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any tips for better brine shrimp hatches? (Read 16305 times)
Andrea Benjamin
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Re: any tips for better brine shrimp hatches?
Reply #15 - Jan 25th, 2021 at 5:15pm
 
The additive was yellow prussiate of soda.  I'll pick up some pickling salt tomorrow since this agent is probably not good.
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Matt Kaufman
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Re: any tips for better brine shrimp hatches?
Reply #16 - Jan 27th, 2021 at 4:01am
 
1 tbsp for a 2 liter bottle sounds a bit 'light' to me. I used to use seawater, which works fantastic if you have access to it. I also used instant ocean, and I'd mix up a solution with a SG of 1.01 or so (so, about 50% seawater.) If you have access to a hygrometer that makes it easy, home brew supply shops sell them.

As for eggs, I never kept them anywhere except in a frost-free freezer, with a small amount in a jar in the refrigerator section. Some folks deepfreeze their eggs, I think that's a bad idea. Humidity is the enemy of the brine shrimp egg. Finally, try adding a couple drops, no more, of Clorox bleach to the hatching solution, it keeps down the bacterial slime and seems to help a lot.
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Andrea Benjamin
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Re: any tips for better brine shrimp hatches?
Reply #17 - Jan 27th, 2021 at 8:07pm
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, I think Jim's mix was two tbsp of salt per liter of water.  Would you still consider that light? 

I'd never heard of instant ocean but it sounds like an impressive product.  If I were to get a bit more serious, I can see investing in some as well as a hygrometer.  Thank you for the tip!
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James Langan
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Re: any tips for better brine shrimp hatches?
Reply #18 - Jan 28th, 2021 at 8:43am
 
Andrea,

Two table spoons per liter is in many of the books and it works quite well, I've used this for decades with great results.  Below is from a popular fish how to website (https://www.thesaltyside.com/how-to-hatch-brine-shrimp/), they use 500ml with 1 tablespoon, which comes out to 1 liter -> 2 tablespoons as I use.  I use 1/4 teaspoon of eggs as I don't need the number of brine shrimp they are hatching because I don't have that many fry right now.

I hope this helps, Best wishes,  Jim Langan

You will need:
Jar or empty plastic soda/drink bottle
1 TBSP course salt (or saltwater mixed for a reef aquarium saltwater)
500ml dechlorinated water (or tap water that has been standing for 48 hours)
1 tsp Brine shrimp eggs
Rigid air line, tubing and pump (optional)

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Andrea Benjamin
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Re: any tips for better brine shrimp hatches?
Reply #19 - Jan 28th, 2021 at 11:45am
 
Jim,

I don't doubt you!  I've had some good hatches already with the setup you helped me build.  I got some pickling salt the other day too so I'm expecting an even better hatch today.  I really appreciate you taking the time to help me.  I'm still curious to hear other people's methods, the products they use and any other tips as well.
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James Langan
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Re: any tips for better brine shrimp hatches?
Reply #20 - Jan 31st, 2021 at 2:05pm
 
Andrea,

no worries, I put in the link reference because it discusses raising the newly hatched brine shrimp into sub adults for feeding larger fish.  My intent is to expand this posting to include more information and have more submittals on brine shrimp experience from a variety of folks.

I hope this helps,

Jim Langan, AKA Webmaster
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Tyrone Genade
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Re: any tips for better brine shrimp hatches?
Reply #21 - Feb 9th, 2021 at 1:11pm
 
Hello,

My 2c on the subject (if this thread keeps going we should get about a $ in no time as every person seems to do it a bit different).

My mix is as follows:
for 2 gallons
NaCI 10.67 tbs
MgSO4 1.5 tsp
KHC03 0.25 tsp

for 10 gallons
NaCl 53.33 tbs
MgSO4 7.5 tsp
KHCO3 1.25 tsp.

for 20L:
1.75 cups NaCl
4 tsp MgSO4
1 tsp KHC04

I make up 20 L (about 5 gallons) at a time. I have had no trouble using RO water but currently use soft (140 uS/m) water. I think hard water would be more problematic.

I have found MgSO4 greatly increases the hatch rate and quality. I use KHCO4 instead of baking soda because we no longer really know where the cysts are coming from and those from Asia need some K+ to hatch. For Utah shrimps NaHCO3 is fine. The alkaline conditions are a crucial factor.

As I keep and breed some rainbows I want some iodine in the water so use 1/3rd iodized salt and 2/3rds kosher or pickling salt so the nauplii will have taken up some iodine to pass onto the 'bows. I don't think the anti-caking agents are at a high enough concentration to be a problem.

I do not neutralize the chlor, in fact I add bleach at a rate of 8 drops per L. I have found that this gives a better hatch with a lot less cloudiness (i.e. bacteria) in the water.

A temperature of 75 to 80 works well. I am using 80% hatch rate cysts in dishes and the hatch is slower and I routinely draw off the freshly hatched nauplii for the fish. Using 80% hatch rate cysts for bottle cultures is a waste of money. You are better off paying for the premium eggs.

I agree that the cysts need to be cool and dry. When I get a can of cysts I immediately portion it out into smaller containers (as much as I can use in a week or two) and store it in the freezer. It is important the can be room temperature before opening else water will condense on the cysts and ruin them.

Bye
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Andrea Benjamin
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Re: any tips for better brine shrimp hatches?
Reply #22 - Feb 10th, 2021 at 8:45pm
 
Wow, thank you so much for sharing your method!  That's some interesting chemistry, I didn't realize the eggs from different locations had these different requirements.  I'm also surprised you use soft water, don't dechlorinate and include some iodine!

Thanks for the tip on storage, too.  I can imagine easily making the mistake of opening the frozen eggs too early and having that condensation.
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Russell Feilzer
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Re: any tips for better brine shrimp hatches?
Reply #23 - Feb 19th, 2021 at 10:31pm
 
I use 2+ tablespoons of solar salt (water softener salt) in a brine shrimp direct cone hatcher with a tsp of epson salt.  I'm currently hatching 3 teaspoons of brine shrimp daily in this container without problems.  I use a compact fluorescent lamp nearby, not necessarily close since I have two of these containers going at a time and it doesn't matter which one is next to the lamp.  I also use a upside down soda bottle with 1 tablespoon of salt and a rounded teaspoon of eggs that I use to feed my containers which I raise the shrimp to adulthood, JAKA article to come.
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Andrea Benjamin
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Re: any tips for better brine shrimp hatches?
Reply #24 - Feb 22nd, 2021 at 9:39pm
 
3 tsp of brine shrimp daily, you must be feeding a lot of fish!  Also, I've wondered about this sort of 'professional' hatching equipment.  Would you say it's superior to your soda bottle hatchery?
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Russell Feilzer
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Re: any tips for better brine shrimp hatches?
Reply #25 - Feb 23rd, 2021 at 2:54pm
 
I am currently feeding around 1000 fish, it is a lot!  The "professional" equipment isn't really better but it is larger.  The Brine Shrimp Direct hatcher hold 2.5 liters of water and is better for trying to hatch 3 tsp of eggs.  Even at that amount I have to stay on top of it, if I miss a day the whole container will crash.  I use two of them and collect about every 36 hours and I use a pretty strong airflow to keep the oxygen level up.  I'm about to start a 3rd large hatcher up as I'm expanding my capacity of adult brine shrimp production.  I'm currently feeding about an ounce of adult a day too, and frozen blood worms.
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