Brine shrimp hatchery dish or DIY bottle hatchery for fry in a community tank?

[Rube_Goldfish]

I think I'm ready to try hatching live brine shrimp. Specifically, I've got Apistogramma cacatuoides fry in a community tank that I'd like to feed better. I've been deliberating between buying a dish hatchery like this one:

and building a traditional DIY bottle hatchery.

With the dish, I like that you can take smaller but more frequent harvests since fry would ideally eat multiple times a day, but in a community tank I worry that the adult fish (EDIT: adult fish in this tank include cardinal tetras, honey gouramis, and sterbai corydoras; I'm not that worried about the parent apistos) would hoard a smaller harvest, and moreover that if I target feed it to where the fry like to hide out, I'd draw the adults over to them. Another advantage is that it doesn't require any air or heat, making it easier and freeing up placement within my house.

On the other hand, a traditional DIY bottle hatchery or Ziss hatchery would give me more than enough brine shrimp to work with, but only once every 24 or 36 hours; the fry would have to make due with powdered food the rest of the time. Would that even be worth the trouble? (I know lots of people run two or even three hatcheries on a staggered timeline but I've never done it at all; jumping from zero to three hatcheries seems a bit much!) The other advantage is that is cheaper to do the bottle; the dish kit runs about $25 on Amazon.

Any suggestions on which direction you would go? Anything I'm not thinking of?

Edited January 31, 2023 by Rube_Goldfish
Clarified stocking

[Guppysnail]

I take small harvests for 48 hours out of 1 hatch in my Ziss. I harvest what I need by shining a flashlight near the opening for a few seconds. Longer light makes larger harvest as they congregate near the flashlight when I turn it on and then turn the air back on. Dishes have lower hatch rates and often take longer to hatch. 
 

I freeze leftovers in small portions in a mini silicone ice cube tray so I always have some even if they are not live. 

Edited January 31, 2023 by Guppysnail

[TeeJay]

This is a diy hatchery I made out of a 2 liter a Sterlite shoe box and a single metal air valve in the cap of the 2 liter. That way when it was time to hatch just open the valve and drain into a strainer or seive.

[Rube_Goldfish]

So while the dish can do some things well, it doesn't necessarily do anything better than what a Ziss or a DIY bottle hatchery can do? That sort of seals the deal for me, I think.

On 1/31/2023 at 1:30 PM, Guppysnail said:

I harvest what I need by shining a flashlight near the opening for a few seconds. Longer light makes larger harvest as they congregate near the flashlight when I turn it on and then turn the air back on.

So you shine a light for some brief period of time, depending on how big of a harvest you want, draw out the collected BBS, then shut the light off and turn the air back on? That makes sense! Do you notice a difference in body size from different harvest times, or does the natural variation in hatch speed average it all out?

[Matt B]

I found that the Hobby Brine Shrimp Direct dish is incredibly convenient and a great way to get started hatching. Very simple design and easy to use and clean. The Co-Op's eggs hatch perfectly in this device. I've been useing instant ocean salt ( 8 table spoons per gal)  and a 50 watt heat lamp. I can get brine shrimp  hatching in 18 hrs. Works well for feeding a small amount of fish. I can see getting another one or eventually moving up to the Ziss as my fish tank obsession really starts to get out of control! 😄  I've even been feeding freshly hatched brine shrimp to adult  pea puffers!

[Matt B]

Best food for fish fry 😊

[Rube_Goldfish]

Thanks for the detailed description and photos!