I have read a lot on the net about hatching brine shrimp but not much on raising them to adulthood. So I decided to do it on my own. Im now on my third batch and have had them alive for one week inside a 5.5 gallon tank with an under gravel filter and airpump filter so it doesn't suck the shrimp in. any suggestions?
Brine shrimp (arteMia)
- Thread starter khisanthax
- Start date
a few weeks ago I researched raising them and found a few links but unfortunately I didnt save them, I had them survive about a week as well with no food added, I ended up with the flu right after setting them up so honestly I didnt follow thru with them once they hatched. If I can dig up those links again I will post them here.
Hatching the shrimp is easy, and there's plenty of info on that on the net. Raising the shrimp to adults ... that's a different story. I've hatched the shrimps a few times. I had one full sized adult shrimp ... but then lost "him" when I accidently dropped the temperature 12 degrees and killed off that batch.
What I have noticed is that my 5.5g brine tank is extremely cloudy. I'm beginning to postulate that they have been feeding off of the micro algae in the tank, and that has been keeping them well feed for the past week. But I've also been feeding them soy bean powder. So, what I'm going to do now is I'm going to cut back on the lights a lot, almost no light, maybe an hour or two a day, and just feed them the soy bean. If the water clears, then I know it was cloudy because of algae and not soy bean and if they live I also know they can feed healthily off of the soy bean but if they die I know it's because they feed better off the micro algae in the water ... assuming of course that with the lack of light the tank in the water clears up tremendously. That sound right?
What I have noticed is that my 5.5g brine tank is extremely cloudy. I'm beginning to postulate that they have been feeding off of the micro algae in the tank, and that has been keeping them well feed for the past week. But I've also been feeding them soy bean powder. So, what I'm going to do now is I'm going to cut back on the lights a lot, almost no light, maybe an hour or two a day, and just feed them the soy bean. If the water clears, then I know it was cloudy because of algae and not soy bean and if they live I also know they can feed healthily off of the soy bean but if they die I know it's because they feed better off the micro algae in the water ... assuming of course that with the lack of light the tank in the water clears up tremendously. That sound right?
I havent had a chance to find those links, I am in living in texas and wife and kids are still finishing out the school year in colorado so they are down here for the holidays so I am trying to stay off here somewhat, the sites I am refering to instruct you in how to prepare the eggs prior to hatching so the shell is soft and safe for fish to digest if you accidentally net the shells out. I know it has to do with soaking the eggs in a bleach solution then rinsing them in freshwater then storing them in brine solution and keeping them refrigerated, then hatching them as normal.
I should be okay with that respect. The eggs aren't being hatched in a freshwater tank with other fish. And the shrimp won't be fed to the fish until they are adult size anyway. The main goal is to make enough adult brine so the colony life can sustain itself without purchasing or adding more eggs to the mix. Brine supposed hatch 75 eggs a day ... I figure if I have a few hundred adults doing that a day I should have my own supply =)
Brian is refering to decapsulating the eggs. I've only tried it once but I didn't use them for hatching so I can't say first hand how it works.
khisanthax, I only skimmed these but they looked OK. Just results from a google search for "Brine Shrimp Grow Out"
Growing Out Brine Shrimp - Simple instructions for how to grow out Brine Shrimp - Saltwater Aquariums Guides' Extra
(this one looked really good)
Mail Order Pet Supplies: Brine Shrimp Growout
Raising and Growing Large Brine Shrimp by PegasusNZ
Chris
khisanthax, I only skimmed these but they looked OK. Just results from a google search for "Brine Shrimp Grow Out"
Growing Out Brine Shrimp - Simple instructions for how to grow out Brine Shrimp - Saltwater Aquariums Guides' Extra
(this one looked really good)
Mail Order Pet Supplies: Brine Shrimp Growout
Raising and Growing Large Brine Shrimp by PegasusNZ
Chris
Thanks for those links. I've had mixed results but I'm keeping a log of everything I do. Right now I'm trying to figure out what to feed them that I can buy and control myself and how to get rid of the excess wheat flour food that falls to the floor and bacteria eats eventually ... so I'm thinking of a saltwater animal that can clean for me and live with the shrimp in relative harmony ... any suggestions?
