Baby Brine Shrimp Hatchery

[Back in the fold]

If you have fry or even small fish like Neon Tetra's and Guppies then you will want to hatch out baby brine shrimp (BBS). I keep my pre-mixed salt water in a gallon jug sitting on a seedling mat to keep it warm. I have two hatchers going at once because it takes two days for the shrimp to hatch below 78 degrees . I use one and have another brewing for the next day. I got that thing sitting on the base from Brine Shrimp Direct. It's a San Francisco Bay brand product. It does work good for hatching but it makes me nervous with the air attachment coming in from the bottom. I can just see a leaky mess at some unexpected moment . But one thing it is really good for is collecting the BBS. They gravitate down into the neck of the bottle and it is super simple to drain them out into a sieve or brine shrimp net . You could make one really easy by drilling a hole in the pop bottle cap that matches the airline tubing diameter and siliconing it in place. That's what the containers are. 2 liter plastic pop bottles. Cheap as it gets.

 

[betta4ever!]

Bottles for me too! Super cheap and handy. BTW.... How long does it take for your bbs to hatch? Mine surprisingly takes 4 days which, from what I've read, is a lot!

 

[GaryE]

I'm using Chinese cysts - outstanding hatch rates in 36 hours at 22c.
With Utah cysts, rates varied by price/quality, but timing was about the same or a hair longer. Bbs is expensive stuff, but it pays off.

 

[Back in the fold]

Bottles for me too! Super cheap and handy. BTW.... How long does it take for your bbs to hatch? Mine surprisingly takes 4 days which, from what I've read, is a lot!

Mine always hatch in two days at the most. The salt amount is a much debated subject. I use 7 tablespoons per gallon. That's what Brine Shrimp Direct recommends. Just be sure it is plain non-iodized salt. No need to use aquarium salt , it's too expensive for this use. Also, only one half teaspoon eggs per quart. I don't know why that is but there's a reason for everything. They hatch best at 80 degrees Fahrenheit but I think mine are about 72 to 75. A strong light source is usually recommended to stimulate hatching but I only have room light and things work out. Your eggs might be old or contaminated by moisture. Keep them in the freezer between uses.

 

[Uberhoust]

I have been raising BBS for my Angels for a couple of years now and have a good setup for me that produces a new batch of BBS for my fry every 12 hours, a batch typically taking 36 hours to hatch (in hot weather I run the system hotter giving only 24 hours to the hatch. I have only been using crappy cysts but they still work for me.

I use pickling or non iodized salt that I get from the grocery store, 3 to 4 table spoons per 2 litres of water with 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to get the pH up. I run 3, 2 litre pop bottle hatcheries at a time.

I load each hatchery with 500ml of saltwater solution and 1/4 teaspoon of cysts. I do not re-use the saltwater from previous hatchings but instead make more. I have the fittings to run the air through the bottom of the bottles but found that a Polyethylene (gas line hose) end on the air hose gets the air to the bottom of the 2 litre bottles without having to worry about special fitting with less potential for leakage.

I keep a heat lamp with two heat lamps for illumination and heating, in cold weather I used both but warm weather only one.

When the shrimp are ready I turn off the heatlamps and put a led light where I want to pick up the naupli, I then use a turkey baster to pull out the naupli and run them through a filter, on the left. This keeps hatched and unhatched cysts out of the mix. The remainder of the mix is discarded.

I am not raising any shrimp now but above is my setup. The left most one has the rigid tube used to bring the air down to the bottom of the container. You cannot see the heat lamps above. The filter to filter out the naupli is on the bottom right. I am looking at making a cabinet to make the whole system more energy efficient in regards to heating.

 

[Back in the fold]

@Uberhoust I had that same idea of a cabinet to keep it in so that a light would both heat and illuminate it. I think it's a good idea.

 

[GaryE]

I've done room temperature all along. That has ranged from 19 to 23, with 25 in summer. They get window light. I hatch a teaspoon, or slightly less 6 days a week, as my small fish (killies, tetras and pencils) all eat what the fry eat.

 

[ghyti]

@Uberhoust I had that same idea of a cabinet to keep it in so that a light would both heat and illuminate it. I think it's a good idea.

I have a similar three bottle setup. I keep it in an old cracked 10 gallon tank with a light bulb, light and heat at the same time. 1/2 tsp eggs, 1 heaping tablespoon plain salt, vigorous air and they hatch in 24 -36 hrs.