cultures

[jamescook]

All my cultures are thriving this season. Rotifers and copepods do great outside in a bucket at 1.017. With as much rain as we've been having mine are watered down so that the mosquito larvae are thriving. All fish love it especially the cardinals. Mysis are in all the systems too. I use a larvae snagger for the picassos and catch more shrimp than fish. Try putting a bucket of tank water outside and you'll probably have all you need growing soon. Holler if you need help.

 

[cedzaquaddiction]

Interesting...

So, you took a 5g bucket with tank water, added pods and rotifers, and they are doing great???
Did yo uadd any chaeto, or anything? Also: Are you feeding the mosquito larvae to the fish?

 

[merkywater]

Ced he put 5 gallon buckets with salinity of 1.017 with rotifers and pods outside. No cheato. He adds phytoplankton to the buckets until the sun takes affect and keeps algae producing on its own which feeds the rotifers and pods. The salinity will drop do to all the rain we have been getting which will allow for the mosquito larvae to thrive. Mosquito larvae are similar to blackworms and they can be fed to your fish. You must wash them though.

James babies are still kicking man 3 days later! Have had very min loss. Fingers crossed they are all looking fat and happy too!

 

[jamescook]

Yep. I've had cultures going for years. No air/heat or anything really. Just tank water a little diluted and sunlight does the rest. It may take a while, but I bet you'll get a bloom and be able to see pods etc. Naturally they'll bloom and crash from time to time, but each time they'll be more adapted to the environment. Yes, the bangaiis love mosquito larvae and get them daily when I feed the rotis to the larvae.

Edit: Way to go Nate!

 

[cedzaquaddiction]

Very informative. I believe I'm going to give it a try. Seems simple enough, and it'll be nice to see something biting the mosquitoes for a change...

Thanks for sharing...

 

[fishdude]

James,
As soon as I read this post I decided to try a small batch for myself. As an experiment I took 2 tablespoons of phyto and put it in a clear solo cup with 3/4 tank water and 1/4 RO water. (1st picture) after only two hours in the sun and the water was clear (2nd picture). Any ideas on what's going on?
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[jamescook]

I'd guess the phyto dropped out. It's possible you have enough pods to consume the phyto in 2 hrs. A dense culture can do that. I've found that clear tanks don't do well outside in summer. Try a bucket half full and check back in a couple of days. You'll be surprised with what you find.

 

[johniii]

Do you top off the bucket daily to compensate for evaporation or just let it ride

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[jamescook]

If it ever quits raining long enough. The indoor cultures do need to be maintained, but outdoors don't so much. Rotifers will slow down when salinity gets above 1.020 but other pods will thrive. Brine shrimp can tolerate extremes, etc.

 

[johniii]

jamescook;876087 wrote: If it ever quits raining long enough. The indoor cultures do need to be maintained, but outdoors don't so much. Rotifers will slow down when salinity gets above 1.020 but other pods will thrive. Brine shrimp can tolerate extremes, etc.

Thanks. I am going to set some out next water change. We will see what grows

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[wannabeeareefkeeper]

Great insight Captain Cook [James]. I'm following along on this valuable information provided by you. Keep up the great work.


Wannabee