Best way to strain rotifers?????

[ajdiver]

I know everyone has their own way of doing things when I comes to breeding clownfish. So, on that note, what's the best and cleanest way to strain rotifers? what's the best way?

[GreshamH]

Through a sieve. Industry standard, why mess with what is the standard?

[billsreef]

53 micron is the typical mesh size for the commonly sold standard rotifer sieve. For hobbyist use, I'd just buy one ready made. Heck, even in the lab I'd buy one unless I already had the right mesh laying around. They don't take the same abuse has a strainer for BBS, so they'll hold up plenty long.

[ajdiver]

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/06/f807b3f54bf4ec8ed3e7eca26115dbf6.jpg
I just ordered these. Anyone try these before?

[ajdiver]

I ordered them from aquaculture nursery farms.

[billsreef]

Haven't used those specific ones, though they look much like the typical, so you should be fine with them ;)

[GreshamH]

53 micron is the typical mesh size for the commonly sold standard rotifer sieve. For hobbyist use, I'd just buy one ready made. Heck, even in the lab I'd buy one unless I already had the right mesh laying around. They don't take the same abuse has a strainer for BBS, so they'll hold up plenty long.

We use 40µm in house. Pretty sure the ones we will be selling will also be 40µm as well, but that is not written in stone as of yet.

They just destroyed that last batch I made... from 7 years ago! Our techs are pretty careful with them though.

[GreshamH]

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/06/f807b3f54bf4ec8ed3e7eca26115dbf6.jpg
I just ordered these. Anyone try these before?

I prefer taller units as so there is a larger volume of water, and a wee bit of "head" pressure. Saying that, I haven't used that particular unit.

What material are they using for the mesh? Some take abuse far better then others, and some even stretch over time allowing particles larger then they are rated for to pass through.

[ajdiver]

Mesh Sizes : 53, 120, 250

Sieve Outside diameter: 5 inches

Sieve Inside diameter: 4 inches

We have decided to offer these sieves to the public for the first time. We have received numerous requests for them. It seems that sieves of this size are hard to find for the hobbiest. When you do find similar sieves, they are usually of poorer quality or they are too expensive.

These sieves are made with high grade PVC frame and laboratory grade nylon mesh fabric. They will hold up under rigorous use in saltwater. We have been using them for years in our Aquaculture Nursery Farms laboratory.

Stackable:

For multi-culture harvesting, or for separating different sized individuals from the same culture batch at one time, these also come in handy if you need to get a nice, clean end product to minimize the pollutants entering your aquarium. When you stack these sieves,(smallest micron on the bottom and so on) the 53- 120 -250 stack filters out all the larger impurities that you might have in your culture water. So let's say you are harvesting rotifers. All the guck that is floating around in the culture will get caught by the first two sieves in line ( 250 mic and 120 mic). So you end up with cleaner rotifers to feed your animals.

Choose from these sizes or order one of each if you prefer.

Construction:

These are made 5 inches wide with a 4 inch inner diameter. Made with high grade outdoor PVC material. Laboratory grade nylon mesh screen. These will hold out under extreme use in the laboratory and prolonged exposure to the outdoors in the UV and saltwater environment. View pictures for details.

Basic instruction for some of their uses are:

Sifting small cultures in the micron size to achieve a certain desired density.

If you are stacking these make sure that you put the smaller micron mesh on the bottom and then work your way up to the larger microns. For example, if you have these three sizes put the 53 down first then the 120 then the 250 on top. This way when you run your culture through the different microns, the larger debris gets filtered out first by the larger micron and so on. You end up with a much cleaner harvest.

Start by pouring your culture water (i.e. rotifers) through the sieve. Then rinse the organisms with water with the same parameters as your culture water into a smaller container, so you end up with a denser culture. Feed them directly to your corals and fish fry. You can also saturate your cultures with vitamins and minerals. Just let this super concentrated culture that you sieved, soaked in whichever vitamins and minerals you used for a few hours, before using to feed. There is no food manufactured better than live food for your aquarium. Tools like this sieve allow you to facilitate and save time and money on expensive live foods by culturing your own. These sieves can be used for saltwater or freshwater.

[ajdiver]

That's their description^^^^

[GreshamH]

oh, so they are short... do you have them yet? How tall are they?

[ajdiver]

I should have them tomorrow or Thursday. My fry have been hatching on days 8 and 9 and Thursday is day 8. So hopefully I'll have them by then or I'll have to do the coffee filter or just use the same water that my rotifers are in and do a water change on the fry tank when I get the sieves.

[billsreef]

We use 40µm in house. Pretty sure the ones we will be selling will also be 40µm as well, but that is not written in stone as of yet.

The one I made when I was in the lab back in NY was 40µm, primarily because I had some laying around and didn't see a point in buying something else. Worked well, but certainly speaks to your point below about head pressure in a taller sieve ;) The 53µm I had (still have) from Florida Aqua Farms doesn't clog as quickly, but that one also only saw small volume home use as opposed to high volume lab use.

I prefer taller units as so there is a larger volume of water, and a wee bit of "head" pressure.

[ajdiver]

I decided to try the breeding side of clownfish. I've gotten bored with my red sea max 250 so figured I'd try this. Not looking to go commercially so hopefully this sieve will do. It says that once they filter to the small sieve you can rinse them off to get rid of the bad water that's on them. Is this true? Will they stay alive if I rinse them with fresh water?

[billsreef]

I rinse with clean SW.

[GreshamH]

Some people using a rinsing device as they feel exposing rotifers to air is detrimental to them. For you, just rinse in SW and you'll be 100% fine :D

[ajdiver]

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/09/c2d5887d7c84cdcefb2e0744db2ec2fe.jpgjust got my rotifer sieves! Work pretty good I might add.

[Lou Young]

Some people using a rinsing device as they feel exposing rotifers to air is detrimental to them. For you, just rinse in SW and you'll be 100% fine :D

What is a rinsing device? Any links to one?

[ajdiver]

I just use saltwater from my main tank to rinse them off.

[D-Nak]

The sieve I use is a lot taller than the one pictured. Mine is about 6-7" tall. I grab water from my rot bucket, then strain it through a brine shrimp strainer then through the rot sieve.

I don't rinse per se. I go from the sieve to a glass (literally a glass with high walls) with tank water. I let it settle, then use a flashlight to get the rots to one side of the glass. Then I use a small turkey baster to remove them being careful not to get any detritus that settled at the bottle of the glass (if any has). If you have a big operation it's not feasible, but for my little operation it works.