I have an undergravel filter and was wondering if I could use a powerhead on reverse flow to blow bubbles through the gravel itself? I was thinking of either doing that or using small surface airstores or airstone 'sticks' planted evenly around the tank to achieve suspension of inert foods. The main problem I seem to have is that bacteria grows on the inert foods that drop to the floor. So, I need to either make sure that the food get's eaten or that the filter cleans out the left over food ...
I gather you are using an actual tank for grow out? If so I'd go bare bottom so it's easy to siphion the waste out. Maybe use some of those flexible bubble strips (try to find the ones with weights, suction cups never seem to last very long) for movement. I think the longest I've seen is 40" ??? either way, a few of those would do it rather nicely though you would need one hell of a pump to be able to hatch out in that tank. Probably best to do so in another container and switch them over.
So far as a clean up crew... I *guess* you could *try* snails... I don't know how well they would do, never seen any of mine go after anything but algae. There is hermits... but my gut says they would eat whatever shrimp they could get their claws on. Ah! Bumblebee snails! They are ditritivores, stay rather small and I've never heard of them going after live food... Might be an option but I would still ask around just incase
. I wouldn't want to be responsible for your culture crashing!
Chris
So far as a clean up crew... I *guess* you could *try* snails... I don't know how well they would do, never seen any of mine go after anything but algae. There is hermits... but my gut says they would eat whatever shrimp they could get their claws on. Ah! Bumblebee snails! They are ditritivores, stay rather small and I've never heard of them going after live food... Might be an option but I would still ask around just incase
. I wouldn't want to be responsible for your culture crashing! Chris
lol, culture crash? I've wiped them out several times already ... it's a bit of a hassle getting the gravel filter and gravel out of the tank ... but I can do that as a last resort. I put at the bottom of the tank 3 8in air stones and they keep the old food suspended enough for the filter to suck it up ... so now I need to remove the filter ... i really want a filter for ammonia and nitrites and nitrates ... but the one I got is most likely sucking them up.
So far algae is the best food but I haven't tried growing an algae culture in a separate bottle as food yet. I want to feed them, but I also want clear water =( I know i want too much, but I keep trying to come up with new solutions.
Should I bother using a reversible power head? I had them grow pretty big on algae ... but the tank gets dirty first and I'm determined on finding a one tank solution.
So far algae is the best food but I haven't tried growing an algae culture in a separate bottle as food yet. I want to feed them, but I also want clear water =( I know i want too much, but I keep trying to come up with new solutions.
Should I bother using a reversible power head? I had them grow pretty big on algae ... but the tank gets dirty first and I'm determined on finding a one tank solution.
Well anything with an impeller is going to make a brine shrimp shake, be it a filter or a powerhead. Even most of the sponges sold as prefilters are going to allow the nauplii through or at the very least suck them to it.
So far as a filter... Hmmmmm... an air powered hang on back! This one is so unbelievably simple, but it sounds way too complicated when explained. Lol, I guess I NEED to use that stupid photobucket account I *finally* opened. I'll have a simple DIY for you pretty quick. The one thing to note, this would be for biological, mechanical really has no place in a tank growing out anything that small.
For the phyto as food, do a search for something called the "GEOSapper". I have the link around here somewhere, just incase I'll post that with the DIY.
When you get right down to it, as much of a PITA as it might be... Getting the UGF and gravel out will really help keep things more sterile. There by giving you more control.
Chris
So far as a filter... Hmmmmm... an air powered hang on back! This one is so unbelievably simple, but it sounds way too complicated when explained. Lol, I guess I NEED to use that stupid photobucket account I *finally* opened
. I'll have a simple DIY for you pretty quick. The one thing to note, this would be for biological, mechanical really has no place in a tank growing out anything that small. For the phyto as food, do a search for something called the "GEOSapper". I have the link around here somewhere, just incase I'll post that with the DIY.
When you get right down to it, as much of a PITA as it might be... Getting the UGF and gravel out will really help keep things more sterile. There by giving you more control.
Chris