Brine shrimp

[Shelley]

I bought some brine shrimp eggs on trademe...and have just had my second go at hatching them the first go was either unsuccessful....or they were so tiny i didn't realise it was the little critters in there and ended up pouring them down the sink! lol.

any tips gratefully received.....for the second go i had them in a small open container...sitting on top of the glass and under the wooden hood of the main tank....the tank light was on for most of the day but i did turn it off at night...and i had a small air stone in. Personally i feel it was WAY to much air to be bubbling around...any poor brine shrimp being hatched was likely to have their brains bashed out it would have been like sticking them in a blender. Yep..... i saw little fuzzy swimming stuff going on and assumed THIS was the bbs......the crap floating on the top i assume was the eggshells.....so what to do with it THEN....i poured it through a small seive lined with paper towels...and rinsed fresh water over it....and fed it to the fishies.....but i do not feel confident that i was doing any of this the right way...if i had have left the airstone in and left it for another few hours...would they have died...or would more have hatched....if ileft it for longer would they die or grow? (i.e. so that you can actually SEE them?) it looked like i was feeding the guppy fry sand (but they gobbled it up all the same).

The first batch i did i followed the directions completely...which seemed a bit extreme...1 litre of water!....this last time i used the small size glad container...about half full...and just guessed :oops: the amount of salt needed...but at least there was something squiggling this time (I suspect the first lot was kept too clod as i had them in the laundry).

Hints please.....i really want to feed my guppy fry live foods to hurry them along a little bit and would also like to condition my female fighter. Thanks.

any other comment about other types of live foods and where i can BUY the starting kits/cultures (or whatever they are) would be greatly appreciated. I was surprised that animates in Christchurch only had houseflies yuk.... greenfly off the roses? is that ok? I havent sprayed the roses for quite some time but am pretty sure there will be no residue left....not that there will be a lot of greenfly at this time of year.

bugger...i'm waffling again.... sorry. I did get some frozen blood worms...and frozen brineshrimp...and 'tropical tucker' which they seem to love but i am wary of overusing it incase it mucks the tank up too much....must get some corys for the other tanks to clean up the leftovers Thanks in advance.

[critter_guy]

what you have to do it get a coke or sprite or any bottle chop the bottem off and turn it upside down sitting in a cup or something but the brine shrimp in salt water (i pefur to use water staraight from the sea) and have it bubble non-stop place it next to or near a light as it has to keep a bit warm when they hatch you will be able to see them

if that heaps you some body might be able to help you a bit better

ant

[Caryl]

I used to hatch mine in a plastic 1kg peanut butter jar with a hole in the lid for the air hose. It had wire wrapped round the neck to form a handle to hang it over the edge of the top of the glass in the main tank. I aerated them a lot (I am sure they threw up a lot). When it came time to use them, I would siphon them out of the centre (avoiding the crud on the surface and bottom) with a turkey baster squirting them through a white hankie draped over another container. This meant the rest in the jar got the aeration turned back on and kept going and the water sieved through the hankie got poured back into the jar as well. The shrimps were then rinsed gently under the tap and dipped in the tank.

[Pegasus]

Hi Shelly,

Do as above.... Use a Coke bottle with the bottom removed.

Drill a hole in the cap so that you can push an airline into the hole.

The airline should be a tight sealed fit.

Add a small airstone.

Fill to around 40mm from the top with clean water.

Add two and a half heaped table spoons of sea salt (The cheap stuff from the super market works fine.. just make sure it is sea salt).

Add a half a teaspoon of Baking Soda.. (NOT Baking Powder)

Aerate until fully mixed.

Suspend the bottle in a tank.. or place somewhere warm.

Eggs will hatch in 18 to 24hrs at 80F

Add a half teaspoon of eggs and aerate enough to keep the eggs in suspention.

To harvest... Stop the air... let them settle for ten minutes....

The LIVE shrimp are at the bottom... the SHELLS are at the top.

Don't feed the shells.

You can easily see the shrimp if you shine a light at the base of the bottle.

I just remove the airline from the pump... lower the line below the bottle and allow the shrimp to drain into a strainer then feed direct.

Some rinse them... I never bother.

Bill.

[Shelley]

You people are just the best! Thank you all so much!

[suphew]

They are attracted to light to so shining a light in the side of your container when you collect makes life easier.

[Carl :)]

why dont you just buy a hatching kit from jansens. It makes it alot eaisier.

[jordan]

Im not very successful with my bbs either. Micro worms are another option, here in Chch I have to order them in since the LFS don't keep them readily.

[caserole]

Jordan , why do you not make your own micro worm cultures?

bread or oats, a little yeast, water to dampen and micro worms.

OR have i miss read your post. :roll:

[dee_jay_01]

Hi, i have only tried this once and so far it has worked, here is a site everyone maybe interested in about Brine Shrimp hatcheries

http://aquariumhobbyist.com/endlerslivebearer/page4.htm

works a treat, and cost efficient with only a cheap air pump and a desk lamp to do the job, thats all i have used.

One thing this site doesn't say is how much salt to use (must be aquarium rock salt), use 1 Table Spoon per Litre of water, and disolve the salt before adding BBS.

[caserole]

I did a diy project like this at the FNZAS 1999 agm.

1 table spoon per lt may be a bit light dee I use 1 Tp per 500ml others use more.

[dee_jay_01]

Come to think of it, i think i did use 2 table spoons of rock salt per Litre of water.

[PENEJANE]

this may sound stupid but brine shrip..... are they the same thing as the sea monkeys that used to be a big hit?? :roll: :-?

