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Thats a great lot of instructions Michelle.

I've zipped it over to breeding as it was getting lost in General.

Hopefully this should help a lot of people out.





For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Michelle just wanted to say thanks, your post will definately help me.. I've been receiving istructions from some people but your step by step is better !

Should I get angel wigglers shortly I'll give this a go

One thing to really complete this,
would be pics of your setup..

Last edited by DaFishMan at 30-Nov-2005 02:00

The Amazon Nut...

I would like to thank you for posting this, it really helped me with dosing salt and ideal pH levels..my fish and I think you

One thing forgotten (sort of...the thing Michelle could not remember the name of) in the supplies that I cannot stress enough....always use a check valve inline when running an airpump...if the power cuts, even for a minute, and the airpump is even an inch below the level of the surface of the water, it will siphon back to the pump.

Last edited by Toirtis at 21-Nov-2004 22:46

Michelle, big thank you for the tips! I never used to pay attention to the pH in the hatching jar but I now add Epsom salts and I'm getting a much better yeild.

I have grew them to adult size a numerous times. There was this one time last holidays when I was bored. I got these 1 gal plastic tanks and filled them with salt water from my marine tank then add in a air line...then i tsp off BS eggs. When they hatched I fed them powdered fry food 3 times a day and they eventually grew to adult size. It was quite cool to discovering that the powdered fry food has a lable saying "for fry and brine shrimp". Quite cool isnt it?

Steve

what do u feed the shrimp? i want them to last a little while longer i have just tryed the yeast but i have no idea if they wil eat it

i think im gonna try the bbs hatchery right now and feed it to my adults.. i will watch THEM go crazy

I am going to try this as well. I got 3 Platy fry at the LFS (could not resist them) and also purchased the Sally Brand Shrimpery. I did get bbs...within about 16 hours. How much bbs should 3 fry get? I have never had fry so please bear with me. I called the company and the man said just put a netful in in the am and they will feed off them all day. I also have Hikari first bites and have been giving that as well. I have read that a varied diet is very important. What should I be giving them?

Thank you for any input!

I'm trying this on the weekend....too good, must have!!

This is a great addition to the site. Very clear and easy to understand. Thanks for announcing this in my forum cal. Many people will find this helpful.

~*~ Caviar? no thanks! ~*~

Cal has mentioned that I forgot to tell you how much salt ect. to add to the hatchery. Here are the best conditions:

Salinity - 25 parts per thousand (ppt) salt solution or approximately 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of salt per quart (or liter) of water. This equates to around 1.018 specific gravity as measured with a hydrometer (Use marine salt or solar salt).

pH- Proper pH is important in hatching brine shrimp. A starting pH of 8.0 or higher is recommended. In areas where the water pH is below 7, Epson salt or magnesium sulfate can be added at the rate of 1/2 teaspoon per quart of solution to buffer the hatching solution.

Temperature - Optimum water temperature for a 24 hour complete hatch is 80-82 F or 26-28 C. Lowering the temperature would result in a longer hatching time. Do not exceed 30C.

Light - Illumination is necessary to trigger the hatching mechanism within the embryo during the first few hours of incubation. Maintaining a light source during the entire incubation period is recommended to obtain optimum hatch results and for temperature control.

Aeration - Constant aeration is necessary to keep cysts in suspension and to provide sufficient oxygen levels for the cysts to hatch. A minimum of 3 parts per million dissolved oxygen during the incubation is recommended. Strong aeration should not damage or hurt the brine shrimp cysts or nauplii.

Stocking Density - 1 gram per liter or quart or approximately 1/2 level teaspoon of cysts per quart is recommended. A higher stocking density will result in a lower hatch percentage.

I order my shrimp online from a company I can tell you if you throw a message my way. The hatch rates are 70-90%. I use 80% because I only have about 200 fry to feed, so I don't find the 90% worth the extra money. With the 80% there is still plenty of bbs in there trust me. To harvest the shrimp, I use a turkey baster and a brine shrimp net(about a 1.50). Turn off the gang valve on the side you want to use and let sit for 15-20 min. This way the shells will seperate from the bbs. They will sink to the bottom and or go toward the light you have shining on them. Suck up the shrimp and squirt them into the net while it is hanging over the bottle (duh), this way you don't suck all the water out each time you feed. Take the net to the sink and rinse with water. The warm incubation temperatures and metabolites from the hatching medium create ideal conditions for a bacteria bloom. Rinsing of the baby brine shrimp or nauplii in a fine mesh net using clean fresh or salt water is sufficient before feeding to your fish. Then feed and watch them go crazy


Incubation Period- Generally, the optimum incubation time is 24 hours. Egg which has been properly stored for more than 2-3 months may require additional incubation time, up to 30-36 hours. Oftentimes, egg will hatch in as few as 18 hours. If a smaller size nauplii is desired a harvest time of 18 hours is recommended.

