sanfansisco brine shrimp

[LMOUTHBASS]

makes a small hatchery for under 10 bucks petsmart sells it - suposedly you just toss the hatch mix into the cube and baby brineshrimp hatch out - i was very tempted to buy this as it woul be fun to see my fish chase live food - but is this a good option - safe? - i usually give em' hikari freeze dried when i want to feed BS - anyone seen or use this product - thanks

[tomm10]

I thought about it and actually posted the same question a few months back. The response was that raising the shrimp was actually a pain in the @ss and not worth it.

I've been feeding San Fran frozen brine shrimp and the fish LOVE em. I just drop a little chunk into a cup of tank water (I use the red caps from Gillette after shave as cups and the fish recognize it), give it a minute and they thaw right out.

[snakeskinner]

I did not buy their hatchery but I got their 3 packet bag of eggs and raised some in a beta vase. They took a little longer than on the package but I have lots of baby shrimp but they are very very small right now. Just for kicks, I scooped out a netful and put them in my 55 gallon with a lot of tetras to see if they would see them and sure enough, they started scooping them up fast. The mollies and platy's didn't notice them though. I'm trying to feed the brine shrimp and get them larger. My only real problem with them is trying to separate the shells from the shrimp. The package makes it sound easy "the shells will float to the top and the shrimp will go to the bottom" but in all actuality, the shells will sink and float and stick to the sides of the vase and the shrimp will be everywhere. Not as easy as it sounds. Kyle

[DIYMatt]

I think you are talking about two different things. "Hatching" baby brine shrimp eggs and "Raising" brine shrimp to adulthood. Hatching baby brine shrimp is realtively easy, I do it from time to time for fry. Raising them to adulthood is not worth the effort IMO.

I tried the S.F. little mini hatchery years ago and I didn't like it. I have since made my own 2 liter bottle setup that controls temp and makes it easy to hatch on time. San Francisco makes a little "hatcher" that is just a small base that you screw a 2 liter bottle into. Next to a small light it works well and it is a nice treat for small fish like Tetras. But, for larger fish its probably not worth it.

Do a web searching on "hatching Brine Shrimp" and you will come up with several methods. THe 2-liter bottle methods are perfect for this IMO. IME- THe factors that affect a successful hatch are: constant temp, salinity of the hatch water

BTW- Freshly hatched brine are eexcellent nutrition and I haven't found anything that my fish grow faster on.

[DIYMatt]

My only real problem with them is trying to separate the shells from the shrimp. The package makes it sound easy "the shells will float to the top and the shrimp will go to the bottom" but in all actuality, the shells will sink and float and stick to the sides of the vase and the shrimp will be everywhere. Not as easy as it sounds. Kyle

As far as I know, if you let it sit, the shells will always float to the top rather quickly. Its the unhatched eggs that sink and mix with the baby brine shrimp. DId you have a constant light source on your "hatchery"? THis is critical IME. I don't think any brine shrimp ever claim to hatch more than 95% or so, I think the S.F. bay stuff is less. So, there is some o fht eggs. Then, other factors like the salinity of the water and the temperature of the water affect the hatch. Temperature also determines the length of time required to hatch the eggs. Luckily, the unhatched eggs aren't necessarily bad for the fish. The plain shells that float can be an issue.

I re-read your post and are you letting the hatch mix sit for 5-10 minutes before you harvest? Mine take almost ten minutes to totally seperate.

[Soulcoffr]

I've seen this hatchery on Drs. Foster and Smith...

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=10692&Ne=40000&R=18325&ref=3055&Nao=9&subref=AV&N=2004+62741

Anyone have any experience with it? Seems like a cool idea for providing live shrimp.

[snakeskinner]

I'm sure I didn't do it right. I jumped into it before I was ready. the next packet I will try and do right. I have about a 1 gallon vase that was used for a beta for a while and added the water amount suggested and then noticed the temperature. I didn't have an extra thermometer so (don't laugh) I just set a lava lamp I had next to the vase to keep it warmer. I'm sure I diluted the mixture some because I couldn't keep the eggs off the side of the vase and poured a little water onto the sides of the vase to wash the eggs into the water. I took an old bubble wand and cut about a 1" section off and used the suction cup to stick it to the side of the vase and aerated the water. Do you use aeration on yours or can you get away without it? I need to buy a desk lamp or something to heat the water next time. I've been grinding a little flake food between my fingers and adding a little fry food to the vase trying to make them a little larger. I have shells on the surface of the water as well as some just floating around with the shrimp. I try to dip out as many off the surface as I can but after the first dip of the net, it stirs the rest up in the water. Kyle

[LMOUTHBASS]

thinking about getting the little hatchery just for kicks - will the shrimp be to small for my angel fish (young ones bout 3 mos old) gouramis, and other misc small type fish - i figure even if they die and fall to the bottom my cories will get em'
i just wanna make sure it's safe - no parasites etc with this hatch mix from san fran co?
i mean even if their too small for fish to see maybe they'll grow a bit n then the fish get them?

[snakeskinner]

my mollies and platy's don't even notice the freshly hatched brine shrimp so unless your angels are very very small, I doubt they'll eat them. My tetras and harlequin rasboras are the ones after the shrimp right now. I'm hoping to get them to grow bigger but don't know how successful I'll be. Kyle

[Dapple2]

Originally posted by Soulcoffr
I've seen this hatchery on Drs. Foster and Smith...

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=10692&Ne=40000&R=18325&ref=3055&Nao=9&subref=AV&N=2004+62741

Anyone have any experience with it? Seems like a cool idea for providing live shrimp.

I have one we picked up at a trade show. The instructions aren't very clear I'm afraid and I have yet to get the egg to salt ration right. Half of the eggs got caught in the nooks and crannies and blown up above the water line. It would be really neat if it worked, but I think it still has a few things to be worked out...perhaps someone else has had better luck.