Phyto Pharm and Rotifer Ranch

Feed the tanks. Feed some rotifers. Feed some pods.
Concentrate and refrigerate the rest for the winter and hot summers when it inevitably crashes. I wouldn't expect to get any during June/July/August and Jan/Feb.
 
I just let it cold settle in the fridge for 5 days or so. Then pour off the top 95% into the rotifers, or macro algae tank since I assume it still has significant amounts of fertilizer in it.
Most of the strains I have left from the crazy days of collecting are highly flocculent when chilled. I learned that word from brewing beer. :p
 
The green means its good. Right? :p Rotifers and pods on order.
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I would think so. DT's never settles 100%. I've had some strains do this and other settle all the way. I'm not really sure why. I have everything ready for my next batch of babies. I've been feeding daily and watching. I have 2 females that are nice and plump. I alos picked up a net to catch them in. I'm hoping to catch more then 20 this time.
 
Dumped 1000 pod order from reef2go.com into the outdoor macro tank and added 1 liter of L type rotifers from ANF. http://stores.aquaculturenurseryfarms.com/StoreFront.bok
I have a 5 gallon bucket indoors with a second liter of rotifers as a backup culture.
Will post back in 3 days after they have had a change to kick off.
 
Let me know when you have some pods, and phytoplankton ready for grabs!

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I'll see if i get more spawn tonight ro sometime this weekend. If so I might make an ASAP run to you since they don't seem to get past 24 hours. Just picked up 2 of these AMAZING tanks so I hope I can get some to live now.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Aqua-Culture-Betta-Tube-Aquarium-1ct/16940369

You can pop the ends off and lock them togeather. I just put my filter in the lcoking area so one is full of LR heater and pump and goes to the other side to spin the water and flow back into the LR side. Really amazing setup. I might just line a wall with these LOL.
 
shse666 wrote:
Macro holding tank. Chaeto, Dragons Breath, red gracilaria, turtle grass, red fuchsia, and Halimeda that isn't too happy right now. There are pods in there. I can see quite a few actually.
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need to shim that tank stand [smilie=lol.gif] wow how much time a day do you spend doing all this wish i had the dedication to grow rotifers.
 
That is a Aquatic Fundamentals 20/29/37 Gallon Aquarium Stand from Petco. Its bad B A D. No one should ever buy this thing. The stand came with no installation instructions and has two pre drilled slots on every board that have burned the black finish off and look horrible. The drilled holes serve no purpose. I assume that maybe they are there for a version that has doors which this model does not. Only one board has counter sunk screws so it won't lay completely flat on the ground. Terrible quality.

I spend somewhere between 1.5 to 4 hours a day on my fish stuff, depending. Easy days are just feeding and water top off, maybe a bit of cleaning and skimmer dumps. Long days are water changes, chem tests, fragging, etc.

I'm just now testing the outdoor setup. If things go well, I expect to spend the money on some extra pumps and outdoor rated switches. The idea being that I can simply hit a button, and perform the 25 - 30% water change for the rotifers each night. Excess will simply go to the pod tank or be flushed.

McReefer, you will have to explain that Beta Pod thingy from Walmart when I see ya. Not sure I follow along with what you are doing. [smilie=crying.gif]
 
Saw it at MACNA. Couldn't buy it at the time. /sob
Got a new batch of rotifers on Wed. Hope they take off better than the last batch.
 
All of the rotifers are dead again. I couldn't find my sieve and just slapping water around trying to stay ahead of them got to be too much work. Done with them for the year. Maybe when things warm up in the spring. In the mean time, a couple of folks have asked how to do the phyto. I never realized that I have not posted the details.
Here ya go!

Get a clean solid sample of phyto either commercially or from DFW if you are near Ft. Worth or shse666 in Plano. Do not try to use DT's phyto. It won't last in production.

Buy a Petco 4 outlet air pump. Cheap and they work well: http://www.petco.com/product/119290/Petco-Air-Pump-for-Freshwater-And-Marine-Aquariums.aspx?CoreCat=certona-_-ProductListTopRated_Fish_4-_-Petco%20Air%20Pump%20for%20Freshwater%20%26%20Marine%20Aquariums-119290 Comes with check valves and extra tubing.
Buy 4 small air stones.
Buy liquid Miracle Grow. I have been using this all year: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-25ecodZ5yc1v/R-100587919/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=miracle+gro&storeId=10051 Feel free to use Guillard?s (F/2) Marine Water Enrichment Solution instead if you want to pay 20 X the price or are worried about contamination from the Miracle Grow. Seems like an Urban myth to me.....
Buy some Kent Marine Essentials (Optional. More important if you use cheap salt.)
Buy some Kent Marine Coral-Vite' (Optional, but studies show that B12 and iron can double production rates!)
Buy a small funnel

Always keep at least some of your phyto in the fridge and shake it every few days as a backup in case your main production fails. Eventually some of it will crash on you for no reason.

Indoor method:
1) Collect plenty of clear 2 liter plastic bottles.
2) Drill a hold in each cap just large enough to squeeze a standard sized airline tubing through it.
3) Add a fine sand stone to the end of the air tubing.
4) Mix up fresh clean salt water to 1.019 I let mine sit at least 2 -3 hours before using it. (Salinity as high at 1.035 will work, but is not recommended. Never use contaminated water from a fish/coral tank.)
5) Add your phyto starter, 4 drops of Kent Coral-Vite, 2 drops of Marine Essentials, and 5 ml of Miracle Grow.
6) Shake well.
7) Cap the phyto and place it under a 6500K light.
8) Start the air pump. Make sure the stone is at the very bottom of the container and set it for a vigorous bubble.
9) Wait one week. Shake the bottle daily to keep sediment from forming.
10) Drain 1/2 of the liquid off. Add 5 ml of Miracle Grow again along with supplements and repeat.

You now have 1 liter of usable phyto for each bottle you set up.

Changes for large scale outdoor:
1) Use large air "bars" and place them in the corners to prevent sediment build up.
2) Add a small pump that forces water from the bottom of the tank to the top. Run it continuously at slow to moderate volume. (Got this idea from Alex in Plano.)
3) Make sure you tank gets LOTS of sunlight. Use a glass top to prevent rain from getting inside and maximize sun light.
4) Add a heater. Set it for 78 degrees. A 300 watt in a 30 gallon tank works well.
5) Add one or two waterproof LED fixtures to offset cloudy days and short winter days. These clip right onto the tank: http://www.marineland.com/products/lighting/led-lighting/hidden-led-lighting.aspx
6) Cut back on your use of Miracle Grow. Especially when starting off. 5ml per gallon or less.

Hope this helps!

--Howard
 
Serious cold snap tonight. Tank had dropped to 69.5 degrees when I checked around midnight.
Hopefully it won't get below 40 degrees at any point. It shouldn't be any worse then when I put my phyto in the fridge and then reuse it.
In theory anyway.
 
Pods harvested from the outdoor tank to seed the coral frag tank today.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIE3YKEV7mE[/youtube]

Plenty of chaeto out there along with feather caulerpa that I put in the sump.
 
Just follow these instructions: http://reedmariculture.com/support_rotifers_culturing.php.


Use their Nanno 3600 algae http://reedmariculture.com/product_instant_algae_nanno_3600.php
 
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