Rotifer culture on the blink
@Dr. Schell and whoever else would like to weigh in
Sorry to pick your brains on this one again, but we're still having issues. (And, no, I haven't set up your self-sustaining ones yet. We have no leaves/grass where we are, so I haven't gotten around to harassing family and friends for some lol)
Our density just isn't what we've seen it in the past.
Basically, we start a culture and either we get a boom for a few days and then it peters out, or it just stays fairly low density right from the start.
* We've tried SG from 1.018 - 1.025. For the last few months we've been keeping it around 1.019
* Sometimes we use the chlorinated/dechlorinated water. Other times we just run our NSW through some mesh (50micron)
* We've fed yeast, phyto, rotifer food from Reef Culture (both normal and concentrate) and now Rotifeast from Proaqua. With the latter, it's a combination of nannochloropsis and tetraselmis and the rots appear to be leaving the tet; the water never completely clears. It's always got a brown tinge that remains and the water is becoming contaminated quickly.
* We have a 14lt culture and remove 4lt (30%ish) daily and replace with fresh water.
* We keep the temp at around 25, but because they're in the garage, I've seen it fluctuate from 22 - 27 in a 24hr period.
Our density: approx 4/ml This number has been calculated by drawing up a few ml in a syringe and counting the rots in a 1ml section, and also by drawing up only one ml and counting them. Got the same number each time.
Is there anything above that you can see that we're obviously doing wrong?
I feel we're on the brink of losing them again and to be honest, I'm getting really annoyed. I'd just like them to work.
Cheers!
B
Sorry to pick your brains on this one again, but we're still having issues. (And, no, I haven't set up your self-sustaining ones yet. We have no leaves/grass where we are, so I haven't gotten around to harassing family and friends for some lol)
Our density just isn't what we've seen it in the past.
Basically, we start a culture and either we get a boom for a few days and then it peters out, or it just stays fairly low density right from the start.
* We've tried SG from 1.018 - 1.025. For the last few months we've been keeping it around 1.019
* Sometimes we use the chlorinated/dechlorinated water. Other times we just run our NSW through some mesh (50micron)
* We've fed yeast, phyto, rotifer food from Reef Culture (both normal and concentrate) and now Rotifeast from Proaqua. With the latter, it's a combination of nannochloropsis and tetraselmis and the rots appear to be leaving the tet; the water never completely clears. It's always got a brown tinge that remains and the water is becoming contaminated quickly.
* We have a 14lt culture and remove 4lt (30%ish) daily and replace with fresh water.
* We keep the temp at around 25, but because they're in the garage, I've seen it fluctuate from 22 - 27 in a 24hr period.
Our density: approx 4/ml This number has been calculated by drawing up a few ml in a syringe and counting the rots in a 1ml section, and also by drawing up only one ml and counting them. Got the same number each time.
Is there anything above that you can see that we're obviously doing wrong?
I feel we're on the brink of losing them again and to be honest, I'm getting really annoyed. I'd just like them to work.
Cheers!
B
