle, but we are looking to increase the density. Thanks for supporting us, @40B Knasty!

Chad

 

[40B Knasty]

Gorgeous! We typically put about 2,000 per bottle, but we are looking to increase the density. Thanks for supporting us, @40B Knasty!

Chad

Thanks for clearing up the amount. Either way I have a ton now! Pretty simple to grow. I am guessing I might have to get my spare 20g going and 13g if this keeps up.

 

[Bryn]

Ok, Im building a Frag/QT tank, have a couple more weeks of design and then we will start to stock it with your critters. I will make suggestions, you laugh politely because I think I know what I'm talking about, and then you make suggestions. Cool?

So I want a food chain, from Phytoplankton to Rotifers to copepods. Ideally I would like to just add phytoplankton and and everyone grows and grows. Occasionally we can add an exotic feed such as brine shrimp. Also any other zooplankton we think would be desirable. Ultimately the frags will benefit from this experiment.

I will post some tank pics in the next week or so. It will be a 40G breeder with 2/3s of the left to right of the tank setup as a frag area, with the remaining 1/3 sectioned into a refugium area, a small area for GFO and Carbo in pouches, and the remainder a sand bed and rock area. These areas will be sectioned off using egg crate. Down side to this is the pH swing from day to night because the cheato will be lit by the main frag light, so am playing with the idea of a algae scrubber to run at night, along with the cheato. The only thing missing would be a skimmer.

Thoughts?

 

[Reef Nutrition]

Ok, Im building a Frag/QT tank, have a couple more weeks of design and then we will start to stock it with your critters. I will make suggestions, you laugh politely because I think I know what I'm talking about, and then you make suggestions. Cool?

So I want a food chain, from Phytoplankton to Rotifers to copepods. Ideally I would like to just add phytoplankton and and everyone grows and grows. Occasionally we can add an exotic feed such as brine shrimp. Also any other zooplankton we think would be desirable. Ultimately the frags will benefit from this experiment.

I will post some tank pics in the next week or so. It will be a 40G breeder with 2/3s of the left to right of the tank setup as a frag area, with the remaining 1/3 sectioned into a refugium area, a small area for GFO and Carbo in pouches, and the remainder a sand bed and rock area. These areas will be sectioned off using egg crate. Down side to this is the pH swing from day to night because the cheato will be lit by the main frag light, so am playing with the idea of a algae scrubber to run at night, along with the cheato. The only thing missing would be a skimmer.

Thoughts?

What kind of corals are you thinking about? You probably won't be able to do SPS because you need a lot of water movement for them which means the copepods and macroalgae will get blown around. I'm mostly interested to see how the rotifers do and if you can prove days later that they have colonized the tank. A skimmer will be necessary since you will be heavily feeding the system.

Chad