brine shrimp hatcheries...

[mtnreefer]

I'm thinking of getting a brine shrimp hatchery and was just wondering the pros and cons of this decision....I figure it will give my fish ( especially the mandarin) some live food to eat....any comments on this or experiences good or bad??? Thanks

[ReefDave]

glad you asked this. after my stand was finished I was going to start reading up in this! Hope some people here are doing this and can feedbaack.

Dave

[imstriker]

I have a cheap little kit that I bought. It works great. I think it is San Francisco something. I could look when I got home, but needless to say it is real simple. The 2 liter bottle method seems to work well too. I don't do it very often as it is not really healthy for the fish. I enjoy it for some fun every now and then though.

[Reefer Addict]

I've had good luck hatching brine shrimp nauplii, but it's very difficult to raise them to adulthood (even though it only takes a few weeks).
Brine shrimp are like goldfish... they really pollute the water so you have to change it frequently. Between the expense of salt for water changes, food, and the equipment to start the hatchery, it's almost cheaper just to buy them from the LFS where they usually get them fresh from the ocean (at least here in California where I am).

I finally gave up on it after 4 failed batches... maybe you'll have better luck.

Here's a good website that goes over just what it takes to raise brine: RayJay's Brine Shrimp Site
HTH

[ReefDave]

Thanks that was just the kinda link I was looking for.

[Reefer Addict]

No problemo... glad to help.

[mtnreefer]

thanks for the info!!

[wanareef]

Checkout on RC, Flame*Angel has a nice setup, on her website here Brine Shrimp are the most nutrious the first 6hrs after hacthing. For adults, if you feed them phyto or Selcon before feeding to your tank, this will "add" nutririon.

just my .02

[CAT]

I saw an interesting idea on a thread a while back - the guy takes a 35mm film canister, drills a hole in the cap, puts some eggs inside and tucks it in the tank somewhere. Figures that once the shrimp hatch they'll head for the light through the cap and into the tank. Could work

[thefatman]

flame angels site is where i got the idea for brine shrimp and phyto. her setup makes it look so easy.

well, i also got a portion of the idea for my stand from her too.

her site, and tank are both awesome!

[Casey]

One warning brine shrimp eggs stink when you are trying to hatch them so bad I stopped it completly I just raise plankton now.

[RayPollett]

Casey,

Could you go into how you raise planton?

Thanks,
Ray

[ReefDave]

That is a riot that you guys modelled anything after flame angel. She is the one that forced me back into the hobby. She doesn't know it but someone tossed me a link to here site in a chat one night, and seeing how neat and organized she was got me to thinking.......

Jay, I got the idea to build the cabinet all the way up the side of my tank from her, it wasn't until I saw your stand that I decided it would be better to prepare for that large tank (which I got permission for yesterady)!

Anyone actually feeding with the nauplii? I think if nothing else this would be a fun thing to watch. Maybe im a sicko.

Dave

[RayPollett]

Has anyone used the Tom Continuous Hatch"nfeeder by Aquarium Products?

I've been thinking about trying one.

I do hatch Brine shrimp from time to time and feed it to my tanks.

Ray