Brine shrimp

[CaptainBarnicles]

Hello I fancy having a go at hatching some with the kids, I think it will be a fun and educational activity. I'd like recommendations on the best place/brand/person to aquire eggs from online please? Preferably UK based and reliable! Mr Barnicles is dubious and exasperated with my shenanigans I'm kak-handed, clumsy and not built with a strong constitution...one's nose is rather sensitive. So this should be fun!!

 

[Ellie Potts]

I ordered a brine shrimp hatchery off of amazon awhile ago that came with eggs and it worked well despite my own lack of knowledge. It probably comes with more than you're looking to hatch (and it is a hatchery not just eggs) but if you want a few rounds of them I think it's worth it. I loved doing this as a kid with my dad!
Brine shrimp hatchery
If you just want to make your own hatchery, I'm not sure where to get the best eggs.
Plus, Amazon may not be the ethical, UK-based and consistent brand you're looking for.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Thank you kindly! I bought one very similar, and I found a decent supplier too today...all from that ethical, UK-based and consistent brand- Amazon

I'm a complete beginner with this, never ever done it before so I'm sure this will be interesting considering my past history. I can see it now... already dreading it! I'm certain I'm going to knock the damn thing over, spilling it's contents across the counter where it will run down onto the floor and into every nook and cranny on its way and I'll have the stinkiest house in the street and populate the whole country with flies can't wait!

 

[Uberhoust]

I have used a couple of commercial shrimp hatcheries but found the best to be a simple 1 or 2 litre bottle with the bottom removed and an airline going to the bottom (top) of the bottle. If the bottle is supported, upside down, in a warm location with the air going right to the bottom (i don't use an airstone because it makes too small of bubbles), and you have the right saltwater mixture you will have as good or better results compared to the commercial ones typically seen on amazon. If you are interested I will take some pictures of what I mean. I cannot help you with sourcing the eggs. It wouldn't be too expensive to build a setup that would allow multiple hatcherys to run at the same time. I typically run three at a time to feed angel fry.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

I have used a couple of commercial shrimp hatcheries but found the best to be a simple 1 or 2 litre bottle with the bottom removed and an airline going to the bottom (top) of the bottle. If the bottle is supported, upside down, in a warm location with the air going right to the bottom (i don't use an airstone because it makes too small of bubbles), and you have the right saltwater mixture you will have as good or better results compared to the commercial ones typically seen on amazon. If you are interested I will take some pictures of what I mean. I cannot help you with sourcing the eggs. It wouldn't be too expensive to build a setup that would allow multiple hatcherys to run at the same time. I typically run three at a time to feed angel fry.

Thanks for the info! I've been watching copious videos online of how to do the DIY thing and there's actually so many ways of doing it and everyone swears by their method! The eggs I've bought are professional grade and get good reviews, if they don't hatch it will be because I've done it wrong.

I don't have fry but I do have some hungry rainbows! I don't need a constant supply of BBS nor do I need a heck load at once either so I'm happy to just meander through the process to explore it really, something interesting to do with the kids.

What would be even more fun would be to grow them up to maturity! A self sustaining culture would be great fun!

 

[Uberhoust]

I am good at hatching them not so good at growing the brine shrimp out.

 

[Naughts]

I bought one very similar, and I found a decent supplier too today...

... I'm certain I'm going to knock the damn thing over, spilling it's contents across the counter where it will run down onto the floor and into every nook and cranny on its way and I'll have the stinkiest house in the street and populate the whole country with flies can't wait!

The hatcheries in Ellie's link can go in a tank- that way the correct temperature is maintained. They're pretty easy - add water, salt and eggs then aerate well for 24 hours. I use a turkey baster to remove the bbs without the shells.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

I've got everything set up, just waiting on the eggs to arrive. I wasn't sure how much salt to add as there's conflicting methods...my hatchery only holds around 300ml, I was thinking maybe 1tbsp of salt? I have really hard water and pH is between 7.5-8...apparently that makes a difference to how much salt you have to add

 

[Naughts]

My water is similar and I do around that amount.
TBH......
I just tip some in, works for me.

 

[sharkweek178]

I ordered a brine shrimp hatchery off of amazon awhile ago that came with eggs and it worked well despite my own lack of knowledge. It probably comes with more than you're looking to hatch (and it is a hatchery not just eggs) but if you want a few rounds of them I think it's worth it. I loved doing this as a kid with my dad!
Brine shrimp hatchery
If you just want to make your own hatchery, I'm not sure where to get the best eggs.
Plus, Amazon may not be the ethical, UK-based and consistent brand you're looking for.

I just ordered that hatchery. I'm excited to feed some live shrimps to my fish.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

It's possible to overthink these things...trial and error for the win!

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Ha! We did it
This is our little grow out tank...

I didn't put too many eggs in the hatchery, I let it sit inside the tank to get the right temperature. I thought that was a handy little feature actually! The rainbows had a bit of a feast....the big ones hardly noticed the BBS but I'm sure they'll appreciate them when (if) they get a bit bigger. I've had to move the tank into the utility room though because I can taste the salt in the air I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing! It doesn't have a proper hood so evaporation is going to be a problem!

I'm feeding them spirulina powder that I've mixed with some water, I'll keep it in the fridge and just add a bit to cloud the water every day or so

Anyone else had a go at culturing them?

 

[sharkweek178]

I ordered a brine shrimp hatchery off of amazon awhile ago that came with eggs and it worked well despite my own lack of knowledge. It probably comes with more than you're looking to hatch (and it is a hatchery not just eggs) but if you want a few rounds of them I think it's worth it. I loved doing this as a kid with my dad!
Brine shrimp hatchery
If you just want to make your own hatchery, I'm not sure where to get the best eggs.
Plus, Amazon may not be the ethical, UK-based and consistent brand you're looking for.

It's happening!

 

[sharkweek178]

The hatcheries in Ellie's link can go in a tank- that way the correct temperature is maintained. They're pretty easy - add water, salt and eggs then aerate well for 24 hours. I use a turkey baster to remove the bbs without the shells.

It's even easier than that. You don't have to aerate it. There's a good amount of surface area and the bbs aren't going to live in there long enough to use up the oxygen in the water And there's a cup with a mesh bottom in the center with a hole in the cover above it. The bbs are drawn to the light from the hole. They have to go through a baffle to get to it so that separates them from the cysts. All you have to do take the little cup out and you have baby brine shrimp.
You can transfer them to another container if you want to grow them out. Or even if you want to gut load them with some spirulina powder. Or they can go right into your tank. I dunked mine into a little fresh water to get the excess salt off them first.
The design is really ingenious.

 

[sharkweek178]

@Ellie Potts Thank you. You made my fish happy.