Helpful Hint: Brine shrimp egg is sometimes very bouyant. In order to maximize the hatching percentage, it is sometimes helpful to swirl the water inside the hatching container with your finger once or twice at intervals in the first 4 to 6 hours of incubation in order to knock down eggs that have been stranded on the side of the container above the water-line. After about 6 hours, the eggs are usually well-hydrated and will stay in the water column.
Storing Brine Shrimp Eggs- All brine shrimp eggs need to be stored as follows:

1. In a tightly sealed container
2. Free from moisture
3. In a cool environment at or below 50 F
(Refrigeration is ideal. Freezing can lower
metabolic activity and delay hatch-out.)

I hope all this helps!
Michelle, Queen of the ramblers

EDIT:[font color="#BF791F"]add water treatment to the water before you add shrimp, as the chlorine will kill them just like fish[/font]

Edit: I just read that the chlorine may be good for the shrimp...your choice






[span class="edited"][Edited by MichelleKalgren 2004-03-16 13:17][/span]

[span class="edited"][Edited by MichelleKalgren 2004-04-02 19:49][/span]

I have had a few people ask me about how I hatch my shrimp, so I am putting it on here. It nice and cheap, but effective. Alot of this stuff you probablly already have:
Supplies:
two 2-litter soda bottles(1$)
10 gallon air pump (6$ or less)
2 way gang valve(2$)
tubing
air stone
old plastic cup(I use a 32oz)
aquarium sealant

Cut the bottom of both two litters, dicard bottom. With cap on the bottle drill a hole in the cap big enough to fit the tube through. Feed tube in to the bottle, and place air stone on the end. Pull stone all the way down into the cap as far as it will go. This will ensure that all the shrimp will be suspended. I find this method keeps the shrimp moving better than hanging the stone over the side. Next seal the hole up with the sealant on the outside of the bottle cap. Do this with both 2-liters, this way you always have a supply going versus having only one draining it then waiting 24 hours for more shrimp. Let dry over night. Take plastic cup and drill a hole in the side near the bottom. Place bottle cap side down in the cup after feeding the tube through your pre-drilled hole. Attach tubes from both bottles to the gang valve, and the gang valve to the pump. It may be a good idea to install the (I am not sure what they are called) things that keep the water from going in to your pump on the tube near the end. The purpose for the valve, is so you can turn off the side you are going to feed from about 15 min. before you feed so the eggs will seperate from the shrimp. Also this is way better thn that little hatchery kit the pet stores sell. This gives you a better hatch rate and they last longer. I also didn't think a heater was needed( i wasn't going to waste my money), so I set this up under my fish tank in the cabinet. It stays warmer under there and I don't have to look at the mess because it is hidden. I took an old desk lamp and I keep it on uder there all the time. The shrimp need the light to hatch, and it acts as a heater, keeping them at just the right temp. Be careful not to let the lamp touch anything-we don't need a fire. And don't put it to close to the bottles cause they will melt. Here is a picture of my setup. Let me know if you have any questions.

MichelleKalgren attached this image:
[img]http://www.fishprofiles.net/attachments/307495.jpg"]

Oh, by the way, something else that has been recommended for feeding Brine Shrimp mauplii is baker's yeast. Feed the baker's yeast on sugar in water, then add salt and drop it in with the Brine Shrimp once the yeast cells have multiplied.

Don't use Brewer's yeast unless you want your Brine Shrimp to suffer alcohol poisoning!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

How much water do you put in the bottles?

James

UPDATE

I've found a page devoted to the complete culture of Artemia salina, better known as the humble Brine Shrimp. This page has links covering just about EVERY piece of information you could ever wish to obtain about the humble Brine Shrimp, from basic culturing through to taxonomy, and even has a Java applet simulating the life cycle of the creatures in the wild!

The Ultimate Artemia salina page

Among the lesser known pieces of information includede in that site is the fact that there are, believe it or not, special Artemia salt mixes, the use of which is supposed to optimise your culturing ...

Apparently the shrimps feed upon microscopic algae as nauplii, along with other micro-organisms, and graduate to steadily larger variants of the same as they grow. So, the way to produce adult Brine Shrimp in numbers, apparently, is to cultivate the marine version of 'green water' and feed your Brine Shrimps that ... best way I know of cultivating 'green water' is to stand some on a sunlit windowsill, add some nitrate and phosphate fertiliser, and let Nature tke its course ... you'll have a nice green soup to feed your Brine Shrimps with in no time.

Oh, and because the nauplii head toward the light, here's a tip for separating the nauplii from the shells. Blacken the top part of a rearing container, then arrange for a light to shine upon the lower half of the container. Turn off the air line for a few minutes, wait till the nauplii all migrate, then fish out the spent shells floating on the top.

Oh, and for a few minutes' amusement, take a look at the Artemia Simulator ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Here's how I do it... Its worked very well for me. bbs.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://ourfish.tripod.com/bbs.html

it s for bean in mind, good advices.

Tedious but great instructions.