Hey guys, I'm new to the brine shrimp game, so new in fact I haven't bought anything.

My first question is, what do I need to buy to hatch brine shrimp? And I mean everything, eggs, hatcher, etc.

My second question is, what brand of egg mix is best?

Thirdly, are there any issues with feeding Betta fry brine shrimp?

Thanks!

just buy eggs

you probably have everything at hand to hatch them

laser it on trademe sells eggs with an excellent hatch rate

you probably have everything at hand to hatch them

Oh no doubt, we don't throw anything out :nilly:

Care to elaborate on what it is I need?

Use decapsulated brine shrimp.

No work, no waste, a third cheaper and more nutritious - but less fun to watch ...

JaSa

A 2 litre soft drink bottle

Airline tubing and air pump and a control valve

salt or sea water

brineshrimp eggs

Fighter frys will love the bbs. I fed all my fighter frys and baby fighter with bbs.

Ron

Thanks Ron! Great to hear some first hand advice from the Betta guru

i was about to tell you to talk to ronnie. he's the willie wonka of brine shrimp.

http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/grumpy ... shrimp.htm

Theres a good way to raise BBS here Sam.

Here's the issue I'm having with my current set up.

Anyone know how to solve this?

Take off the airstone. Just use the tube.

To be honest, I find it a pain to use those upside down bottles. I haven't found a foolproof method to make sure it stays upside down without my cats knocking it over.

I just use a glass bottle, dump in water out of my marine tank and some eggs, pop a bubbler with an airstone on it and put it on the windowsill. 36 hours later, BBS!

Descaps are ok, but it's great to see the fish demonstrating their natural hunting mechanisms and chasing them down.

get a pvc downpipe holder the right size and screw it onto the wall, bottle sits fine, use two if you have cats or small children

get a pvc downpipe holder the right size and screw it onto the wall, bottle sits fine, use two if you have cats or small children

I rent, can't be screwing pipe to my kitchen wall sadly.

ahhhh, I know the pain, what about those removable hooks and some string????

I sit my upside down bottle inside the bottom of another identical bottle like this:

It creates a snug fit and solid base to hold it upright

Also, removing the airstone has put more into circulation thanks

Thanks, but I'm happy with my glass jar. Easier to clean too, I just pop it in the dishwasher.

I rent as well so I just make 4 small holes around the bottom of the bottle (top when upside down) string nylon through and use the clip thing from my swivels in the tackle box to clip the loops together and hang it in the hot water cupboard, easy as pie.

On that note, was rather surprised when I dumped some bbs I'd had lying around in storage for 2 1/2 years and they actually hatched! Rate is probably less than when I bought them about 4 years ago but still of use yay!

I rent as well so I just make 4 small holes around the bottom of the bottle (top when upside down) string nylon through and use the clip thing from my swivels in the tackle box to clip the loops together and hang it in the hot water cupboard, easy as pie.

On that note, was rather surprised when I dumped some bbs I'd had lying around in storage for 2 1/2 years and they actually hatched! Rate is probably less than when I bought them about 4 years ago but still of use yay!

I'm using eggs that are probably 3-4 years old too, and they're doing pretty well. I was impressed!

Just wondering, once hatched, how do you separate out the bbs from the un-hatched eggs and casings?

Casings float, unhatched eggs sink, brine shrimp suspend themselves in the water.

Yea I remembered that, I more meant that I scoop the casings off the top of the water but then I still have unhatched eggs in the bottom and all along the slopped sides of the bottle and was wondering what method people use to get the bbs out whilst getting as few unhatched eggs as possible. I currently just let it all settle for a couple hours then unhook the airhose and drain the water through a coffee filter but I'm still getting some of the unhatched eggs.

you just need to siphon a little slower then, or have the airline slightly higher in the water column. I do it the same way and dont think i suck up the eggs anymore

i put a light on one side to attract bbs to it and syphon from there

I use the coke bottle method and put duct tape around the whole bottle except the bottom, to harvest, just cover open end and shine a light near the bottom, eggs float bbs swim down to syphon outlet

Cheers guys, that is all pretty close to what I'm doing, I guess it's just practice now till I get the technique sussed.

this is my setup and I use a pipette to collect the 'crevettes' to feed them to the Axolotl larvas (big tadpoles love them too)... (we have very chlorinated water here in Naseby so I use 3 bottles, one is always running with just salted water for at least one day)