hatching brine shrimp
- Thread starter bimm3rb0y
- Start date
buckeye88
Member
Petsmart has a little brine shrimp hatchary for only $9.99 and it has everything you need to start. It however says on the instructions that it is not intended for them to grow to adulthood so I'm not sure if it's a good buy or not. I've been meaning to try it though. If you try be sure to let me know how it goes
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smartorl
Guest
I use a quart sized mason canning jar with a hole drilled in the lid. I run tubing from a small air pump into the bottom of the mason jar, add water from one of my tanks, add the eggs and
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on the lid. When I am ready to feed, I remove the jar from the air line and give a few minutes for the egg shells to float to the surface before using a baster to suck up the baby brine and transfer to my tanks. At this point with the dwarf seahorses needing so much, I have four jars with a splitter from the air pump so that I have bbs ready to feed every day.
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on the lid. When I am ready to feed, I remove the jar from the air line and give a few minutes for the egg shells to float to the surface before using a baster to suck up the baby brine and transfer to my tanks. At this point with the dwarf seahorses needing so much, I have four jars with a splitter from the air pump so that I have bbs ready to feed every day.
dmitry
Member
Most methods for hatching BBS are a bit annoying, as they require you running airline. There is a particular type of BBS hatchery that doesn't require that. I just got one myself recently and it's super easy: you put in some tank water, add brine shrimp eggs, wait about 12 hours, scoop out the BBS. It's a circular dish with a lid. Concentric rings inside of it will keep the shells from floating towards the center. The hole in the center center - as the only opening in the whole contraption - are the source of light towards which the BBS will swim. There's a cup in the center with which you scoop out the BBS. Here's a photo of the box - I've only seen this sold in one on-line store (not this one.) If you do a search for "brine shrimp hatchery" this web-site with "brine shrimp" in the title will be one of the top choices. It's super-easy. Some, though, have argued that without airline the amount of hatched BBS is lower than in the standard hatcheries. I don't know if this is true or not; the owner of the site argues that the yield is identical. This site does not manufacture the dishes, by the way. They are imported from Hong Kong, though appear to be German-made. But even if the yield is lower in these, to me personally the ease of use of this hatchery is worth the extra money on additional brine shrimp eggs (which are not very expensive.) I used 2 small scoops of eggs and got thousands of BBS in about 12 hours. (Leave the dish in a well-lit room, though.)
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smartorl
Guest
I have done both and have found the hatcheries to be easier and less cumbersome but the yields are lower and less consistant. If you are only occasionally hatching, they are great but if you need a consistant hatch, the air pump methods are the best way.