DIY shrimp Hatcheries...

[brewmaster15]

Hi all,
anybody make their own brine shrimp hatchery? Please post it here...

-al

Heres my not so high tech one...

Heres my Shrimp hatchery.....
http://a5.cpimg.com/image/57/F2/10911575-a407-021C0195-.jpg

http://a6.cpimg.com/image/58/F2/10911576-0d87-0195021C-.jpg

http://a7.cpimg.com/image/59/F2/10911577-ff2e-021C0195-.jpg

I basically , drill a hole in the bottom of a coke bottle.Pass a rigid plastic air line tube in to the cap, and , leaving 1/2 inch sticking out of the bottom of the bottle. Drill one more hole as vent.
I fill the bottle with salt water (sg 1.022), shrimp , and a pinch of baking soda from the cap. With my fingers over the 2 holes. . cap tightly and connect to an airpump. Seems like a lot of work but it allows me to use any empty tank as a water bath, and I heat the tank to about 82-85 F to speed up hatching.

HTH,
al

[farm41]

I do basically the same thing with a few differences. Mine is a 1 liter bottle with the bottom cut off and inverted for a cap, then I set it in a vase inside of a 10 gallon tank, just the right height.

I do like the custom hanger idea though, it wouldn't have the problem of worms getting under it like mine does. My hatchery warming tank has Apisto's in it.

[kevster]

mine is similiar but I use a 2 1/2 gallon tank as it holds 3 - 2lt bottles perfectly. Here's a dumb question. How do you get your shrimp out. It doesn't look easy. I cut the bottom off my bottles and also decapsulate the eggs and use a turkey baster to squirt the bs into a net. I get the bs to start to hatch at about 20 hours with water temp about 82.

[brewmaster15]

Hi,
Getting them out is easy. Can't see it well, but I have a rigid plastic tube that passes to the bottom of the bottle. Shut the air off. Wait a few minutes. no lights on the tank. The newly hatched BBS (12-15 hours at a specific gravity 1.022 ) will all sink. The shells will float. disconnect airline at the pump, and syphon the shrimp to a new container. You will leave the majority of the shells behind this way.

The container I use is a 1 gal fish bowl. Then I can start another hatch immediately.


hth,
al

[farm41]

Siphon, use the same tube as is used for air. Just disconnect the opposite end, suck on it to get the siphon started and drop into a coffee strainer.

[kevster]

You guys might want to think about decapsulating the eggs. I find it so easy to just use a baster and suck up the bs. No waiting, no shining lights, no eggs shells, you use all the bs, it doesn't give off any odors.
later
kevster

[brewmaster15]

Whats your technique for decaps?

I know there are a lot of variations out there, and I have used a few.

-al

[kevster]

Well I use a 2 lb deli salad container (as I own a deli so I have plenty) and I put in 2 cups of water and 1 cup of bleach and 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of eggs. i put the air on pretty strong and bubble it for about 10 to 15 minutes. Then I pour it into a bs net and rinse it in the sink for about 20 seconds then put the net in a 1 lb deli container that is full of water with about 3 tablespoons of vinegar in it for about 1 minute then rinse again and put it in the soda bottle. I re-use the vinegar dip for weeks.
later
kevster

[Discusgeo]

Mine is inside a 10 gallon tank. The unit holds 3 bottles made from used coke bottles. The rack came from Aquabid from a person called USMC1 for $15.00
http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/pubimage.asp?id_=1085188
http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/pubimage.asp?id_=1086266

Al,
Brineshrimp Direct has decapsulated eggs as well. I really like the convenience when in a hurry, and don't have time to get the bbs hatchery goin. The fry aren't as crazy about it as the live tho.

George, could you put me in touch with USMC1 as I am not an Aquabid person?... I really like the rack idea and have an open 10 gallon available. I am currently using a system similar to yours and Al's only using 2 gallon octagon tanks/with lights. My problem is that the soda bottles aren't stable enough and tend to tip while floating. Thanks for the info, as I think the rack will alleviate that problem....

Julz :)

Brineshrimp Direct's decaps are non-hatching. If I'm thinking right, decaps can't be stored dry.

MSWOODWORKS @ aol.com here's USMC1's email address. His name is Marty.
I've bought guppy drop traps from him. Excellent acrylic work.

Remove the spaces to use the address.

[Ryan]

DiscusRus is right, the decaps from brineshrimpdirect.com do not hatch. However, older fry will eat them. And supposedly they are more nutritious. It took a while for my baby angels to accept them. I had to feed live brine for about a week. Then they started eating anything small enough to fit into their mouths.

Ryan

[peety]

The temp in my house is generally good enough for raising bs. Therefore no need to use a bath. Just drill a hole in the drink bottles and hang them from hooks on the wall.... I just use the preheated water prior to doing a water change. Got a couple hanging there now and figure i can get about a hundred across my smallest wall ;) ;)
Might not work so well in winter in the States but OK here

Ryan..same here..my fish have to eat the live bbs a few days before they'll even look at the decaps. I start by mixing in a few with the bbs as I'm sure you do. I've used the "golden pearls" products with angelsfish in the past and can't say that I recommend them. Don't know why specifically, just don't think my fish do well on them. I haven't tried them on discus and probably won't. I suspect rapid ammonia spikes/bacterial growth. I think that product breaks down really fast.

I don't keep my brine shrimp in a warm bath either. My fish room temp stays in the low 60's in the wintertime and I get good hatch rates, it just takes about 36-48 hours instead of 24. I keep 3 bottles going and just plan ahead. The upside is that my shrimp hatching bottles don't get funky smelling as fast either.

