Baby Brine Shrimp Hatching using previous batch's water

[Arnam Anan]

I have been hatching BBS using old water and they hatched fine. I have used the same water for 2 weeks and every day was a success. I am using instant ocean reef crystal (marine salt) and Aquarium Co-Op Brine Shrimp eggs. The only reason I restart is: water volume gets lower as I feed all my fish baby brine and the salt water mixture. I have been doing it for last 2 months and going strong. I mix new water every 2 weeks.

Should I be worried about any unforeseen circumstances? Feel free to ask any questions and give me suggestions. 

Edited July 7, 2023 by Arnam Anan

[Fish Folk]

I like to mix fresh salt solution for each of my batches. But as long as you have enough salination, reuse could work.

I have heard some people use brine water to set up aquariums for raising Brine Shrimp to maturity. I think it’s important to have a skimmer, filtration, etc.

[kevincanada]

I used a test strip on the left over water and it was pretty bad so I figured new salt every time was cheaper than the risk of wasting the eggs.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I've heard that brine shrimp water can contain a fair amount of ammonia, which is why most people rinse their brine shrimp before giving to the tank.

[Arnam Anan]

On 7/18/2023 at 9:25 AM, kevincanada said:

I used a test strip on the left over water and it was pretty bad so I figured new salt every time was cheaper than the risk of wasting the eggs.

What kind of test strips? results? That's the common wisdom anyways.  I personally haven't had a bad hatch from reusing my salt water mixture. It's been about 2.5 - 3 months now.

[Arnam Anan]

On 7/18/2023 at 10:08 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I've heard that brine shrimp water can contain a fair amount of ammonia, which is why most people rinse their brine shrimp before giving to the tank.

Same here. I was under the same impression too. So, one day, I saw Master Breeder Dean reusing the salt mixture. Then, I decided to do that for a while.  Then decided to be daring and go to the 3rd day. It hatched perfectly fine. After that, I was curious about how long I can go without mixing new salt water mixture. After two weeks, I was left with 1 cup of salt water mixture as I always put some salt water in my aquariums. My plants and fishes both seem to enjoy that little bit of salt in the water. I personally haven't seen any increase in my fishes stress. So, I kept doing it and it kept working.