[suphew]

Yep, but I'm still waiting for mine to get the little crowns etc :lol:

[cees]

What follows is copied from the instructions printed on the cans of brineshrimp I just imported

see http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/premiu ... t7067.html (sorry, all sold)

I'm sure brineshrimpdirect wouldn't mind me repeating this here.

---------------

Hatching intructions for best results:

1. Place hatching cone or similarly shaped vessel in well lit area. Cone should be semi-translucent for ease of harvesting.

2. Fill cone and adjust salinity to 25 ppt (parts per thousand). Optimum temperature 28 C (82 F)

3. Add cysts at the rate of 1 gram per liter. Provide adequate aeration to keep cysts in suspension.

4. Depending upon water temperature, cysts should hatch in approx. 18-25 hours.

5. After hatching, turn off or remove aeration and wait several minutes, newly hatched nauplii will settle to bottom of cone.

6. To harvest, siphon nauplli from cone as they settle. If equipped, open valve and gently drain nauplii in to a fine mesh sieve. Rinse in clean seawater before feeding.

7. Tanks and surrounding area should be cleaned and disinfected routinely.

Do not store above 10 C (50 F)

-------------

There you have it. Directly from the supplier.

My comments.

- Coke bottle works fine as a hatching cone as described

here and here

- 25 ppt water is important. I make up a bucket full with marine salt from petshop . You can use seasalt from grocery store but will need to add bakingsoda and perhaps a little magnesiumsulfate or you can dilute natural seawater. Perhaps one of the salties can give you their wastewater when they do a water change? Get a gadget that will measure salinity. I don't have a link here but every petshop should be able to sell you one.

- Do not use an airstone for aeration. Bubbles will be too small. The aeration should be vigorous.

- Harvesting, let them settle in the dark for a few minutes (throw a towel over it).

- You need a fine sieve or net, nauplii are very small. I use a special brineshrimp net like this one http://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/equip_net.html

- Keep hatching area clean, disinfect regulary like they say.

- Use only good quality brineshrimp cysts. I only use premium grade, because I don't like to have to separate nauplii from unhatched cysts.

- Keep only what you need to hatch in one week in your fishroom in an airtight containter (in the fridge if you can). Store the bulk of your supply in the fridge or freezer. Keep cysts container airtight, dry and cold.

If the brineshrimp still don't hatch after this you might as well throw them away because they've gone off.

my 2 cts

Cees

[HummingBird]

brine shrimp in salt water (i pefur to use water staraight from the sea)

You realise that Brine Shrimp don't actually come from the ocean, don't you? They come from landlocked salt lakes, and as such Salt Water may not actually be that great for them.

[dee_jay_01]

In reply to the Sea monkeys question no there not.

Sea Monkeys exist in Suspended animation, Whist inside their eggs, yet unborn, they burn the "spark of life"

(Taken form Amazing Sea Monkeys Info booklet)

Sea Monkeys are a variety of Artemia, a relitive of the Lobster, Crays, Fairy Shrimp and other Crustaceans, Instead of originating from the ocean Artemia are found in Salt Lakes and salt evaoration flats. The water is often so saly that they think the Artemia may be the only non microscopic animal inhabiting them.

Because fish eat and thrive on brine shrimp, for years they were collected as eggs or alive to be sold as Aquarium "food". Although all along, Brine shrimp had the very qualities that would, at a later date, make them one of the most desiarable pets ever sold, it simply never dawned on anyone to consider them as anything other than fish food.

Although Sea Monkeys are a Species of Brine Shrimp they are unique, we have created new formulas to keep them alive under conditions found in the average home. Although you can feed them to your fish it is not recommended due to the biological procedure used for growth. And they best as a pet then Fish Food.

I hope this answers your questions.

[PENEJANE]

AWESOME! thanks. Yes that does answer my question

Guess I got to buy the expensive stuff eh lol

[Alan]

dee_jay_01, what an absolute load of bollocks from that site.

With you repeating it, it becomes gospel for the unsuspecting reader.

Get out of that "c monkey" box, and do some real research of your own and learn the facts.

Next thing you may find on that site might be when the "S-M's" have their coronation and get their crowns.

It is only a sale gimmick to sell to the unsuspecting public, an overpriced product, that we as breeders, feed by the millions, to the enjoyment of our hungry fry, for an absolute fraction of the cost.

Alan 104

[PENEJANE]

:-? so they may not be the same as brine shrimp but I can still use them to feed my guppies and gobys??

man this just got very confusing lol

[Faran]

penejane, "sea monkeys" ARE brine shrimp, it's just a gimmicky name. Nothing wrong with feeding them to your guppies; and I strongly recommend the 90% hatch eggs that cees sells, if you can get any.

[dee_jay_01]

I have done my own research. I have been through the University Of Qld Brine Shrimp are found in the Ocean and Monkeys from salt flats IF you would have read correctly I said that you can feed the to your fish but it is not recommeded. I myself have fed them to my fish, they love them. they are quicker to grow and dont need as much attention, so no you dont have to buy the expensive stuff. but sea monkeys are probably more expensive to buy anyway.

[Alan]

Got this, just on a minute.

http://www.cargillsalt.com/sfbay/EV_brine.html

Read it all, only take two shakes of a lambs tail.

But note the last few lines.

Alan 104

[HummingBird]

I've always hated that colloquialism. It was vaguely acceptable when said by the beautiful Uma Thurman but when anyone else says it I just want to punch them. Nothing personal though