BAR Meeting April 9th featuring Randy Reed from Reed Mariculture

[GreshamH]

Awwllllright, who's gonna start growing rotifers?

Fed-Ex is delivering my rotifer starter kit tomorrow. Though with my small tank I'm just planning on growing them in a 2 gallon bucket rather than a 5. Am I the only one giving this a try?

Just like reef tanks, the smaller you go the quicker things can go south. Conditions change that much quicker, just be aware of that and keep on your feet

 

[Matt_Wandell]

I'd like to have a vacation from my tank occasionally, so no roties for me

Actually Randy outlined how to deal with your rotifer culture when you leave for vacation, so no excuses for you Mike.... Now get to work!

Can you explain this to everyone? I'm sure this info is out there if I searched enough but kinda curious what Randy says.

 

[jugato]

I'd like to have a vacation from my tank occasionally, so no roties for me

Actually Randy outlined how to deal with your rotifer culture when you leave for vacation, so no excuses for you Mike.... Now get to work!

Can you explain this to everyone? I'm sure this info is out there if I searched enough but kinda curious what Randy says.

From rotifer.com, which matches what Randy said at the meeting:

Vacation Mode
Since rotifers need to be maintained/harvested every day, it can be a problem if you go out town for several days. Fortunately there is an easy way to put your rotifers in "vacation mode" (hibernation):
Pour a liter or so of your culture into a 1 liter container. Cover loosely to allow oxygen to enter.
Add a bit of extra algae to darken the culture
Put the liter container into your refrigerator
After 7 days 50% of your rotifers should be alive
After 14 days 15% of your rotifers should be alive
Restart your culture using the directions above