How do you strain your brine shrimp?

[Loopy]

Howdy! i am having issues with my brine shrimp.

I have tried twice now to hatch and feed out shrimp to my babies.

They hatch fine etc. I have tried the packets method of siphoning out the shrimp but the tiniest bump and i end up getting the shells mixed up with the shrimp and tried straining through some fine mesh but the shells and the shrimp are practically the same size so i just end up with water in the bucket and everything else in my net.

Has anyone got a different method? Maybe a "fool proof" method?? :-? i certainly feel a fool trying to fiddle round with itty bitty critters i can barely see just to have them be munched 2 seconds after they are fed out.

[HummingBird]

I usually just siphon them off using the hose from the bottle. A little salt never hurt anything.

[livebearer_breeder]

Use a hankey.

[Loopy]

yeah i am not too worried about the salt either. It is the shells i am trying to avoid. Someone told me that if your fish eat the brine shrimp egg shells it can make them ill. I don't know if this is really true or not but i still don't want to take the risk.

[alanmin4304]

Being basically lazy and half handy with a piece of glass and RTV I made a brine shrimp hatcher and seperator. It is a 45 litre tank with baffles which seperate things out. First and third baffle from bottom to one third from top and second baffle from top to two thirds from top. Paint all outside including lid black apart from 100mm x 100mm area at collection end (at bottom) A light at clear end brings shrimp to that area to be removed with a dip tube. I made a funnel from a coke bottle and cut the centre out of the lid. Use the thread to hold your mesh in place and stand funnel in rest of bottle while draining. Add eggs one end and take out shrimp the other---lasts me 3-4 weeks before replacing brine but would depend on usage. Heater and airation at input end.

[Rory]

Being basically lazy and half handy with a piece of glass and RTV I made a brine shrimp hatcher and seperator. It is a 45 litre tank with baffles which seperate things out. First and third baffle from bottom to one third from top and second baffle from top to two thirds from top. Paint all outside including lid black apart........

Impressive! :bounce:

[Pegasus]

Sound like a good article for the DIY Section Alanmin.. with pics and drawings to explain the workings

Bill.

[northland chic]

I siphon thru a piece of cloth (thin like hankee or sheet) sitting in a tea strainer in a jar or something. Then just turn the cloth upside down in their water and return salt water to brine shrimp container.

[shiuh]

Being basically lazy and half handy with a piece of glass and RTV I made a brine shrimp hatcher and seperator. It is a 45 litre tank with baffles which seperate things out. First and third baffle from bottom to one third from top and second baffle from top to two thirds from top. Paint all outside including lid black apart from 100mm x 100mm area at collection end (at bottom) A light at clear end brings shrimp to that area to be removed with a dip tube. I made a funnel from a coke bottle and cut the centre out of the lid. Use the thread to hold your mesh in place and stand funnel in rest of bottle while draining. Add eggs one end and take out shrimp the other---lasts me 3-4 weeks before replacing brine but would depend on usage. Heater and airation at input end.

would love some pics and drawings of how you did it. like pegasus said.

[alanmin4304]

I think I left a baffle out of the description. Photos will only show a black box so I will try and post a drawing.

[Alan]

We both have a similar contrivance Alan

But the first baffle starts fron the top to 1/3 from the bottom,and the next down, up, down, up etc.

If it starts reversed the first plate is superfulious(spp)

Mine is no longer in use, and I now have 'coke' bottles with lids on,

up the right way with the lid drilled so as to allow two airlines to pass thru it.

One air in, the other out.

This allows air to be use many times over (number of bottles, then to an airstone in another tank) and not go to waste as some other methods do.

I syphon from the top of the bottle just under the floating eggs once the air has been turned off, and filter the mass thru one of my small made- for-the-job nets.

Some were for sale a short time ago on this forum.

$25 a set I think.

Came in 4 various grades of size and excellent for grading mozzies, daphnia etc.

The salt water is returned to the bottle, lids replaced and air turned on.

There is no air deffuser on the airline, it runs hard and fast.

The water from the mix is the most dangerous for the fry as it contains toxin from the breaking down egg shells.

But I also, don't go to the extreme of washing with fresh water, it's NOT the salt content that's the problem.

Egg shells??

Don't worry with a few that can get thru.

They float and don't move, so are not the target for the fry, the only nuisance thing with them (egg shells) is that they stick to the walls of the tank on the water-line and are unsightly and have to be removed at maintenance time.

Alan 104

[alanmin4304]

You are correct with you description. You could add more baffles but I only have three. I will load a description and diagamn when someone explains how. I have taken a photo of a diagramn and thats as far as I got.

[mrshanepaul]

I used a stocking. Worked pretty well.

Actually, I use stocking for a range of things.

(Feel free to rib me for this if you want...)