Alexa Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 I’ve wanted to hatch live baby brine for a while now, so that is my project for this holiday weekend. I wanted to use supplies on hand and only bought the eggs and salt. This old glass drink dispenser seemed perfect for a hatchery. I used a nail and hammer to perforate the metal lid, punched the hole out, then hammered the edges to smooth it out a bit. I added a little over 1.5 gallons warm tap water, 1/3 cup marine salt, and half a teaspoon of eggs. I installed the heater and air stone, then put the dispenser on a hot pad to help retain heat. Initial thoughts: The edges of the hole on the lid could be smoother, and I wonder if I should be covering it to help with heat. I am also concerned there is not enough air; it’s sharing a USB nano air pump with the tank to the left. I do have an extra pump, but I’ll wait and see what things look like tomorrow. 😛 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexa Posted December 26, 2020 Author Share Posted December 26, 2020 We have baby brine! The bad news is the majority of the eggs didn’t hatch. A lot of them settled on one side of the bottom, confirming that there likely wasn’t enough air. ALSO, I did my math wrong and totally miscalculated the water volume. It’s only three quarts of water so there may have been way too much salt. 🙈 At least I had enough brine to feed two tanks! I started a new batch tonight with only three tablespoons of salt and 1/4 teaspoon eggs. Added another USB air pump so hopefully the circulation is better. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexa Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 I got a workout opening the lid today... ...and remembered rust is a thing. Hopefully I’ll come across a plastic or rubber lid that’s the same size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonske Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 On 12/26/2020 at 12:15 PM, Alexa said: Added another USB air pump so hopefully the circulation is better. I once changed the way the air was supplied to my DIY bottle-based hatchery and saw a very different result. Normally the air was connected through the nozzle of a funnel-shaped bottle cup at the bottom, then I tried a rigid tube tossed into the hatchery from the top. The bottle was closed with a standard flat bottle cup for that hatch. Same air pump, same amount of air, same everything. The hatching rate plummeted, most of the eggs did not hatch. It might be tricky to get the optimal circulation in a flat-bottomed vessel, I guess. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexa Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 12 hours ago, Fonske said: It might be tricky to get the optimal circulation in a flat-bottomed vessel, I guess. Indeed. Circulation continues to be a problem, even with the increased air. I have a few ideas that I’ll be trying out this weekend: - ring shaped air stone - no air stone, but add pin holes to the airline tubing and snake it around the bottom 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 19 minutes ago, Alexa said: Indeed. Circulation continues to be a problem, even with the increased air. I have a few ideas that I’ll be trying out this weekend: - ring shaped air stone - no air stone, but add pin holes to the airline tubing and snake it around the bottom worth a shot. you dont learn if something wont work, if you dont try it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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