Rotifer Resources and Guides

Rotifer Rearing Guide

Amplifeed Replete Instructions for Use

Rotifer Resting Eggs- Instructions for Use

Dr. Terry Snell's guide to small-scale rotifer mass culture

Dr. Terry Snell's guide to large-scale rotifer mass culture.

Rotifer Q&A

What rotifer densities do you recommend for industrial scale applications?

Maximum rotifer density in a batch culture is related to the size of the rotifer species cultured. It is certainly possible to reach 7000/ml in batch cultures using the small B. rotundiformis. Larger rotifer species (B. plicatilis) will likely only max out at about 2000/ml. Rotfier density is not the most important criterion. Rotifer growth rate and nutritional quality are paramount and our production system is designed to maximize these characteristics.

Are your protocols suitable for growing sea breams?

This rotifer production and enrichment system has worked well with several species of marine ornamental fish that are distantly related phylogenetically. In fact, we have yet to find a fish species that did not grow and reproduce better on Amplifeed Replete enriched rotifers. Consequently, we have every expectation that sea bream will respond similarly.Is the Amplified Replete rotifer diet suitable for large commercial scale rotifer production at high densities like 4,000 to 7,000 rot/ml in 4 day batch culture?

When do I use Amplifeed Replete in my rotifer hatchery?

Amplifeed Replete as a supplemental/enrichment food. Rotifer batch cultures are started at low density on the green alga Tetraslemis and grown to high density, enriching rotifers in their final two days with Amplifeed Replete. This growth cycle is conducted in 1000L bags and takes about 16 days; Tetraselmis is grown alone for about 10 days, inoculated with rotifers and then the bag is completely harvested after about 6 more days. The Large-scale rotifer mass culture video illustrates the process. It is possible to shorten the rotifer production cycle by increasing the inoculum size of the algae or rotifers, depending on the needs of their hatchery.

How should we treat incoming sea water?

With any seawater source, we recommend sterilizing before use. This can be through UV, ozone, pasteurization, chlorination, or through filter-sterilization which is what we use in our rotifer production facility.

Our sterilization process consists of a canister system with inserts to filter the water sequentially to a 0.2um filter that excludes bacteria/protists. We have chosen this method because it is reliable (ozone and UV can have some by-pass of living contaminants), inexpensive (Pasteurization has both high capitol and operation expense, while the replacement filter cartridges are relatively inexpensive), and safe (chlorination can leave toxic by-products, the neutralizing solution (sodium thiosulfate) is toxic to some invertebrates, and through error, it can have catastrophic results.