Greenwater and Rotifers

viper357

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Hi all

Lots of questions here...

Why exactly do some people use greenwater and rotifers, is it primarily a food source for non-photosynthetic corals? What does it consist of? Are they 2 separate things?

Is anybody culturing greenwater and rotifers? I would love to see some setups, be it DIY or commercial.
 
Viper green water is a lower form algea if i am correct its called chlorella algea ( not to sure)
The rotifers feed off the algea
and in turn our corals and fish feed of them
i have some more info will post soon
am trying to cultured but having a hard time keeping the green water green
 
Viper green water is a lower form algea if i am correct its called chlorella algea ( not to sure)
The rotifers feed off the algea
and in turn our corals and fish feed of them
i have some more info will post soon
am trying to cultured but having a hard time keeping the green water green
Maybe Viper has some good advice on this. :lol:
 
I'm culturing greenwater and rotifers. The greenwater consists of unicellular algae cells. You get lots of alternatives, but mine is Nannochloropsis, which is about 4-6micron big. Basically, they contain EPA and DHA fatty acids. This can be fed to the rotifers. Again, you get lots of alternatives, but those most commonly used is about 150micron.
So, you can feed either the greenwater itself, or the rotifers enriched with greenwater, to your "plankton-eating" corals. The rotifers are also good (well, best and almost only) food to get clownfish larvae healthily through the first few days, as they need very small food that they can hunt.
My rotifer culture seems to have crashed, but I'll try and get it up and running again from stored eggs.

O, and once you've figured out a few basics, the culturing is not difficult at all. Some schlepp every two weeks or say, but hey, if you want the freshest veggies, you need your own vegetable garden.
 
O, I thought that was the simple version. How about this:
Fertilise your greenwater, feed it to your rotifers, and feed both to your filterfeeding corals to give them natural fatty-acid-rich food that's good for them.
 
Hi guys, I need to culture rotifers. Where can I get eggs and what is the process from there. The same goes for greenwater. I do believe it is about the only things I will be able to get larvae through the first say 10 days before BBS can be fed. I have about 6 days to get this up and running.
 
Hi Alfie,

Six days will probably not be enough to get all up and running (and multiplied enough to have some to use), so you'll have to try and find someone greenwater and rotifers "en masse" from someone to feed this batch (if that is why you need it so urgently).

I could supply you with starter cultures, but I'm in Jhb. Someone in CT should be able to help you out. You can read many articles online about culturing greenwater and rotifers, just google it. Try this one:

Melevsreef.com - Phytoplankton

Good luck.
 
Do you maybe know of anyone in Ct where I might be able to get some cultures.
 
Try 2 oceans. They might be able to help or to tell you where to get some.
 
What product can one use as a Micro Algae growth liquid to add to the Phytoplankton?
 
Alfie, it's a pity Calvin is on holiday, I can remember him saying something about leaving a tank of water in the sun or something to that effect and the resulting greenwater or whatever it was that grew in this water was perfect for feeding his newly hatched seahorses. Maybe someone else can recall or knows of this method.
 
Tanks - sea water - some Tilapia (to provide nutrients for the algae) - seed with green water from another source - provide an airstone to keep the water turning over. Leave in the sun topping up with fresh (not even RO as you want as many nutrients as possible) water as and when required. Tilapia are fed with pellets (even those dog food pellets work but proper fish food pellets better for them,
 
Thanks Viper, got this more or less sorted now. busy with my setup at the moment fot the greenwater(phytoplankton) and will be sorting out the rotifers tomorrow as well.
 
Kevin, are you referring to the tilapia fish as this is all I can see under google?

Tanks - sea water - some Tilapia (to provide nutrients for the algae) - seed with green water from another source - provide an airstone to keep the water turning over. Leave in the sun topping up with fresh (not even RO as you want as many nutrients as possible) water as and when required. Tilapia are fed with pellets (even those dog food pellets work but proper fish food pellets better for them,
 
Yes, the Redbreast Tilapia (Tilapia rendalli) that we get on the east coast also lives in sea water and is (was?) common in places like Durban harbour.
 
You can use a normal liquid fertiliser for plants (brown smelly stuff) to fertilise the greenwater. Adding something like Essential Elements may also make the greenwater/rotifers more "wholesome" for fish/corals.
 
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