Orders being accepted NOW :-)
"...Rotifers are microscopic animals ranging in size from 100 to 2500 µm
and found in aquatic habitats worldwide. They inhabit freshwater streams,
lakes and ponds, brackish water and, to a lesser extent, salt water but
they are predominantly freshwater inhabitants.
Brachionus plicatilis is a euryhaline species being found in both brackish
and saltwater environments. It is about one third the size of a newly
hatched brine shrimp making it an attractive food source for baby
rainbowfishes, still too small to feed on brine shrimp. They have been
found in saline lakes in Australia with salinity levels almost twice that
of seawater. This species has also been collected at a salinity of less
than 1% of seawater. Brachionus plicatilis will survive for several hours
after transfer to fresh water, and are comparable to brine shrimp. The
freshwater rotifer Brachionus rubens, in contrast to Brachionus plicatilis
will stay alive in freshwater and do not sink to the bottom but stay in the
water column until eaten.
Rotifer starter cultures may be obtained from aquaculture or live food
suppliers. They are an excellent first feed for larval fish because of
their small size, slow swimming speed, and habit of staying suspended in
the water column. They can also be cultured at high densities due to a high
reproductive rate. There are many recognised techniques for culturing
rotifers and are easily enriched with fatty acids to transfer these
substances to fish larvae.
Rotifers can be cultured using microalgae, bakers' yeast, or proprietary
products as a food source. In fish hatcheries, rotifers are usually reared
on baker's yeast, which lacks some specific essential fatty acids (EFAs).
The rotifers are subsequently fed algae or a dietary supplement containing
EFAs before being fed to larval fish. Microalgae usually contain higher
levels of EFAs than yeast..."
plus a lot more ....
Adrian.
Adrian R. Tappin
Brisbane, Australia.
atappin at ecn.net.au
"Home of the Rainbowfish"
http://www.ecn.net.au/~atappin/home.htm