Infusoria Cultures

[sailedNJ]

I'm attempting to breed tetras & once I finally do get some fry I'd like to give them the best chance of survival by providing them proper nutrition.

I can provide them with baby brine shrimp & packaged fry food (i.e. Hikari First Bites). But I think I'd like to feed them some infusoria if I can.

From what I've been researching, basically all it takes is a couple of empty jars, some treated tap water (treated with water conditioner that removes chlorine because chlorine kills infusoria), some green leafy veggies (such as lettuce), some algae wafers, & light.

Has anyone ever tried creating an infusoria culture using a similar or all together different recipe? If so can you please share your recipe(s) & experience using them to feed fry?

I think I'd like to use an infusoria culture to feed fry but at the same time I'm kind of leery to do so. Reason being that if done incorrectly I'm concerned that I can end up fouling the water & doing more harm than good.

Looking forward to your responses

 

[msjinkzd]

I create infusoria frequently. Instead of algae wafers, I add a crushed green lettuce leaf.

Here is an excerpt I will paraphrase from Culturing live foods by Hellweg:

Materials needed:
culture containers (gallon jars work great)
aquarium water
vegetable matter (leaves, dried grass, potato cubes, boiled rice, dried aquatic plant leaves)

Clean and dry the culture containers. FIll with aquarium water from healthy established aquarium. Add the dried vegetable matter. A quarter ounce of dried vegetable matter is plenty. Set teh container in a quiet place where the temp ranges from 70-78. No aeration is necessary.
By day seven, the culture should have a grayish cloud and a slight smell. By holding it up to the light, you should observe small dust-sized specks in it.
Remove a large portion o f the water from the container without removing the decaying vegetable matter. Many people use a baster to remove the water from the dust cloud. The culture should be restarted each time it is needed.

I start a new culture each day for a week, that way I can have a new one for each feeding and keep them going. I find the bruised lettuce leaf yields the fastest infusoria culture, though potatoes work really well too.

In a pinch, you can also transfer plants (especially java moss) from an established tank as it will contain infusoria as well.

Another good alternative to infusoria for freeding fry is to take a dirty sponge filter and use the squeezings. I find this especially good for dwarf catfish fry.

 

[MoonstruckMuse]

I don't intentionally culture them, but like MzJinkzd said, they hide out anywhere there's a large amount of surface area and probably some detritus. Any fine feathery plants will have a ton, with moss being especially nice (and the roots of floating plants seem to catch a lot too), and I always use old sponge filters from other tanks in my fry tanks so that there's some there too.
I think snail poop might be rich with it too, and snails will hoover up any leftover food, if there is any, which is nice for a fry tank.

 

[msjinkzd]

Snail slime is actually rich with it. I k eep apple snails in most of my fry tanks for that purpose.

 

[sailedNJ]

Good stuff msjinkzd.

I got similar info regarding recipes while Googling, but the info you provided is a bit more comprehensive about the entire process from start to finish. I especially like the idea of starting a new culture everyday for a week to ensure that my supply on hand doesn't run short (or all together dry).

Also, thanks for the tip about java moss, if there is one thing I have plenty of is java moss. And I'll keep the tip about using dirty sponge filters as an alternative (if need be) in mind. I didn't see that mentioned anywhere else so I learned something new, thanks again.

Now here is one more question. When I feed my fry the infusoria, do I just dump the entire jar into the tank? Can I do that without fouling the water? Or should I feed them the infusoria in portions?

One set of instructions I came across said to just "dump the whole jar of infusoria into the tank & start a new culture" but I'm rather dubious of this because even though I'll be doing water changes daily on the fry tank, it seems to me that in a tank full of tiny delicate fry, things can turn bad rather quickly by dumping a gallon of smelly rotting lettuce water into it all in one shot. (BTW it's a 10g tank, so you'll have an idea of proportions)

I guess I'm just really looking for some reassurance that I won't be making a colossal mess of things like I usually do lol

Thanks for all of your advice, I really appreciate it.

 

[sailedNJ]

Oh wow, I'm really glad I started this thread, learning more and more with each log on.

OK so I've been under the impression that I really don't want too much in the fry tank besides the bare essentials (i.e. sponge filters, heater, thermometer, & a few fake plants for cover etc). But both of you are saying snails would be beneficial because they'll provide my fry with infusoria? That's great because I have plenty of those too, but they're all MTS & bladder snails.

Would MTS or bladder snails work? Or would they have to be Apple snails or Brigs (or some other snail besides MTS or bladder snails) specifically?

 

[MoonstruckMuse]

Dirty water is "dirty" for the contaminants that fish are sensitive to, like ammonia, nitrites, etc. By introducing a whole jar of rotting stuff and infusoria, you would indeed foul up that tank. However, by pipetting (use a turkey baster, or eyedropper depending on size) some of the specks into it, you avoid moving rotting plant into your fry tank, just the infusoria. You could probably dump the whole thing in if your filtration is great, but it's a fry tank so filtration's probably fairly weak. That rush of a ton of stuff coming in would also change water parameters and probably not be great for baby fish.
I know some people do something like drip acclimation... but with the infusoria being dripped into the fry tank. You could even run the infusoria water through a cheesecloth first to remove any bruised lettuce or something. The drip is a great way to give continual access to food without creating too much waste - I've never tried it though.

I'm pretty sure all snail slime is rich with it, because of how snail guts work... but you could probably easily find out by separating some snails out into a jar and looking really closely at their poop. If there's specks that swim around near it after it's been excreted, there you go! Haha.

 

[msjinkzd]

common snails work too, adn they will eat uneaten food.

As for how much infusoria to use, I like to use a turkey baster and add what I need. The culture will be good for a day or so and you will probably be feeding a couple times at least each day. You can tell if the culture is still good if you hold it up to light (or a flashlight) and see little wiggly critters that look like dust motes.


Edit: we are posting at the same time!

Snails (specifically bridgesii/diffusa) are wonderful in a tank, be it for eggs or fry as they eat fungused eggs and uneaten foods and their slime is chock full of goodies. I don't think they are particularly efficient digesters, so its probably to say their poo contains lots of goodies as well.

 

[sailedNJ]

Yeah that was my concern, that introducing all that "contaminated" water all in one shot could cause the water chemistry to drastically change (e.g. ammonia spike, etc).

I know some people do something like drip acclimation... but with the infusoria being dripped into the fry tank. You could even run the infusoria water through a cheesecloth first to remove any bruised lettuce or something. The drip is a great way to give continual access to food without creating too much waste - I've never tried it though.

As for the "feeding drip", I like the idea of that. It's simple enough & practical & it will alleviate my concerns about drastic changes in water chemistry. I think I'll give it a try.

Thanks very much for suggesting it.

 

[sailedNJ]

common snails work too, adn they will eat uneaten food.

Great! I finally have a use for all them hitchhikers lol. I Actually never minded my bladder snails because I know they get into crevices that fish simply cannot & they further break down waste & detritus so that biological filters can process them more efficiently. And I'm really not one to over feed so I don't tend to get those snail pop explosions that plague some hobbyists.

Snails (specifically bridgesii/diffusa) are wonderful in a tank, be it for eggs or fry as they eat fungused eggs and uneaten foods and their slime is chock full of goodies. I don't think they are particularly efficient digesters, so its probably to say their poo contains lots of goodies as well.

This is really good to know. I'm going to try out some bladder snails in my fry tank initially & see how that works out. But in the future I might invest in a couple of these fellas if not only for their practicality but for their aesthetic qualities as well.

Again, thanks so very much for the responses, coming away with a lot of new knowledge here (new to me anyways).