DO ROTIFERS EAT CYANO?

[Reef By Steele]

Following. Would it be worth a try to put in Nannochloropsis or tetraselmis to feed the rotifers while the Nanno outcompetes the Cyano for nutrients? This might also get rid of the cyano if it isn't directly consumed by the rotifers.
Just a suggestion.

I would say that is a positive thought for a future experiment. This time I want to just base it on the rotifers. If I add phyto, would it maybe outcompete the cyano?? Would the rotifers eat the phyto first and ignore the cyano or other nuisance algae?? Earlier another recommended doing this on a tank without the initial clean to see if they can over come the cyano or only keep up with it. So I am thinking of starting a different experiment after RAP.

 

[Nickapos]

Following. Would it be worth a try to put in Nannochloropsis or tetraselmis to feed the rotifers while the Nanno outcompetes the Cyano for nutrients? This might also get rid of the cyano if it isn't directly consumed by the rotifers.
Just a suggestion.

I was/still am dosing my tank with both nanno and tetra, and the cyano still went away and hasn’t come back. Was it the rotifers/copepods, the coral snow/bacteria solution, the phyto, or a combination of everything???? I don’t know but it worked…

 

[Reef By Steele]

I was/still am dosing my tank with both nanno and tetra, and the cyano still went away and hasn’t come back. Was it the rotifers/copepods, the coral snow/bacteria solution, the phyto, or a combination of everything???? I don’t know but it worked…

That is the issue with attacking from many angles, you never know which one more if all did the work. However a positive outcome is a positive outcome. My guess is that it is a combination of all. I don’t know if Rotifers alone are up to the task of eliminating it on their own. I do plan on some further experiments after we return from RAP and catch up with everything.

 

[Nickapos]

That is the issue with attacking from many angles, you never know which one more if all did the work. However a positive outcome is a positive outcome. My guess is that it is a combination of all. I don’t know if Rotifers alone are up to the task of eliminating it on their own. I do plan on some further experiments after we return from RAP and catch up with everything.

@Reef By Steele 100%.

Someone here in Aus used rotifers alone by placing rotifers directly on the cyano with a pipette, 2 bottles worth over 2 days in an 80G reef tank, cyano gone!

I would have gone down this road alone but was already up to my elbows with doing the snow/bacteria mix when she told me about the rotifers…regardless, I achieved the outcome I wanted and more.

I’m really keen to see your experiments when you get back!

Keep us posted

 

[Moe K]

Will add from my experience. I think they do eat cyano.

Following along this thread I purchased a big ol bag of rotifers. I dosed them in several nights ago and completely forgot about them. I had big globs of cyano bacteria growing on some rock in the back of my display and noticed it was all completely gone. Then I remembered I dosed the rotifers. My glass has also stayed looking cleaner for twice as long as usual. My nutrients are unchanged.

When I dosed them I shut off all pumps for about an hour to let them get in there. I guess the question now is, how long would they sustain in the reef tank?

 

[Nickapos]

Will add from my experience. I think they do eat cyano.

Following along this thread I purchased a big ol bag of rotifers. I dosed them in several nights ago and completely forgot about them. I had big globs of cyano bacteria growing on some rock in the back of my display and noticed it was all completely gone. Then I remembered I dosed the rotifers. My glass has also stayed looking cleaner for twice as long as usual. My nutrients are unchanged.

When I dosed them I shut off all pumps for about an hour to let them get in there. I guess the question now is, how long would they sustain in the reef tank?

Moe I did it exactly as you did. Let them wander and do their thing for about an hour with pumps off. I saw massive changes almost immediately, like within a day.

My understanding is that Rotifers being pelagic I don’t think would be able to stay in the water column and would get filtered out. Unless they can also become benthic but I haven’t heard they do that.

They can go dormant but usually a happy culture of rotifers is when they are in the water column.

Their body is suited for moving around in the water column not adhering to substrate like the pods that are cultured. They likely end up getting filtered out and wouldn’t be able to withstand the flow of an aquarium.

At least that’s my understanding…someone correct me if I’m wrong

@Reef By Steele have you concluded your experiment?

 

[Reef By Steele]

Moe I did it exactly as you did. Let them wander and do their thing for about an hour with pumps off. I saw massive changes almost immediately, like within a day.

My understanding is that Rotifers being pelagic I don’t think would be able to stay in the water column and would get filtered out. Unless they can also become benthic but I haven’t heard they do that.

They can go dormant but usually a happy culture of rotifers is when they are in the water column.

Their body is suited for moving around in the water column not adhering to substrate like the pods that are cultured. They likely end up getting filtered out and wouldn’t be able to withstand the flow of an aquarium.

At least that’s my understanding…someone correct me if I’m wrong

I would not say that you are wrong, but they also reproduce rapidly, so providing them with live phyto should help sustain their populations to some extent. Also I have seen rotifers anchored to algae with a “tail”. Not sure they are juveniles or a different species so some types at least hook onto something and you can see their “wheels” spinning like crazy.

 

[Nickapos]

I would not say that you are wrong, but they also reproduce rapidly, so providing them with live phyto should help sustain their populations to some extent. Also I have seen rotifers anchored to algae with a “tail”. Not sure they are juveniles or a different species so some types at least hook onto something and you can see their “wheels” spinning like crazy.

Yes I’ve seen this too!

So we’re onto something here. I dose 200ml phyto daily into my display and 100ml daily into my coral qt in the hope of keeping rotifers and pods alive, thriving and hopefully reproducing. Every couple of weeks I dose rotifers and every other week copepods, just to be sure lol

 

[Moe K]

I am now at the point where I am trying to grow cyano again lol. Just hooked up the nopox. If I can get it to grow again I will do another batch of rotifers in the tank. So far the tank seems to be 100% void of cyano. I do have a theory that a little bit is a good thing.