Lets see your brine shrimp hatcheries

[MickS77]

14 minutes ago, Cory said:

Hatching a tablespoon at a time.

That shell separation is amazing, I can't wait until you can sell them 🙌

 

[Robin]

At the end when your ready to harvest do the shells float to the top? Is that how you harvest from the bottom? Also do the brine shrimp need to be rinsed with fresh water before they are fed to the fish?

[MickS77]

1 minute ago, Robin said:

At the end when your ready to harvest do the shells float to the top? Is that how you harvest from the bottom? Also do the brine shrimp need to be rinsed with fresh water before they are fed to the fish?

Yes and yes. Some people rinse them in a brine shrimp sieve, some don't. Difference being if you think the water from your hatchery is potent enough to pollute your tank. 

[Cory]

The current brand of eggs that we'll be putting out for the coop have insanely good separation. So it makes this step really easy at harvesting. 

[StephenP2003]

What do you folks who use the Ziss hatchery do with the unhatched eggs? I've been draining from the bottom through a sieve. Inevitably there's a sludge of eggs at the bottom that mixes in with the rest of the hatched brine shrimp. Are the encapsulated eggs even safe to feed, or do I need to be somehow more careful when straining?

[ForestJenn]

7 hours ago, Brandy said:

Since I work in academia, they are also too expensive (though you can bet I will be haunting surplus).

I know lab glassware can be expensive but when I looked up the price I was shocked!  I know that they're expensive because the graduations have to be precise but I saw some 2pk borosilicate glass sets for close to $1000.  I did find some that were as cheap as $34 a piece for anyone who wants to try them (not sure about the glass type), but the Ziss Hatchery has to be more bang for your buck if you don't happen to have some on hand.   

@Daniel is a very nice guy! 

By the way, now you have me curious, where does one shop for surplus lab glassware?

[Brandy]

At the university surplus store, where all the good used stuff goes to die. There is a brief open to the public period, if you like old equipment you should check it out. I suspect most universities have them in some capacity, try searching "(university name) surplus store" for your local institution. I have scored some amazing cool stuff, both for our lab and for me personally.

 

 

[Brandy]

Also, @Daniel is a very nice guy.

[Bill Smith]

10 hours ago, StephenP2003 said:

What do you folks who use the Ziss hatchery do with the unhatched eggs? I've been draining from the bottom through a sieve. Inevitably there's a sludge of eggs at the bottom that mixes in with the rest of the hatched brine shrimp. Are the encapsulated eggs even safe to feed, or do I need to be somehow more careful when straining?

I have the same problem. I mitigate this by shining my light at the top first for 10 minutes. bringing the free-swimming bbs off the bottom. Then I drain that sludge, and than I move the light to the bottom.

[Daniel]

17 hours ago, Robin said:

At the end when your ready to harvest do the shells float to the top? Is that how you harvest from the bottom? Also do the brine shrimp need to be rinsed with fresh water before they are fed to the fish?

I harvest from the bottom with a piece of airline tubing. It is pure swimming baby brine shrimp with no unhatched eggshells. I don't rinse, in fact, I squirt the baby brine shrimp, saltwater and all into each tank. I don't think this is recommended but it has never caused a problem for me. I feed baby discus, pygmy sunfish, and apistos this way several times a day. I am not that concerned about a fraction of a milliliter of saltwater going in to a freshwater aquarium. If I never did water changes I am sure it would build up eventually, but I do do water changes frequently. At this point I have convinced myself this is actually beneficial to each tank, but I haven't a scintilla evidence and am very possibly delusional on this.

Edited July 20, 2020 by Daniel
bad grammar

[Robin]

21 minutes ago, Daniel said:

I harvest from the bottom with a piece of airline tubing. It is pure swimming baby brine shrimp with no unhatched eggshells. I don't rinse, in fact, I squirt the baby brine shrimp, saltwater and all into each tank. I don't think this is recommended but it has never caused a problem for me. I feed baby discus, pygmy sunfish, and apistos this way several times a day. I am not that concerned about a fraction of a milliliter of saltwater going in to a freshwater aquarium. If I never did water changes I am sure it would build up eventually, but I do do water changes frequently. At this point I have convinced myself this is actually beneficial to each tank, but I haven't a scintilla evidence and am very possibly delusional on this.

I've read a little salt isn't a bad thing and as you say if you do water changes that would mitigate the long term effect.

