Hey guys,

I'm going to set up a couple of brine shrimp hatcheries using plastic containers, kind of like this.

I can put heaters in the containers, but I will have to heat each container individually, and also heaters are bulky and take up space. I am not putting the containers in a small heated tank because I don't want the outside to be wet; I'd like to be able to pick them up if need be without always having to dry them. So I was thinking of using a heat mat. Would this be a good idea or would it harm the plastic of the containers? Also will it need temperature probes in the containers to maintain an accurate temperature?

Or will it be too much hassle and should I just stick with normal thermostat heaters?

Thanks,

Joe

an insulated cupboard heated by a 100W incandescent bulb should do the trick. add/ remove vents or change the light bulb wattage to adjust the temp

We don't have an insulated cupboard And anything to do with the fish has to be in my bedroom because my parents don't want fish stuff around the house.

how warm is your room? might be warm enough by itself to grow the shrimps at a not too fast rate :dunno:

My room isn't insulated and so it becomes freezing cold at times.

Poly box heated by a 100W incandescent bulb should do the trick. add/ remove vent holes or change the light bulb wattage to adjust the temp

Fixed

Fixed

Brilliant!

I would think a 25 or 40 watt bulb should do the trick. I would use a bucket or similar with water and a heater/thermostat (in a poly box if you want to save power). Don't forget they need the right temperature, aeration and light to get a good hatch.

Cool thanks Alan

Just wondered, how is light involved in getting a good hatch?

Not sure how but all the experts (including the guy behind the NZ ones) seem to think so.

Water, electricity and a (hot) light bulb in a easy melting poly box - great !

You can just use your hot water cupboar or float a 1.5L bottle in your tank, you may find it warm enough if you stuck it on top of your tank too.

I have various sized poly boxes here Joe.

Doesn't one of your tanks have a light attached to a high fixture? Can't you put the container on the tank lid so it is under the tank light?

better still, keep it at Caryl's place so you can stop in to eat baked treats and harvest shrimp! :thup:

A fair way to push your bike I would think.

Wash your mouth out Sophia! Besides, Joe is an excellent baker himself and often provides goodies for club meetings

You can just use your hot water cupboar or float a 1.5L bottle in your tank, you may find it warm enough if you stuck it on top of your tank too.

Thanks dor your input Ryan As I stated in an earlier post, my parents won't allow me to have fish equipment and live food around the house, only in my room. Except there is one cupboard in the laundry where I'm allowed to have white worms

I am not sure if putting it in a tank is the best way to do things - I can see myself knocking it over, and the water getting containated with salt and excess brine shrimp which will lead to water polution! :facepalm: :lol:

I have various sized poly boxes here Joe.

Doesn't one of your tanks have a light attached to a high fixture? Can't you put the container on the tank lid so it is under the tank light?

The tank doesn't have a lid I was going to get one cut at Petworld but it was too expensive on top of all the other stuff I have to get in Christchurch.

A fair way to push your bike I would think.

I don't have a bike

So after racking my brain cells for a day or so, here's what I've come up with :thup:

I'm getting a couple of small tanks from Jennifer in exchange for all the plants that I'm going to give her (some aren't in the best condition :oops: Under her care they'll come right though ) I can heat a tank with water and put the hatcheries in there. That was its modular and I can always add more if I need them, and I only need one heater. But here's the main reason why I have decided to do this when I stated that I didn't want to do it at the start of the thread - I can just use soda bottles instead of buying containers. Most hatcheries I've seen have the bottles positioned upside down, which is why I didn't originally want to use bottles, because it looked confusing to make thingies to position them upside down. And I didn't want to bother with cutting the bases off either. But after a think, I decided that I can just having them standing up normally and cut two holes in the lids - one for the airline, and one for the air to exit (seriously, it's a no brainer! I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier, and why others haven't either). If I have them positioned right way up then it will be no hassle to pull them out if I need to, because they're not so bulky like those containers and I can just pop the bottles on a towel or something. The reason I didn't want to do this with those plastic containers I was looking at is because I'd need to cut holes in the bottom on the sides for the airlines and also because the containers are more bulky, and I thought that it was just going to be a bit of hassle to put a whole lot of containers in a water bath like with the bottles.

Top Hat gromits??

No air stone required.

Yes I was going to do something like that

You don't want airstones they just block up. Using the bottles upside down--when you turn the air off the nuplii go to the bottom and the shells to the top so you just run the nuplii off through the air hose.

Yes I know that I am definitely not going to use airstones!

The airline will go to the bottom of the bottle so I will be able to siphone out the nuplii without getting the shells anyway

This is how I do it.

You could have drilled a couple of holes in the lid for the airline and one to vent, then you can screw the lid down properly...

That's what I do - less chance of spillage too.

spillage = automatic fish feeder

WIN WIN :slfg: