DIY Baby Brine Shrimp hatchery

[Achilles Tang]

Here's a pix of my DIY BBS hatchery using a 1.5L coke bottle and an airline hose.

Wash the empty bottle and dry it. Tear away the label.

From the cap measure 19.5cm down and cut bottle in half. Invert the top half so it sits securely on the bottom half.

Drill a hole in the cap so that you can insert an airline hose through it.

Insert airline so that at least 0.5cm sticks out through it inside the cap. You can insert a bigger hose over this airline so it forms a lock so the airline won't come out. Remember, don't leave too short a hose inside the cap because you want to make sure that the unhatched eggs won't get sucked down when you drain the naupli out.

Silicon the outside of the cap so it won't leak.

Plug the airline hose with a check valve. It prevents water from going up the hose into your airpump and also acts like a stopper when you want to stop the flow of water when you drain.

Bubbling away... the airhose will be gripped by the bottom half... but it won't restrict flow too much.

Woah! Two seconds and I have enough BBS to swish in the tank to feed once in the morning and once in the evening... and the fishies go nuts!

[Phang]

Great,

How we all can have BBS for our fishes not also to mention the corals..

Anymore DIY equipments???

[dfstan]

Hi tang,

where can i get the check valve ? hardware store or lfs ?

[Achilles Tang]

The airline check valve can be bought at LFS.

I think it's only $2 or $7 for the better ones.

[hongqixian]

Great info! Thanks. P.S Clementi Blk 328 pet shop sells adult live brine shrimp at $3 a bag.

[Achilles Tang]

Here's a shot of the airline hose inside the cap with the additional bigger hose securing it.

Here's the reason why you need the airhose to be longer inside because you will get unhatch eggs that could end up being sucked up as you drain the live nauplii into your net.

[roger]

Thank you Achilles!!

You make a good teacher! Haha!

[bawater]

apart from hatching, is anyone trying to grow adult bs? apart from me?

still having problems in finding the correct food stuff & my frozen phytoplankton supply running low- thinking of ordering sprulina powder from brineshrimp direct (US) abt US$10 a 16oz pack(HUFA just too ex$). can't find pure powder or juice here- tried GNC but all got flavourings.

currently using a mixture of frozen phyto,tetra liquid fry no.1,Marine liquidfry(pea flower & egg protein) & a little yeast(cause this the only thing i had growth results with before although it provides no nutrition)

all bubbling in a 2ft. open airline. still getting major die offs for growing adults but bbs up to 7days old got plenty(instar I & II).

In commercial production they use chicken manure but that's out of the equation for my home use!!!. i'm just looking to acheive a continuous culture.

? any comments?

[Achilles Tang]

I believe the key issue is to provide clean water to the adult BS tank regularly... coz the amount of waste they produce is incredible!!! ie. massive pollution.

I gave up... coz it took too long... 2 - 3 weeks to grow to adult size and too much effort, past instar I & II)

I hatch BBS every 2 days to feed my tank... and when newly hatched they are nutritious.... and my queen anthias can get their food.

Some reefer's method of culturing adult brine shrimp.

[chanbi]

I have a ignorance question.. Is it a must to separate the bbs from the unhatched eggs? Will there be a problem if i pour everything in the tank? Affect the water quality? And if it does, which is the simplest method to do the separation?

[bawater]

chanbi, take a look at ach pics, at the end when they hatch u just need to leave them to settle 20mins then the bbs will concerntrate below the surface. either suck them up with airline tubing(i use it like a syphon) or somethin else,u should be able to remove most of the water in between the floating egg shells & those settled at the bottom- u still get eggs but not much.

the shells of BBS are not digestable,a little is ok but if u keep pouring eggs into ur tank then u creati(there is another kind LFS dun sell which do not hatch & fed straight to fishes)ng another problem to solve later on.

thanks ach, i did use small tnks before & thus pollution problem-so i try 2ft now.

Problem is, i have no use for nauplii now. Got eggs,got empty tnks,got some frozen phyto so a bit itchy & had to find a problem to solve-

i know the phyto is real stuff cause had a batch of marine rotifiers bloom on it for months before they crashed cause i didn't thin them out.

[chanbi]

Thanks bawater! Learnt something new today..

[Achilles Tang]

(there is another kind LFS dun sell which do not hatch & fed straight to fishes)

I think you meant decapsulated brine shrimp eggs....?

You can decapsulate BS cysts by pouring some kind of acid on them for a couple of minutes till the outer shell is dissolved.

The eggs can then be fed direct to the tank without worry that the hard shells will cause indigestion to fishes.

[Beagle]

i'm wondering how i can feed the bbs to my fishes ... they are so small !!!

ZZZ

Any advice?

[uncleliew]

It maybe small to our ###### eyes but not to the fishes. Whenever I fed them, all just rushed to finish off the bbs. Try that.

[FuEl]

apart from hatching, is anyone trying to grow adult bs? apart from me?

still having problems in finding the correct food stuff & my frozen phytoplankton supply running low- thinking of ordering sprulina powder from brineshrimp direct (US) abt US$10 a 16oz pack(HUFA just too ex$). can't find pure powder or juice here- tried GNC but all got flavourings.

currently using a mixture of frozen phyto,tetra liquid fry no.1,Marine liquidfry(pea flower & egg protein) & a little yeast(cause this the only thing i had growth results with before although it provides no nutrition)

all bubbling in a 2ft. open airline. still getting major die offs for growing adults but bbs up to 7days old got plenty(instar I & II).

In commercial production they use chicken manure but that's out of the equation for my home use!!!. i'm just looking to acheive a continuous culture.

? any comments?

Are you sure they use chicken manure!?

[air701]

Do they need light.

Cos read instruction on the bootle i bought and stated must have light.

[acedophin]

hello,

Light is for harvesting the BBS. It will attract them to a corner so that you can collect it with minimum effort and unwanted cyst shell(the BBS hatch from the cyst, like chicks from eggs) will not be collected. But low light is required for culturing as the BBS will spread out in the water, swim slowly and achieve more efficient food conversion.

[air701]

Thanks for ur info

Already add brine shrimp eggs in last nite

See whether successful a not after work.

Good luck to me

[planetg]

dun think it's that fast. mine hatches after 48 hrs.

[Achilles Tang]

Good quality brineshrimp eggs should hatch within 24 hours and almost 100% hatch rate.

[hippo]

Hi AT, so what are the good brand for brine shrimp eggs that are available at LFS?

Thanks

[Achilles Tang]

I didn't find any with close to 100% hatch rate.

That is why I imported mine from the US.

Great stuff!

www.brineshrimpdirect.com

[hoppinghippos]

AT, can we use out tank's seawater instead of water and FW salt mix? Then we can use water from the tank's weekly water change?

[Achilles Tang]

Possible. I do that.

The salinity level for hatching BBS is different from our reef tank's sg.

You have to dilute it with tap water.