[StephenP2003]

How does everyone store eggs? I've been keeping them in my fridge in a plastic container with a desiccant pack, but it's been about two months now. I ordered too much.

[Cory]

I also store in the fridge

[TheDukeAnumber1]

I keep them in the freezer and separate out what I will use within a month into a separate bottle for daily use.

[Struggle]

I keep them in two different containers and in the freezer much like TheDukeAnumber.

[Daniel]

I store them in the fridge. I try not to buy too much at once. I would rather go through the eggs quickly and have a good hatch rate than ordering in bulk to get a better price

[pedrofisk]

I keep a small batch with the hatcheries and the rest in the freezer. The fridge/freezer is too far away form the hatcheries to get them out every day. Previously I only hatched on occasion or for limited runs but I've recently ramped up to every day so I assume my system will evolve.

[tuculover]

You guys and your super clean setups...😖

Didn't want to spring for the blender until I tried this a few times. Can anyone tell me what the white spheres are that settle with the shrimp?

[Daku]

Here is my DIY set up!  

[Bill Smith]

On 7/21/2020 at 7:37 PM, tuculover said:

You guys and your super clean setups...😖

Didn't want to spring for the blender until I tried this a few times. Can anyone tell me what the white spheres are that settle with the shrimp?

That would be your unhatched eggs. They don't float.

Once you dial in all the variables (salt, temperature, baking soda, time) just right, the quantity of unhatched eggs should get smaller and smaller over time.

[TheDukeAnumber1]

On 7/21/2020 at 9:37 PM, tuculover said:

You guys and your super clean setups...😖

Didn't want to spring for the blender until I tried this a few times. Can anyone tell me what the white spheres are that settle with the shrimp?

It's also possible that you may be harvesting a little early for your temps.

[Dean’s Fishroom]

I store my brine shrimp eggs three ways. 🙃

I usually buy them a case of eggs at a time, so all of the sealed/unopened cans are stored in my freezer. Once I open a can for use I keep it sealed in the refrigerator. From that can I pour out about two weeks worth of eggs into a plastic jar that I keep in the fishroom. Why do I do it this way, I honestly don’t know, I’ve been doing it this way for over 50 years. 

 

Recently I was asked if it really matters if brine shrimp eggs are stored in the refrigerator or freezer? It’s a question that I couldn’t answer as I’d never tried storing my eggs long term just at room temperature. I suspect that for the amount of eggs most folks use it probably really doesn’t matter. That said I’d also that unhatched eggs however stored must be kept dry and humidity free. 
 

 

[Irene]

I still use the brine shrimp hatchery kit made by San Francisco Bay Brand. I'm only feeding BBS to 1 fry grow-out tank, so I use a 1-liter bottle and hatch 1/4-1/2 tsp of eggs at a time. The temperature can be adjusted by raising or lowering the lamp. Brine shrimp is harvested by shining the lamp at the bottom of the bottle (usually in the morning when there's less ambient lighting) and then draining the BBS from airline tubing at the base of the hatchery into a small Tupperware container. I don't bother straining out the salt water because I store the BBS in the fridge and pour a little out to my fry 4-6 times throughout the day. It's definitely a perk of working from home!

[Jefft51]

On 7/19/2020 at 6:53 PM, StephenP2003 said:

What do you folks who use the Ziss hatchery do with the unhatched eggs? I've been draining from the bottom through a sieve. Inevitably there's a sludge of eggs at the bottom that mixes in with the rest of the hatched brine shrimp. Are the encapsulated eggs even safe to feed, or do I need to be somehow more careful when straining?

I just got the Ziss hatchery. My first two batches I had the issue of the eggs at the bottom. I drained into a plastic container, shrimp and eggs. Sucked some up with a pipette and holding it at an angle, the eggs slid down to the bottom and I dripped them out. My last batch I hung the container inside a heated tank (previously outside at room temp) and used a tsp of eggs instead of 2. I got little or no unhatched eggs at the bottom.  

[pedrofisk]

I've been upgrading my hatchery area above the laundry sink and know have my nets hanging and color coded by use, paper towels rack and a shelf for food and hatching supplies. With the shelf I can now place my 1000ml pitcher right below the hatchery to drain it hands free. that container of salt is about 12 years old and ran out o salt about 11 years ago, I just refill it with new salt.