What I really need is a device to automatically turn the air "BACK ON" after I siphon out whatever I"m going to feed. I can't begin to imagine how many times I leave and come back hours later and the clump of bbs is at the bottom of the bottle, dead as fried chicken. Donate generously to Alzhiemers research please.

[kevster]

You know I am not sure if your aware of this but after you decapsulate the eggs they still hatch out, supposedly at a higher hatch percentage and in a shorter time. You don't have to turn off air or anything. just stick the net in the bottle and net some shrimp and rinse if you like.
kevster

The fresh decaps will hatch. I don't think the ones that are stored dry, hatch. Brine shrimp direct has hatching decaps instructions on their website and I wrote asking if what they sell as "non-hatching decaps" would hatch if you followed their instruction. The guy said that their decaps don't hatch and he wasn't sure why the instructions were on their site. The decaps I've seen for sale, that were supposed to hatch, were in a solution and as expensive as good advice. I've got some decaps from Brineshrimp direct and I'll put some in a bottle today and report the results. I hope they do!

[gojwojciech]

Hi I'm a hobbyst from Poland , in here is very hard to find any info about fishes and other things connected with kipping them. I have really simple question:
Haw much salt I need to put into the water to begin shrimp kipping, I'v got same shrimp from China, but the instruction is alsow in chinese language and for me this is imposible to understand. I have 2500L Tougether of mY all aquariums, and about 6 pairs and some young fishes. But I need to get shrimps farm? I have made an aquarium for it about 70L but I have now idea haw much salt I need to give to the water to be okay.

Thanks for any replies

[jesser]

so tell me why do the bottles have to be upside down? and why do u have to use a bottle any way?? cant you just drop them in a bowl/tank with the proper salinity and whala i am just asking i dont know my lfs told me i could but u all must have reasons aND i need to know, i am learning. i know hopefully pretty soon i will need to be successful so i need to practice.. the main thing is the easiest cheapest suggestion i can be successful to provide bbs for my fry.??? esplaintome ;)

[kevster]

You can hatch them in any kind of bowl as long as the salinity is right but you get a much better hatch when the eggs circulate and by using a soda bottle upsidedown you get all the eggs to circulate with a little airation
kev

[jesser]

so i guess i can use a bottle and even use my used water frommy reef tank?

[kevster]

Sure and if you want to make it even easier try decapsulating the eggs 1st.
no messy egg shells to deal with, no smell and you have 100% bs food.
kev

[Richman]

Instead of 2 liter bottles, I use quart jars. I add salt and eggs, and drop an airstone in each jar. Then set them on a heating pad on the floor at any out of the way location. This method of heating is easier than a small aquarium, (and cheaper). IMO
I don't keep accurate measurements of temp, but they are currently hatching in less than 20 hours. The temp is on next to lowest setting.
I remove the airstone, let them sit for a few minutes to settle and then take out with a turkey baster. I empty one jar , refill, and then go to the next, so I am continuously staggering the hatching. Currently 3 jars.

[jake]

My shrimp hatchers,rotifer and green water jugs are a bit different,

I use a 5 gallon water jug, inverted, with the bottom cut out and silicon a tap into the neck, and they stand on a rack of six of them,

airstone in the top which I remove about ten minutes before drawing off shrimp, and I keep flor. lights 24/7 above and behind them, usually use two with brine shrimp, and I feed the rotifers and bs about 3 times a day with the green water, this setup produced bs for 50 pairs of angels and their offspring plus a bunch of livebearers,

extremely important to be sure not to splash any of the rotifer water into the green water jugs, in about 3 days they will clean it up.

[ozone]

Hi there,
I kinda use a similar version to most but much smaller . I have three smaller bottles that I fill with salt water and they are hung on the edge of the small tank in heated water . This way I can stagger the amount so that I have just enough for each day. They are constantly airating unless i'm siphoning them. I use cut up coat hanger wire to hang up the bottles over the edge of the tank. :-*

[Haywire]

Ah,

here's a trick I learned last year at the club. If you are using closed bottles this is a simple, easy trick for getting BBS out of the hatchery.

Most set ups have an airstone going into the bottle, and a vent hole. By adding a third line to the bottom of the hatchery you can pump bbs through this line ;D by blocking the vent hole.

[Ardan]

What kind of salt are you using, and how much salt / 10 gal = 1.022 spg?
Just curious as I have not done it in yrs and never had much luck back then.

Thanks :)

[Discusgeo]

I don't bother to measure mine. I also have a salt water tank so I just grab a small handfull of Instant Ocean Sea salt and throw it in the bottle. I do use R.O water for the mix.

[Ardan]

Thanks George! :)

[nokoto]

Here's my hatchery

As for the guy in polland 36grams of ROCK SALT per 1 Litre

Wayne

[forzados]

Well, i saw that many pictures have been lost in the forum, so i leave the link to my post of "Nic-o-Brine Hatchery" :D
http://200.73.191.7/croa.com.ar/ipb2/index.php?showtopic=180

[troyclark]

The temperature in my fish room stays at around 75 degrees year round so I don't use additional heat. I build this from 1x lumber and painted it since it will be wet often. I used a large hole saw to make the holes and cut slits in the front so that when I set the 2 liter bottle in it the airline won't get kinked. I can have four bottles going at all times. I take the two liter bottles and remove one of the "legs" on it drill a hole in the cap and silicone a airstone fitting minus the airstone (I have a lot of used airstones around and just break off the stone part to get the fittings) plug an airline into the end, turn on the pump and pour in the water, salt, and eggs.

[troyclark]

Heres another view.

[ronrca]

:thumbsup: Nice setup! Thanks for sharing. Now I know how I want to build my shrimp hatchery!