Sponge filter for rotifer culture

[KathyL]

[bbranham3]

[KathyL]

[Alexandre]

[espenlg]

[KathyL]

[KathyL]

[espenlg]

[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]

[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:

Mine was cheaper than this one....

[PaulG]

[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]

[KathyL]

[Greshamh]

[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?