Will rotifers eat bottled dead phytoplankton?

[alfieh0]

Hey, i have a rotifer colony which is struggling for food, i only have a little live refrigerated phytoplankton left, my phytoplankton culture crashed.
Due to Christmas i cannot order any phytoplankton online until around January. I went to my LFS and picked some of this stuff up, its called "microlift micro-plus phytoplankton" It seems to be a long shelf life phytoplankton, as it doesn't need to be in the fridge, i assume the phytoplankton is dead. The bottle has thick dark green liquid in it, which sinks to the bottom, even with an air stone.

It says on the bottle it contains: "dunaliella, spirulina, phaeodatylum, chlorella, chaettoceros, nannochloropsis oculata in a specifically preserved form"
Does anyone know if the rotifers will eat this, while i wait for my phytoplankton culture to regrow again.
Thanks for the help.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hey, i have a rotifer colony which is struggling for food, i only have a little live refrigerated phytoplankton left, my phytoplankton culture crashed.
Due to Christmas i cannot order any phytoplankton online until around January. I went to my LFS and picked some of this stuff up, its called "microlift micro-plus phytoplankton" It seems to be a long shelf life phytoplankton, as it doesn't need to be in the fridge, i assume the phytoplankton is dead. The bottle has thick dark green liquid in it, which sinks to the bottom, even with an air stone.

It says on the bottle it contains: "dunaliella, spirulina, phaeodatylum, chlorella, chaettoceros, nannochloropsis oculata in a specifically preserved form"
Does anyone know if the rotifers will eat this, while i wait for my phytoplankton culture to regrow again.
Thanks for the help.

I've used dead phyto in a pinch before, but never that brand. I worry about clumping. Do you have a microscope that you could use to see how this stuff looks?

Jay

 

[alfieh0]

I've used dead phyto in a pinch before, but never that brand. I worry about clumping. Do you have a microscope that you could use to see how this stuff looks?

Jay

Unfortunately i don't have a microscope to see what it looks like. It does seems to clump and rest on the bottom, which i assume is a bad thing.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Unfortunately i don't have a microscope to see what it looks like. It does seems to clump and rest on the bottom, which i assume is a bad thing.

Yes - the particles need to be small enough for the rotifers to eat. Single algae cells are great, but if they clump, they are too large. You could try shaking/blending the material to resuspend it.

Jay

 

[Dodge Ram]

If you use a wavemaker to break the clumps apart then the rotifers may eat it.

 

[Rmckoy]

Anyone local with a large stock from a previous batch ?

 

[ectoaesthetics]

RG complete if you are in the US. Pretty inexpensive for what you are buying. It’s also dead but the right blend and comes with an ammonia detox…