Live Baby Brine Shrimp Hatching Help

[eddie462]

I hatch Aquarium Co-op brand bbs eggs in the Ziss hatchery with API aquarium salt, and a Co-op usb air pump for air. I use tapwater that has chlorine in it, because in a video with Dean he said that the chlorine helps break down the shells. My house temperature with central A/C is set to 75 degrees F but in winter it gets lower. Normally when my house is at 75 F the bbs hatch in 24 hours. It is still winter so my house temperature has been going down during the night. I decided to add a small heat lamp with a 25 W bulb to speed up the hatch rate. I remember hearing this tip from Cory.
The first picture is the bbs after 24 hours with the heat lamp on. As you can see there aren’t a lot of shrimp hatched. The second picture was taken 24 hours after the first and I turned off the heat lamp. There are many more bbs hatched in that picture. I tried to use a heat lamp before when my house temperature wasn’t fluctuating and I had the same low hatch rate result.  Is there something that I am doing wrong? I have the heat lamp bulb about three inches away from the side of the hatchery. I always use 1/2 a tablespoon of salt with 1 liter of water. 

[KittenFishMom]

I had great luck hatching shrimp this summer, then the first several batches I tried to hatch this fall failed. I put a thermometer prob in the hatchery and realized I was over heating the water.

You can check this by setting everything up, but not adding the shrimp eggs. Move the light in and out until you get an arrangement that gets the temp you are aiming for. 

When I get a low hatch rate at 24 hours, I add some spirulina powder to feed the shrimp that have hatched and keep the hatchery going until I think most have hatched. The fish seem to like the spirulina as much as the hatched shrimp. 

[Torrey]

On 2/7/2022 at 5:35 PM, eddie462 said:

I hatch Aquarium Co-op brand bbs eggs in the Ziss hatchery with API aquarium salt, and a Co-op usb air pump for air. I use tapwater that has chlorine in it, because in a video with Dean he said that the chlorine helps break down the shells. My house temperature with central A/C is set to 75 degrees F but in winter it gets lower. Normally when my house is at 75 F the bbs hatch in 24 hours. It is still winter so my house temperature has been going down during the night. I decided to add a small heat lamp with a 25 W bulb to speed up the hatch rate. I remember hearing this tip from Cory.
The first picture is the bbs after 24 hours with the heat lamp on. As you can see there aren’t a lot of shrimp hatched. The second picture was taken 24 hours after the first and I turned off the heat lamp. There are many more bbs hatched in that picture. I tried to use a heat lamp before when my house temperature wasn’t fluctuating and I had the same low hatch rate result.  Is there something that I am doing wrong? I have the heat lamp bulb about three inches away from the side of the hatchery. I always use 1/2 a tablespoon of salt with 1 liter of water. 

The lower temperature of the house, and lower temperature of the water coming out of the tap, are slowing the hatch rate.

Dean has a heated fish room, not individual tanks, and the increased *constant* temperature is the biggest reason he has such consistent hatch rates. He also keeps the eggs in the freezer, I believe? So the eggs don't degrade in the warm moist air of the fishroom.

Variables to consider:

Fluctuations in temperature when using the lamp as a heat source

Potential aging of eggs/oxidation

Water quality variations due to colder temperatures 

I believe that Dean also talked about how the hatches took longer/had more variability before he had a dedicated room, and before he perfected the ziss bubbles from the airstone. Too much turbidity seems to also impact hatch rate?

The biggest thing, having the light at the bottom of the ziss hatchery, encourages the bbs to swim down to the bottom, and turning off the air when collecting the bbs, allows the rest of the eggs another 24 hours to hatch. 

My recommendation would be carefully monitor your temps, and see how many bbs you harvest at 24 hours, and how many more at 48 hours, and see if the rest of the eggs hatch if given another 24 hours.

Another trick that has helped increase/speed up hatch rate, is give the eggs a short soak in more chlorinated water, strain, and then add to your ziss hatchery. This is where coffee filters come in handy, to strain the eggs😁

At 75° and 11° humidity (desert living) it takes my bbs 36 hours for maximum hatch rate. So everything is variable, depending on water quality, egg quality, and storage of eggs.

Or, as a good friend reminded me, "it's not rocket science"... bbs are living beings, and they are not obligated to be cookie cutters, lol

[eddie462]

On 2/8/2022 at 1:26 PM, Torrey said:

The lower temperature of the house, and lower temperature of the water coming out of the tap, are slowing the hatch rate.

Dean has a heated fish room, not individual tanks, and the increased *constant* temperature is the biggest reason he has such consistent hatch rates. He also keeps the eggs in the freezer, I believe? So the eggs don't degrade in the warm moist air of the fishroom.

Variables to consider:

Fluctuations in temperature when using the lamp as a heat source

Potential aging of eggs/oxidation

Water quality variations due to colder temperatures 

I believe that Dean also talked about how the hatches took longer/had more variability before he had a dedicated room, and before he perfected the ziss bubbles from the airstone. Too much turbidity seems to also impact hatch rate?

The biggest thing, having the light at the bottom of the ziss hatchery, encourages the bbs to swim down to the bottom, and turning off the air when collecting the bbs, allows the rest of the eggs another 24 hours to hatch. 

My recommendation would be carefully monitor your temps, and see how many bbs you harvest at 24 hours, and how many more at 48 hours, and see if the rest of the eggs hatch if given another 24 hours.

Another trick that has helped increase/speed up hatch rate, is give the eggs a short soak in more chlorinated water, strain, and then add to your ziss hatchery. This is where coffee filters come in handy, to strain the eggs😁

At 75° and 11° humidity (desert living) it takes my bbs 36 hours for maximum hatch rate. So everything is variable, depending on water quality, egg quality, and storage of eggs.

Or, as a good friend reminded me, "it's not rocket science"... bbs are living beings, and they are not obligated to be cookie cutters, lol

Thank you for the tips. I do use a light to attach the bbs. I’ll try soaking the eggs first and monitoring the temperature of the hatchery. 

[Andy's Fish Den]

I see you said you only use a half tablespoon of salt per liter of water, I would bump that up to 1 Tbsp/ liter. I use the coop eggs in the Ziss hatcher, two liters of water, 2 heaping tablespoons of marine salt mix, and 1-1.5 teaspoon egg. I let mine go for 36-48 hours before harvesting, I don't heat the bbs as they hatch, and my fishroom isn't kept too warm, low to mid 70s. 

[Goosedub]

I have mine hatch at 70-75 degrees. I harvest at 24 hrs 36hrs and 48 hrs. The 36hr harvest is definately the heaviest. I freeze mine when not in use and agree that more salt, I do 2L with 2 TAblespoon

[TheDukeAnumber1]

On 2/7/2022 at 6:57 PM, KittenFishMom said:

When I get a low hatch rate at 24 hours, I add some spirulina powder to feed the shrimp that have hatched and keep the hatchery going until I think most have hatched. The fish seem to like the spirulina as much as the hatched shrimp. 

You probably don't need to / shouldn't do this, IIRC they don't start feeding until about 5 days old.