Brine Shrimp Hatchery

Baby Ray · Apr 12, 2016

I have been thinking about feeding live brine to my tank but I have a few question-
I have also found this hatchery online-
http://www.amazon.com/Brine-Shrimp-Hatchery-Kit-5-3/dp/B0041U878C

1. I can see how this would work but how would you remove the reg shells from the water? Would they float to the surface?
2. What would be the best thing to enrich the brine shrimp with to make them more healthy?
3. How long can they live in the bottle?
4. Can you reuse the same water each time you hatch BBS?
5. Are there any other hatcheries out there that are better than the one above?
Thanks for any responses

sbash · Apr 12, 2016

I have read the only nutrition from (unfortified) brine shrimp is when they are newly hatched. I am not sure of the validity of these claims (especially if you start reading what is actually in your fish food, lol), however, if you have a small hatchery in a plastic vial (I think I have heard of people doing this with camera film containers), the newly hatched shrimp would swim toward the light, and thus get into your water column that way. Otherwise, they would not live long in the bottle I would not think (no food).

That said, there are all sorts of neat concepts out there for hatching shrimps, as well as zooplankton and phytoplankton for food supplements...

melypr1985 · Apr 12, 2016

This is the one I use.

1. With this design the shrimp swim up into the clear bottle (they are attracted to light) leaving the shells behind in the black box.
2. Feeding them a healthy food ( i usually feed newly hatched baby brine so I dont worry about this step since they still have the nutritious yolk still attached)
3. Not sure as I usually feed them right away over the course of 2 or 3 days as they hatch out
4. After smelling the water they come out of, I wouldn't reuse it. I tend to just use plain old RO/DI water b/c I have a lot sitting around.
5. See above picture.

Baby Ray · Apr 13, 2016

melypr1985 said:
This is the one I use.

1. With this design the shrimp swim up into the clear bottle (they are attracted to light) leaving the shells behind in the black box.
2. Feeding them a healthy food ( i usually feed newly hatched baby brine so I dont worry about this step since they still have the nutritious yolk still attached)
3. Not sure as I usually feed them right away over the course of 2 or 3 days as they hatch out
4. After smelling the water they come out of, I wouldn't reuse it. I tend to just use plain old RO/DI water b/c I have a lot sitting around.
5. See above picture.

A few more question

1. Do you hatch them in fresh water? (probably a stupid question) If so, can you use tap water?
2. How do you remove the BBS from the container without also removing the egg shells?
3. Do you feed them to the tank right after they hatch?
Thanks (there will probably be more

)

Baby Ray · Apr 13, 2016

Sorry. I just realized that you answers a few of those questions already

Baby Ray · Apr 13, 2016

Bump

Baby Ray · Apr 13, 2016

Can you use fresh water? (I feel like the answer is yes but I am just confirming)
Still am a little confused on how to remove the BBS without removing the eggs

Baby Ray · Apr 13, 2016

Baby Ray said:
Can you use fresh water? (I feel like the answer is yes but I am just confirming)
Still am a little confused on how to remove the BBS without removing the eggs

Am I getting brine shrimp confused mysis shrimp?

PatW · Apr 13, 2016

Brine shrimp live salt water. In facts, they prefer water that is saltier than sea water.

Baby Ray · Apr 13, 2016

PatW said:
Brine shrimp live salt water. In facts, they prefer water that is saltier than sea water.

Thanks, I think I was just getting them confused with mysis shrimp. For awhile I kept getting mysis and mysid shrimp confused

Baby Ray · Apr 13, 2016

PatW said:
Brine shrimp live salt water. In facts, they prefer water that is saltier than sea water.

Could i just use old water from my water change to hatch the BBS

saltyfilmfolks · Apr 13, 2016

yes

. temp is key though.

Baby Ray · Apr 13, 2016

saltyfilmfolks said:
yes. temp is key though.

Thanks

Baby Ray · Apr 13, 2016

If I were to use old water from water changes, I would only be able to hatch one round of BBS a week if I hatched them in 1.5 liters of water. I will only be feeding them to one mandarin. What is the smallest amount of water you can hatch BBS in and how much should I use to feed one mandarin? Thanks

Tateopotatoe · Apr 13, 2016

Baby Ray said:
If I were to use old water from water changes, I would only be able to hatch one round of BBS a week if I hatched them in 1.5 liters of water. I will only be feeding them to one mandarin. What is the smallest amount of water you can hatch BBS in and how much should I use to feed one mandarin? Thanks

If you're just feeding a madarin I would dose copepods. If you get a refugium they can eventually sustain themselves. If your really set on brine shrimp, however, here's a helpful video: https://m.youtube.com/?#/watch?v=vc9ZuzCSepQ

Baby Ray · Apr 13, 2016

Tateopotatoe said:
If you're just feeding a madarin I would dose copepods. If you get a refugium they can eventually sustain themselves. If your really set on brine shrimp, however, here's a helpful video: https://m.youtube.com/?#/watch?v=vc9ZuzCSepQ

I am also dosing copepods and have a large refugium in my sump. I am also planning on dosing phytoplankton to keep the population sustained. I want my mandarin to be a fatty

thanks for the website

Baby Ray · Apr 13, 2016

Tateopotatoe said:
If you're just feeding a madarin I would dose copepods. If you get a refugium they can eventually sustain themselves. If your really set on brine shrimp, however, here's a helpful video: https://m.youtube.com/?#/watch?v=vc9ZuzCSepQ

Would it be ok to add the BBS to the tank even if you use tap water, pickling salt and baking soda to hatch the BBS?
Thanks

Tateopotatoe · Apr 13, 2016

Baby Ray said:
Would it be ok to add the BBS to the tank even if you use tap water, pickling salt and baking soda to hatch the BBS?
Thanks

I would just get some tank water and raise them on that. If you really want you can make their own saltwater, but no need to do anything special.

Baby Ray · Apr 13, 2016

Tateopotatoe said:
I would just get some tank water and raise them on that. If you really want you can make their own saltwater, but no need to do anything special.

Like I said earlier, I only do a 5 gallon water change every 2 weeks (I have a 29 gallon tank) so I would not have a ton of water to raise BBS. I would only have enough water to hatch about 1 or 2 batches a week. I also don't make my own water. I get it from my LFS (which isn't local. It is over an hour away) I am kinda in a pickle

.