Mini batch of live baby brine

[Danio Janet]

Hello! I’ve had my eye on the Ziss Hatcher ever since it came back in stock. I have 10 celestial pearl danios that I’d like to breed. This would be my first time breeding egg layers and my first time hatching baby brine. It’s a very small operation and the Ziss hatchery seams cool but way too big for what I need. (1) Can I hatch a full batch of brine in the Ziss and keep them fresh for a week? (2) Can I hatch a 1/4 batch in the Ziss or does it have to be filled to work? (3) What mini hatchery (not the Ziss) have people used with success? 
 

@Cory Have you done a video on making small batches of baby brine and/or storing live baby brine? 

[Kirsten]

Nice! Good luck with the breeding. CPDs are so cute!

You can refrigerate live BBS for a couple days, or you can freeze them in a small ice cube tray.

But for what you're doing, I'd recommend getting a jar or two of Instant Baby Brine Shrimp. The jars themselves are teeny tiny, and come with the tiniest little dosing spoon, but it's so concentrated that one jar will probably last you a month or more, which is about how long they keep in the fridge after opening. It looks expensive, but it's cheaper than a hatcher, for sure.

[tolstoy21]

CPDs might need something smaller when first hatched, like infusoria or vinegar eels. Or you might have luck with something like Sera Micron food. After they are big enough for BBS, frozen might work as well as live.

Also they make a dish you can hatch small amounts of baby brine in for exactly your scenario. I don’t know the brand name off hand, but it’s red plastic and I see them for sale in the fish stores near me all the time.  The Coop might have them for sale on their site as well.  Might be worth looking into that if you think the Ziss is overkill for raising up some CPDs.

As far as smaller batches in the Ziss, as long as you’re not putting a heater in it, I don’t see why it would not work perfectly fine half full.  

[TheDukeAnumber1]

You can DIY a smaller hatchery out of a water bottle and some air tubing.

DIY Brine Shrimp Hatchery

And tolstoy21 is right, it will probably be too big of a food for the fry but awesome food to get the adults to breed.

[Andy's Fish Den]

Baby brine shrimp is great food for your adult fish as well, so you can feed it to any fish you have. As far as about hatching a smaller amount. Yes, you could hatch whatever amount you want to. the hatcher holds up to 2 liters of water, but you could fill it halfway, use half the amount of salt and just a pinch or two of eggs. When I hatch BBS I always fill my hatcher with 2L of water and salt, and add anywhere from a teaspoon to a tablespoon of eggs. I take whatever is left over after feeding all my fish, and rinse with cold freshwater, then put in a silicone ice tray that I have. It has cubes that are just about the same size as the frozen cubes of fish foods you can buy at the LFS. Then, I can pull out and thaw anytime to feed.

[darkG]

I'm not sure aeration is needed, I would (will) try a jar or whatever flat bottomed container to hatch a small amount. 

[OceanTruth]

This is an interesting question. I had always assumed the Ziss Hatchery would work no mater how small an amount of eggs were used. I don’t have many tanks, so I also wouldn’t need to hatch out large amounts.

Anyone ever try those dish hatcheries that use no air pump? I’ve been thinking about using those, since they seem like they were made for smaller hatches. I’ve heard good reviews, just wondered what people here thought about it.

[Dancing Matt]

I hatch with full water in the ziss but only 1/4 tsp of eggs. I use an air pump and have fine hatches after 24-36 hrs

[Streetwise]

I like the hatchery, but I have only tried two attempts, because I hatched way more than I need. I went small, but I will try smaller. I wish brine shrimp was something I could just run in another pico tank.

When I ran marine tanks with canister filters, I would get all sorts of small shrimp or copepods living in my filters. Maybe I need to start a marine tank again, just for the side effects.

Edited February 23, 2021 by Streetwise

[Hobbit]

Sounds like a fun breeding project! As others have said, you can hatch as few brine shrimp as you want. Use the normal amount of salt and water, but just add a smaller amount of eggs.

I personally use the brine shrimp hatchery kit (https://www.aquariumcoop.com/collections/breeding-supplies/products/brine-shrimp-hatchery-kit) with a one liter bottle. I may experiment with the shallow dish method—I hadn’t heard of that before!

[Maggie]

If you have the space, I'd say go for the Ziss. I have two basic plastic hatchers and only need a light for them. I don't have a lot of fish and don't need the Ziss, but the hatch success rate is a lot lower in my hatcher, as it relies on just surface air. If I had the space, I'd get a Ziss and just make small batches at a time. Once I have a few more fish, and use up a little more of my dry/frozen foods, I'll probably figure out a way to make the space for it.

[Schwack]

I've been growing out my first batch of CPD fry for ~6 weeks now. They're definitely too small for BBS right after hatching. I tried culturing infusoria, but just ended up with disgusting water. Hikari First Bites worked OK, but the Sera Micron fry food is much smaller and better suited to newly hatched CPD fry. It took 2-3 weeks before they were big enough for baby brine shrimp, but now that they are, they're packing on weight and size very quickly.

As far as hatching smaller batches, I use a homemade hatcher made from a 2 liter pop bottle and a screw top with a 1/4" airline hose tip. It lets me run air through the eggs while they hatch and I can do 1/4 tsp at a time with great results.

[Trish]

On 2/21/2021 at 7:58 PM, TheDukeAnumber1 said:

You can DIY a smaller hatchery out of a water bottle and some air tubing.

DIY Brine Shrimp Hatchery

And tolstoy21 is right, it will probably be too big of a food for the fry but awesome food to get the adults to breed.

I liked my DIY 1 litre hatchery, I always had 2 going, one to hatch and one to feed.   My aeration was airline tubing with a small diameter piece of rigid tubing dropped in the bottle.  It sprayed a bit from the top so I cut a plastic lid with hole for the tubing to go through.  I solved the temperature issue.... instead of using a lamp I clipped the bottles inside a 5 gallon tank with heater also occupied by the ram fry I was going to keep. Shone the flash light to get the BBS to the top and used a pipette to feed.   Loved seeing the  fry with little pink bellies after feeding !  The nano tanks gobbled them up too.  

Edited February 26, 2021 by Trish
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[TheDukeAnumber1]

@Trish

Atm my lid is aluminum foil lol, but I did get a heater to fit in there. Future plan is to make a pretty stand and lid eventually.

[Trish]

It's great to be handy! @TheDukeAnumber1 

Bottom empty is much better as I've found the egg shells at the top end up getting fed to the fry as well if not careful.  Have you considered a LED light that you could adjust and aim into your stand?  Well done!

[TheDukeAnumber1]

@Trish

I have experimented a bit but I haven't noticed a difference in hatch rate or my harvest efficiency, so I am still waiting to stumble upon that perfect light that fits the space.