problem hatching brine shrimp eggs

[gary1218]

I have been successfully hatching brine shrimp eggs and feeding them to my baby rams for the past several weeks. All of a sudden I'm having a problem with a fair amount of the unhatched eggs and or empty cysts settling to the bottom along with the live babies when I turn off the air. When I try to suck out the babies from the bottom I get the other crap in with them as well.

I have the typical set up of inverted 2 liter pop bottles, I use 1 1/2 TBSP non-iodized salt per 1 qt. of water, water temp is 83-85, pH over 8, and I only hatch 1/2-1 tsp of eggs at a time.

Any ideas???

GARY

[GulfCoastDiscus]

Hi Gary,
Eggs might be too old. Were they kept in the frieg? I had the same problem with old eggs.

Dan

[gary1218]

Eggs are brand new. Just got them in from Ken's Fish.

Oddly enough, the eggs I was using and didn't have any problems with were probably at least a year old and stored in the refrigerator all that time.

GARY

[GulfCoastDiscus]

I had the same problem with a lb. of brine eggs that I recently bought. It could be the ones you got was not properly stored or how long they been stored away. The only thing I can think of is chlorine but I'm sure this is not the case with your experience. :)

Dan
Try decapsulating.

[gary1218]

I just decapped a batch last night :) I'd rather not have to go through the hassle though.

GARY

[Barb Newell]

Hi Gary, I've been having problems with mine lately too. Mine usually hatch in 24 hours, these new eggs take 30+ hours to hatch. Try leaving them a few hours longer.

Barb

[gary1218]

Thanks Barb.

[Discusgeo]

If you are looking for quality eggs I get a regular shipments in every few months. Mine normally hatch in 18-24 hours if you have the water requirments set correctly. I have them all stored in a local cold storage facility here in Phoenix at 4 degrees C or 39.2 degrees Fahrenheit. Cans of 90% hatch rate is $26.00 per can plus $6.95 for S&H This includes complete directions on hatching, growing and feeding your Brine Shrimp so that they don't die off in a day or so from lack of nutrition once their yolk sac is used up. ALso it shows you 2 different hatchery setups you can use at home.
George

[gary1218]

Thanks Geroge. I'll keep it in mind next time I need a can.

GARY

[kpix99]

Hello Gary,

We use BB from www. BrineshrimpDirect.Com Ours hatch in 10 hours ;)

The secret here is 1 liter bottle filled with straight tap water with a PH 7.5 two TBs of Home depot salt to 1tbs of brine eggs. Heat lamps to induce hatching and keep temp around 86F 1 drop a bleach to soften the shells and a pinch of bakeing soda to raise the Ph to 8.0 and keep it there ;D

hth
Takecare
Cary + family

[gary1218]

Thanks Cary.

I should've stuck with the eggs from Brine Shrimp Direct. That was what I was using when I wasn't having any problems. They wanted a lot for shipping so I decided to give Ken's Fish a try. I can still use them if I decap them first, just and added hassle though.

I do like your idea of adding a drop of bleach. I'm gonna try that.

GARY