The system is quite simple. It utilizes five gallon water bottles that water is sold in by various companies. The bottoms are removed, and the bottles are then inverted, with the neck through a hole in a board, side by side with other bottles. The rack I make has six of these side by side. The board is mounted like a shelf between two upright boards or sheets of plywood with the necks suspended about 10" over the surface of the stand or whatever the rack is placed on. Looking at the rack from the front it looks like a one-shelf bookcase with the water bottles upside down.
I cut the holes about 5" diameter so that the shoulder of the bottle sits down into the hole with the necks all of the way through. I take PVC food quality taps and silicone them into L shaped fittings and then silicone the fitting into the neck of the bottle so that the taps have a right angle after they leave the neck of the bottle. PVC taps can be purchased at most large hardware/lumber dealers or stores that specialize in food service equipment. I use aquarium silicone to seal them in the water bottles as they are just slightly smaller than a good fit in the necks, the silicone gives a good seal. I place the bottles with all of the taps facing to the front. The bottles tilt slightly to the rear and their weight holds them in place.
If the horizontal piece with the bottles is made out of plywood then a couple of supports are needed about every two bottles as braces under the wood to keep it from sagging, filled with water each bottle weighs more then 40 pounds and this will cause plywood to sag without support. For the two uprights I use either plywood or 1" X 8". The cross piece rests on a 2" X 4" screwed horizontally to the upright and the cross piece is screwed into the 2 X 4. I used to put 'feet' on the bottom of the uprights but found it wasn't all that necessary .
Above the tops of the bottom of the inverted bottles I suspend a two lamp shop light with 40 Watt lamps which are left on 24 hrs a day. Also, air lines are above the bottles with one airhose with an airstone in each bottle. These are kept fairly strong , just enough to turn the water over without 'boiling' it. I find this configuration to be workable to culture Artemia, rotifers and green water (planktonic algae) all in the same rack. When you wish to harvest anyone of the three I turn off or remove the airline from a bottle for about 5-10 minutes. This allows the culture organisms to settle into the bottom of the neck and can be removed through the tap and then filtered, washed and fed. If, I am harvesting the green water to feed the Artemia or rotifers I remove the airline just about five minutes, and then pour the green water directly into the top of the Artemia or rotifer bottles. I let the Artemia or rotifers feed for at least 15-20 minutes, before I drain any of them to feed. Both the Artemia and the rotifers should be then strained through a filter of some type and then added to the water that they will be fed in, I use a large handled measuring 'cup' that holds two quarts with water from the tanks that I am going to feed and put the strained animals in it. I then pour the water directly into the tanks, after shutting off any filtration. Power heads I let operate.
The bottles can be allocated to two bottles for Artemia, two for rotifers and two for euglena or green water. The Artemia will hatch out in 1-2 days depending on the temperatures and I normally have been able to use a bottle for a week or slightly more and as the week draws to a close begin another batch in the other bottle. Your usage will dictate your production needs. Rotifer cultures can be maintained this way in a combined continuous culture and batch method. It takes a week to ten days to get a full culture going but it can be harvested in just a few days after seeding, once the culture is going use it generously, harvesting daily or several times a day. Usually after three weeks or so a culture will begin to give out and about the 3rd week of a culture I start another. The green water can be kept going indefinitely, but, they can crash so it is best to keep two cultures cycling of that also. Be very careful not to get any splash of the rotifers into the green water as they will populate it and clean it out. I usually keep the rotifers at the opposite end of the rack from the green water with the Artemia in the middle. Or, you can build a separate rack for green water. When feeding the green water draw off a quart or so for each of the bottles to be fed, just keep a nice green tint to the culture being fed. This can also be a time to add soluble vitamins to the culture.
The air to the Artemia and the green water needs to be the strongest, if the current lessens in the green bottles the algae will settle out to the sides or into the neck, a good air flow will keep it in circulation. What production level you wish to achieve is by your choice. But this system will produce ample food animals for most hobbyists and even excess to sell or swap.
Cultures are available from different sources. Florida Aqua Farms Dade City Fla sells both freshwater and marine rotifers plus two green water organisms along with a culture book and feed for the alga. There are also other sources on the 'net. Feeding live Artemia and rotifers will greatly enhance both your fish as well as your corals. Try it, you'll like it!
tank raised
Jake Levi
Reef Farm