Brine Shrimp Hatchery

nagukush

nagukush

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Jan 1, 2008
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Hi Friends !

I've bought Brine Shrimp Eggs for the first time in my life and finally I'll be able to feed good live food to my fishes...

The problem is that I dont have a hatchery to hatch the eggs. There are many on ebay but they dont ship to India or the shipping is 5 times than the hatchery itself !

Is there any way that i can make my own efficient hatchery for the eggs ? If yes then I request you to kindly guide me in a little detail as this is the first time I'm going to try...

Also is it ok to store the eggs in the refrigeretaor ?
Kindly advice friends...
Regards
Kush
 
nagukush said:
Hi Friends !

I've bought Brine Shrimp Eggs for the first time in my life and finally I'll be able to feed good live food to my fishes...

The problem is that I dont have a hatchery to hatch the eggs. There are many on ebay but they dont ship to India or the shipping is 5 times than the hatchery itself !

Is there any way that i can make my own efficient hatchery for the eggs ? If yes then I request you to kindly guide me in a little detail as this is the first time I'm going to try...

Also is it ok to store the eggs in the refrigeretaor ?
Kindly advice friends...
Regards
Kush
Click to expand...

The cheapest way to do it is to just use a couple of empty 2 Liter soda bottles. You cut the bottom off one of the bottles and tip it upside down. Drill a hole in the cap that is slightly smaller in diameter than your air line tubing. Force some airline tubing thru the hole so that it sticks into the bottle about 0.5" to 1". Connect the other end of the airline tubing to an air pump. Next all you need to make is a stand to hold your hatcher upside down. For that all you have to do is take the second 2 Liter soda bottle and cut the top half off so that you can set your hatcher inside the bottom half. You will probably need to make a hole in it somewhere to run your airline tubing out. You can use some aquarium sealant around your airline tubing if it leaks where it passes thru the cap. Then just fill your hatcher with about a liter of salt water and add a small amount of eggs. The air bubbling up thru the hatcher will keep the eggs agitated in the water. They will hatch in 24 to 48 hours depending on the temp. They hatch faster if you keep the hatcher in a warm place. Also If you keep your air pump above the water level in the hatcher you don't need a check valve.

To get the hatched shrimp seperated from the eggs shut off the air pump and let things settle for about 20mins. The empty eggs and unhatched eggs with either float or settle to the bottom. Then disconnect your airline from the pump and hold it below your hatcher and into a fine screen such as a brine shrimp net or nylon stocking over another container to catch the water. At this point most of the unwanted eggs will be seperated from the swimming brine shrimp because the eggs that were floating will tend to stick to the walls of the hatcher as the water drains and the ones that settled to the bottom usually don't get pulled up into your airline tubing.

Now rinse the brine shrimp from your net into a tall skinny container with fresh water and allow it to sit while you put the saltwater back in the hatcher maybe add a few more eggs and get it bubbling again for the next batch.

Use a pipette or turkey baster to suck out the brine shrimp from the center of your tall skinny container and feed to your fish. The reason for the tall skinny container and the second wait is to allow any eggs you got by accident to settle out again.

Your eggs hatch faster if you keep the hatcher warm. Either keep it near something warm, or I have even used a exta heater I had laying around for nano tanks in the hatcher. If you keep it at say 85°F the eggs will hatch in about 24hrs, if you keep it at say 72-75°F it may take as long as 48hrs for them to hatch.

Many people use a bright light source to attract the swimming shrimp to one location, however I find that just using the natural settling of things to be easier and just as effective for seperating shrimp from eggs.
 
Hi there !

Thank you so much for caring and for the kind explanation. I'm going to do exactly as you've adviced and I'll let you know the results here ! :) Thanks again !

Actually I'm not sure of the quality of the eggs that I have now (as we dont get the best things here...lol :) ) and I'll have to wait and see if the hatching rate is good-enough... anyways thanks again for caring...

Also wanted to request you for some more advice...

1. Whereever I read about the brine shrimp eggs and hatching, they've given importance to seperating the eggs and shells completely... is it bad for the fish of a few egg shells also et in to the tank ? Is it harmful orno effect.. Kindly advice...

2. Also how much salt do I add to 1 litre of tap water ?

Kindly advice... thanks again for caring !
Lots of Regards
Kush
 
nagukush said:
Hi there !

Thank you so much for caring and for the kind explanation. I'm going to do exactly as you've adviced and I'll let you know the results here ! :) Thanks again !

Actually I'm not sure of the quality of the eggs that I have now (as we dont get the best things here...lol :) ) and I'll have to wait and see if the hatching rate is good-enough... anyways thanks again for caring...

Also wanted to request you for some more advice...

1. Whereever I read about the brine shrimp eggs and hatching, they've given importance to seperating the eggs and shells completely... is it bad for the fish of a few egg shells also et in to the tank ? Is it harmful orno effect.. Kindly advice...

2. Also how much salt do I add to 1 litre of tap water ?

Kindly advice... thanks again for caring !
Lots of Regards
Kush
Click to expand...

Given the nature of the beast I doubt anyone is manages to seperate 100% of the eggs all of the time. I'd like to say I've never had a problem with it, I don't think I have but I'm not sure. Once I did have a fish develop a swim bladder problem a few days after feeding them brine shrimp, but the fish in that QT tank were all new and it may have come from somewhere else. The only reason I have my suspicions is that I read somewhere once that unhatched brineshimp eggs can cause a swim bladder disorder. Better to error on the side of caution I guess.

For salt use aquarium salt not table salt. I mix it by the gallon so I don't have to do it that frequently. I mix 3/8 cup salt to a gallon of water. 1/2 cup would be normal streangth salt water, but going a bit lighter on the salt helps the baby brine shrimp live a little longer if uneaten because the xfer to freshwater is a bit less of a shock to them and it's a bit cheaper for me.

I change the water in the hatcher every couple weeks. And just top it off with freshwater if needed at harvest time to make up for evaporation.
 
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