Rotifers??

[elvip]

Hi all,
Just wondering if anyone knows whether rotifers are a suitable alternative to baby brine shimp for feeding to discus fry??
I came across some on the weekend, and until then had never heard of it!!
Cheers
Elvip

[samir]

freshwater rotifers. thats where you get them from. you will also need to buy chlorella from them. the fry wont eat the frozen Hikari ones as they are too big. they are not an alternative for artemia, they are used for artificially rearing fry. eventually you will have to move to artemia.
http://www.southernbiological.com/ListProducts/Specimens/LivingSpecimens.htm

[elvip]

Thanks for the update Samir.
It was the frozen ones I saw, and was told that they are smaller that BBS - but that was obviously incorrect info!!

So from what you say - BBS is the only way to go, and when the fry are older (how old?) then rotifers can be introduced as well as other foods??!

Thanks again
Cheers
Elvip

[samir]

rotifers are in fact smaller than artemia and can be used for artificially rearing fry without the mess of egg yolk. live freshwater rotifers can be fed to fry for the first 4-6 days after they are free swimming till they are large enough to eat artemia. what i meant was the frozen rotifers are too large for fry that have just started swimming. here's an article that should clear things up.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/rotifers.php

[mistakes r crucial]

Hi Elvira,

If you want an alternative to BBS try Cyclops. They come frozen so they're practical and convenient. The ones I've been feeding look a bit larger than BBS but I've been trying them out on 6 day free swimming fry and they seem to work well. Not sure if you can get live ones here in Australia but I doubt I would use live Cyclops anyway. From the reading I've done it seems they get right off on attacking fry in gangs and can kill them if there's enough of them, they hang off their sides until they're fatigued and then go in for the kill. Fresh water eco system, great place to live huh!
MAC

[elvip]

Thanks for the update MAC,
It's good to know there is another suitable alternative out there - esp if it can save some of tediousness in having to hatch out the BBS
The live version certainly sounds too scary and not worth the risk. I agree, the frozen version is a better alternative.
I'll see if I can 'hunt' some down.
Cheers
Elvip :D