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Harvesting baby brine, techniques for keeping them fresh


Tetra Guy
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So I got the Ziss bbs hatcher and its producing bumper crops of bbs!! More than i can feed in a day. What’s the best strategy to have an adequate amount on hand daily? Should I refrigerate the extra?  Put the excess in a little holding tank and feed them spirolina? Or just hatch fewer eggs, more often? 🤔 

140952E5-45A0-4213-8AB7-3817837FEE3C.jpeg

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I typically hatch a tsp and do one big feeding in my 20G endler colony, 10g platy grow out, 40g live bearer mosh pit, and a bit for my pseudomugils, white clouds, and betta. 

Occasionally I'll hatch a larger batch and freeze them in little cube molds, so I can feed more than once a day, or when I'm too lazy to do a hatch. 

 

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7 hours ago, Tetra Guy said:

What’s the best strategy to have an adequate amount on hand daily?

Time will tell what's the best for you if you try things out... My definition of "the best strategy" is "less work for the same amount of live BBS", so I hatch double the daily feeding amount every other day and refrigerate half of it. 

 

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I hatch 1 tsp of eggs, strain and rinse the whole hatch and feed half of it to the fish. I rinse out the hatchery then fill it with clean water pour the remaining bbs in and then turn the air on and get a second feeding. 

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I have 3 hatching cones. I start a batch (1/4 teaspoon) in the morning and 1 in the evening. It takes 2 to 3 minutes to rinse the cone and start a new batch. 

I harvest from the ripest cone by pulling out the rigid airline tubing and letting the Artemia nauplii settle to the bottom. Then I siphon 2 feet of airline tubing worth of nauplii out and squirt the whole thing saltwater and all into whatever tank I am feeding.

My baby brine shrimp are always just hatched (or within a couple hours) and at their peak of nutritional value.

 

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How long can brine shrimp live in a hatchery running at 81 degrees. If I siphon off enough for a feeding can't I just leave the rest till the next day? How many days in a row could I do this? I know the nutritional reasons they say to feed in the first batch but that's not always possible.

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On 10/9/2020 at 2:39 PM, Tetra Guy said:

So I got the Ziss bbs hatcher and its producing bumper crops of bbs!! More than i can feed in a day. What’s the best strategy to have an adequate amount on hand daily? Should I refrigerate the extra?  Put the excess in a little holding tank and feed them spirolina? Or just hatch fewer eggs, more often? 🤔 

140952E5-45A0-4213-8AB7-3817837FEE3C.jpeg

Here's a great video on this very hatchery:

 

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On 10/9/2020 at 10:22 PM, Paul said:

I hatch 1 tsp of eggs, strain and rinse the whole hatch and feed half of it to the fish. I rinse out the hatchery then fill it with clean water pour the remaining bbs in and then turn the air on and get a second feeding. 

I do the same, always keep one batch going. One or two feedings fresh, refrigerate leftover and always use it within 24 hours. 

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  • 3 months later...
On 10/13/2020 at 11:04 AM, penguinexdeus said:

what heater is that?  i've been having trouble finding a heater for my ziss hatchery. thanks

Uniclife 25w, cheapie off Amazon. I don’t think it’s necessary, the lamp seems to keep the water warm enough. 

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On 10/9/2020 at 7:22 PM, Paul said:

I hatch 1 tsp of eggs, strain and rinse the whole hatch and feed half of it to the fish. I rinse out the hatchery then fill it with clean water pour the remaining bbs in and then turn the air on and get a second feeding. 

I've been doing something similar. I don't have enough fish to burn through even 1/4 tsp of eggs in a single feeding. Sounds like I could be keeping them in the fridge for a day though? Be nice to be able to feed half my fresh bbs and put the other half in the fridge so I could start another batch of fresh right away.

I've been freezing my leftovers in a tiny ice cube tray and the fish are into it, but not nearly as much as the fresh.

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I never feed my BBS live. I always freeze them immediately using the below silicone ice cube tray, and do 2 more batches over the next couple days. It makes tiny cubes! My fish all love them just the same.

Then, I'm set for several weeks of feeding!

image.png.b5a40f7e1358ae063d01bbeea60b0749.png

Back in the day when I was keeping them alive, I mixed fresh saltwater, rinsed and water-changed them, and kept them in a shallow tupperware (covered, with a hole in the lid) in the fridge. They stayed alive for about a week.

Edited by Bill Smith
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