You will need:
1 clean VE Culture
Culturing Container
Apple Cider Vinegar
100% Pure Apple Juice
Water
Filter Floss
Dental Floss
Long Necked Wine Bottle
Obtain a clean VE culture from a reliable source and place it into a culturing container (bottle or jar) that is at least ½ gallon. Add 2 cups of the Apple Cider Vinegar, 1 cup 100% Pure Apple Juice and fill the remainder of the container with water leaving an air space at the top to allow for air exchange. The VE will need as much air space as possible to allow enough room to take air from the surface. Place a loose fitting cap (or place a small hole in it) on the container. After a couple weeks check the culture (with a magnifing glass) to see how it is progressing. You should be able to see millions of tiny VE wiggling around in the solution.
To harvest these I find it easier to place the VE culture into a long necked wine bottle. Fill it with the culture just to the where the neck of the bottle starts to form. Using some Filter Floss, tie a piece of Dental Floss to it making a plug of Filter Floss. Moisten the plug with clean water (this keeps the plug from absorbing a lot of the culture) and push it into the neck of the wine bottle until it ju st touches the culture. Make sure the Dental Floss is sticking out of the neck of the bottle. You will use this to later remove the plug. Fill the remainder of the neck with clean water. THe VE will move through the plug and into the clean water in the neck of the bottle looking for air. This process will rinse them in the water and remove the vinegar making it safer for the fry when you feed them. Using a small turkey baster, syphon this VE water from the neck of the bottle and squirt it into the fry tank. Replace the VE water you removed with fresh water and the process will begin again. After about 3 days remove the plug and pour the culture back into its original container to allow it to recover. Add a small amount of Apple Juice to feed the culture.
It is wise to have two cultures going at the same time so you can use one while the other is recovering and/or you will have one in reserve in case the other one crashes. |