STORAGE OF BBS

[Barb Newell]

Any suggestions on what to use to attach the airline tube into the pop bottle cap (through the drilled hole) when making the brine shrimp pop bottle hatchery? I tried hot glue and aquarium silicone, they don't hold very well.

Barb

[jim]

Glue a plastic tube into the plastic cap with plastic glue and then stick the hose on the tube. Works for me.

I use Epoxy glue. Fast drying type.
Jimmy.

Use the two part epoxies, they'll hold.
LOL Jimmy beat me by 1min 10 sec

Get new caps for the bottles and drill smaller holes. No need for any glue or silicone.

Dave

[Barb Newell]

THANKS FOR THE HELP. :)

[midnight1]

i agree with dave_c - that's what i did years ago when breeding angels. i also floated the bottles in a ten gallon tank to - A. help regulate the temperature. B. if they did leak it didn't matter - i held them upright with a small spring clamp

paul

[April]

well i have mine in a 10 gallon tank also wiht a heater. and water in it. enough so that the bottles dont float away. and i just have the bottles uprigth with the airline in the open top. then i take it out and put the lid on and take it to work.
works fine. i just use an airline and siphon the bbs out into the net at work.
i have a few bottles going. used to have the inverted bottle cut...and held by the other bottle ...but this is far easier.
i have the top on the 10 gallon tank to keep the heat in.

[Barb Newell]

Thanks April, that sounds simple.
I siphoned them out tonight into a brine shrimp net (only half of them come to the bottom to siphon - even with a light) and many of them went through the net!

Barb

Use a coffee filter barb....it works way better than the net ;D

Tony

[Barb Newell]

Thanks, I'll try that.

Next question....
what's the best way to store the hatched bbs for the day after siphoning them out?

Barb

Here's what I do. Turn off the air to the bottle, turn on a flashlight at the bottom of the bottle. The bottom turns very orange, it looks like orange juice. Then I unhook the airline and start a siphon and just siphon into a cup. I get about 1/8" on the bottom of the cup and stop. That represents tons of bbs. Then I just use an eyedropper to suck that out of the cup and squirt at the fry. I don't worry about the little bit of salt in the water, it's immaterial compared to the amount of water in the tank and the fish don't notice. After feeding I just hook up the airline, turn on the air and remove the flashlight. The bbs will continue flying around until the next feeding. After about a day of this there are too few bbs left to worry about catching and I just empty the bottle and start on the next one.

Dave

[Barb Newell]

Thanks Dave.

Barb

[Dennis_Hardenburge]

I must be a simpleton
I just use gallon jars and a 40watt light buld for heat, remove the air tubing wait five minutes and siphon the brine shrimp off the bottom, add more eggs, renew the salt water when the jar is almost empty.
Dennis

Dennis

I must be a bigger simpleton..... I dont even use anything for heat. ;D
Just curious, what percentage of fresh salt water are you adding to the jar? Ive always had to start with completely fresh brine, including washing the bottle between hatches. If I dont, it gets pretty skanky. :puke: How long can you go before you start brand new?

Tony

I don't see why doing something different makes anyone a simpleton. I spent 5 minutes putting my hatchery together. All I had to do was remember to save the pop bottles. Other then that it was a no-brainer. I had the tank (used to be my live cbw keeper) anyway and hate to let anything go to waste. My method allows me to start a new, small batch every day and have another batch on the go. It works great. The heater is probably unnecessary but I had it so I couldn't justify not using it. Siphoning from the airline through the bottom of the cap is about as easy as it gets.

Your system sounds like what Cary uses, although he has 2 going. It's even easier then what I use. We all do things slightly different but hopefully arrive at the same place.

Dave

[tjudy]

:)
There is a great product out there for solving the problem of getting the air through the cap od a 2 liter bottle for BBS hatcheries.... bulkheads.

These can be inserted through a hole in the cap and secured with the nut. No glue!!!! They will not leak. You can use a 1/4" hose clamp to secure the airline to the bulkhead nipple.

Attached are pics. If anyone needs any, I have a lot, please e-mail me.

mesquito_ted@yahoo.com