Sponge filter for rotifer culture

[KathyL]

Recently I dropped a sponge filter in my rotifer bucket, to see if it would help keep the ammonia down and the culture clean, and it has done just that! Has anyone else tried this? Usually, we just grow rots in buckets and change water a lot. I haven't changed the water in this bucket in a week, and it is still clean and still producing lots of rots. No ammonia.

Whoppee!

[bbranham3]

You know that is pretty much what Reed's rotifer floss is. Sounds like you found the key to rotifer success.

[KathyL]

filter floss doesn't have the air part.

I'll be watching this bucket for signs of failure, but ....if the ammonia is kept down, and I can keep removing rots without having to change water, or even if I don't have to change it so much, my rotifer woes are over.

[Alexandre]

Hello Kathyl! What kind of sponge filter are you using in your rotifer cultures?
Thank'sin advance!
Alexandre

[espenlg]

How to you keep the rots from getting sucked into the sponge-filter?

[KathyL]

I don't. They do get sucked in the filter, but they seem to multiply there just as well as they do in the open water. I've been squeezing the sponge out daily in a separate dry bucket, then filtering the rots out of the sponge water, and using the filtered rots for my larvae. The sponge filter goes back into the culture. These rots are not harmed by living in the sponge, and the culture in the bucket, outside of the sponge, is full of rots, too. I remove rots from the water every day, too.

[KathyL]

Hello Kathyl! What kind of sponge filter are you using in your rotifer cultures?
Thank'sin advance!
Alexandre

I'm using the simplest cheapest kind. It is a cylindar shaped sponge with a plastic tube stuck in it, ventilated where the sponge covers it. An airline is attached low on the tube. That's it!

[espenlg]

I don't. They do get sucked in the filter, but they seem to multiply there just as well as they do in the open water. I've been squeezing the sponge out daily in a separate dry bucket, then filtering the rots out of the sponge water, and using the filtered rots for my larvae. The sponge filter goes back into the culture. These rots are not harmed by living in the sponge, and the culture in the bucket, outside of the sponge, is full of rots, too. I remove rots from the water every day, too.

Oh great, I'm gonna try this as soon as I need rotifer again

[DrHsu]

Great discovery, Kathy. I guess it will be sponge filters in the rotifer buckets from now

Do the sponge filters also filter out the algae? Of course the green water will clear with being eaten, but subjectively does it clarify quicker with/without the filter?

This find would make me feel much better about introducing a sponge filter earlier into the larval raising phase as well - had always thought that a sponge filter would filter out all the rots and leave little for larvae!

[KathyL]

I don't think it has enough of an effect on the Instant Algae that I use. If you use live algae, it may cause it to crash faster, but I don't know.

[LethargicCoder]

You could also use a more porous sponge. Something like the aqua clear ones. It wouldn't provide as much surface area but you would still be drawing water through something that would work as a biological filter. The pores would be more than big enough to allow phyto and rots to pass right through.

Maybe running a power filter with a porous sponge would work, anyone try that before? Or would this shred up too many of the rots?

-Eric

[mrblue]

Interesting idea Kathy. I'm surprised the rots survive being sucked in, but I guess if it works. Do you have the sponge filter bubbling slowly and have another air-line for more circulation?

This find would make me feel much better about introducing a sponge filter earlier into the larval raising phase as well - had always thought that a sponge filter would filter out all the rots and leave little for larvae!

When reading this I was thinking the same thing. I guess some clowns can clean up rots pretty quickly. If you had the sponge filter running slowly the clowns could clean the rots up quicker then the sponge would suck it in. My only concern would be if the filter became a place where the larvae can be trapped.

I tried something along these lines when I tried the round tub method and had a constant drip going through a stand-pipe covered in filter foam and micron-screen from day 1. It seemed to work quite well. The only issue was the phyto seemed to get sucked against/through the micron screen and I had to add phyto much more frequently.

Ryan.

[PaulG]

Kathy,

I'm having a hard time picturing just what it is you've done, any chance of a pic or 2???

TIA
PaulG

[Miles]

Why would the sponge fiter cause the phyto to crash... Is the sponge that dense that it gets clogged up? But anything to minimize workload and maximize density sounds good to me. I'll try it, or maybe a chunk of porous live rock.

[KathyL]

I don't have a picture, but picture a 5 gallon bucket of rotifer culture with a heater and a cheap sponge filter, air driven. Like this one:
http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/457/HydroSponge-Filters/sponge%20filter/0
Mine was cheaper than this one....

[PaulG]

I don't have a picture, but picture a 5 gallon bucket of rotifer culture with a heater and a cheap sponge filter, air driven. Like this one:
http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/457/HydroSponge-Filters/sponge%20filter/0
Mine was cheaper than this one....

Thnaks Kathy,

Thats what I thought you were on about but wasn't 100% sure.

[aquagrrl]

I'm attempting to use a corner filter with bio-balls. My thinking is that the rots will pass harmlessly through the medium but bacteria can colonize the surface of the bioballs. I'm getting my rotifers later this week, so we'll see how it works!

[spk]

Kathy,
Hey there, I am interested in finding out about the heater too. What do you have this set to and how big a heater is it?

This would help my current rot production I think... Especially as I will not need to change every day.

Steve

[Miles]

With the addition of an AC unit in my garage, I've been able to keep the air temp at 78 F and no heater in the rot buckets. Just a sponge filter bubbling away, although I guess some heat is trapped by the plexiglass cover I use with a shop light on top of it. Working too good if you ask me. I harvested 80% of the rots last Thursday for sale, and by Sun, I was harvesting again due to high density since I knew they wouldn't last until tonight w/o crashing. (I know... take some out daily but since these are primarily sold for reef tank food, I just need high density, not reproductive viability of these rots) But I keep mine lit 24/7 for phyto longevity and a night light. The bucket is looking pretty cruddy on the sides, so I will switch buckets tonight afer my harvest. But one week per bucket sounds good to me.

[KathyL]

Kathy,
Hey there, I am interested in finding out about the heater too. What do you have this set to and how big a heater is it?

This would help my current rot production I think... Especially as I will not need to change every day.

Steve

In the winter I use a 50 watt heater set to 75F or so in a 5 gallon bucket. My basement is around 62 in winter. In summer I do not use a heater. Basement is 75 already.

[Greshamh]

A sponge filter is hardy like the Rotifer Floss in terms of use and effectiveness. AES spent literally years trying to find a fabric that would capture the algae flock and rotifer poop yet wouldn't collect rotifers. They have at their disposal probably the largest collection of this type of material known to man The main use of the floss is the manual removal of that detritus. The bio capacity of the floss while a good character is not the reason it works so well, nor is it then ended use

FWIW we use barrel warmers to keep our cultures at the right temp

[KathyL]

So I have a 5 gallon bucket of rotifers that has been going for weeks. The sides are black with crud, and the rots are at 250 rots per ml in the open water. I give them a squirt of instant algae daily, and that's about it. I check under the scope, and there are a good many with eggs, actively swimming, looking very healthy. I haven't harvested any, aside from some I recently gave to a friend, in a couple of weeks. No issues.

Before I went on vacation I stuck some in a small plastic cup, with lots of phyto. I covered the cup with some press to seal plastic wrap and punched a few holes in it. Put it in the refrigerator. I took a look, about 2 weeks later, and they are still alive, still reproducing, I think.

I did see a lot of eggs , at least I think they are eggs, detached from the females, on the bottom of the container.

[FB]

I have started a 10 gallon glass tank of rotifers using a sponge filter hoping I have the same luck as you Kathy.

[smfarrell]

Hey Kathy, are you still using the sponge filter for rotifers?