Well, it's been a while since I last posted. Haven't been very successful in e last batch. Only caught a few fry and currently left with 1 healthy fat fry which is 13 day old. Feeding mainly on baby brine shrimp which also reminds me to share on my diy set up.
To make a baby brine shrimp hatchery, you should get yourself ready with this few items
two 1.5litres bottle
a hand drill
airline tube
1 acrylic air line tube
1 adjustable valve
glue and eproxy
and of cuz, good healthy brine shrimp eggs, an air pump and lights
The crucial idea of the setup is that we will need to make the device to be able to separate the bbs from the unhatched eggs by creating a funnel-sieve like device. The end product should look something like this
First, make a hole out of the bottle cap using a electric hand drill, big enough for the airline tube to go through. Fix one end of the tube through the hole with less than 5mm (to ensure its still relatively flat at the bottom of the cap for the bbs to filter through. glue/eproxy to waterproof and hold the tube in place. Dry for few hours..
Then, cut out the 1.5 l bottle at the bottom to make an container/funnel. You will also need to cut another bottle, this time cut off the top as you will need a stand for the "funnel". this bottom half, it will be good to cut out a "window" for the airline tube to come out front the side, you need some space/length for the bbs to be filtered out of the container.
As you can see, I also added an optional holder, by cutting a harder container, to keep the device stable, and stop it from toppling.. (It will be a mess if it does..)
the device is almost ready!
Now add in the bbs eggs. I use this brand, seems to work for me. But ensure its not expired!
add about 1 teaspoon and 500ml of tank water. Let it sit for an hour, for the eggs to hydrate so it doesn't float in the space when u aerate it.
then, insert the hard airline tube to the bottom of the cap. Hard line will ensure that the airline doesn't move. If not eggs might gather at dead spots at the bottom of the funnel.
Lastly, shine the lights over. Don't know why but it helps the hatch rate! Bbs should hatch within 24-48hours
Hope this helps! Bbs can be used to feed other fishes and corals too! Especially difficult small fishes!