Hatching Brine Shrimp

Does anyone optimum salinity to hatch brine shrimp. I have seen some articles say 30ppm and other 60ppm. I would like to hear from people who have experience in this.

[Merrilyn]

Brine shrimp seem to have a wide tolerance. I find the addition of a half teaspoon of baking soda to the hatching bottle (usually a 2 litre coke bottle) increases the hatch rate.

Thanks for the speedy response. How much salt would you add per litre. How many litres do you use in the inverted coke bottle.

Sorry for all the questions, just so many conflicting views out there.

[Merrilyn]

Note the edit above, it is baking soda from the supermarket that you need. It raises the alkalinity of the water.

Okay, well this is what I do. I get a 2 litre coke bottle, invert it into a sturdy jug or similar to hold everything upright. I cut the bottom off the bottle, and use it as a lid. That keeps the salt spray down to a minimum. Two teaspoons of cooking salt and a half teaspoon of baking soda go in the bottle, with about a litre of cool boiled water and 1/4 teaspoon of eggs.

I attach an airstone to a piece of rigid pipe to force the airstone down to the bottom of the bottle. Set it to bubble at a medium rate, just enough to allow the eggs to circulate freely. Keep in a warm place, or inside a small heated fish tank, to maintain the water at around 27 degrees.

After 24 hours, remove airstone and place a narrow torch beam near the centre of the bottle. Hatched eggshells will float, while unhatched ones sink to the bottom. After 30 minutes use a 10 ml plastic syringe (no needle) with a piece of airline tube attached to suck shrimp out of the centre of the bottle, where they have been attracted by the light.

Strain, rinse and feed. Return discarded water to the bottle, add another 1/4 teaspoon of eggs and airstone. This can be kept running for about a week, when it is necessary to replace the water and start over again.

It's best to keep two bottles going, set up 12 hours apart, so you have a steady supply of fresh shrimp.

[Ben]

I have used in the past one of those salt desinity meters. Works a treat! Cheap to buy aswell.

cheers,
Ben

I found these two readings. One talks about 5ppt and the other 62.5ppt

http://www.aqualink.com/marine/z-atemia.html


The optimal conditions for hatching artemia are as follows - 25 degrees C, salinity - 5 ppt (1.030 density),


http://www.sciencenetlinks.org/lessons.cfm?DocID=103


FYI: One tablespoon [15 ml] of salt mixed with one cup [240 ml] of water is usually a good mixture for hatching the brine shrimp eggs. However, do not tell this to students; let them experiment with their own ratios.

[jim]

Since brine shrimp eggs are so expensive..is it possible for brine shrimp to reproduce??

[Ben]

Jim,
have a look at this link

http://www.discusforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2346&highlight=

When i was growing them the little buggers were breeding! But the were not that many..

cheers,
Ben

Found this link on ebay. 90% hatch rate and it is 0.5kg

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3212&item=4373634795&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

[Merrilyn]

I think the answer here is that there are NO exact measurements that work. They ALL work to a degree. What I'd suggest is to try a couple of the methods described above and see which one suits you best.

[goldenpigeon]

what is the general hatch rate you get merrilyn?

[goldenpigeon]

also do you keep light on them to get them to hatch?

[Merrilyn]

Hard to say David, but at least 80% maybe even more. Yes, I leave the tank light on all night to increase the hatch rate. Mine sit in an 18 inch tank half filled with heated water. I can fit three bottles in there, and they all stay warm.

[Ben]

In the past when growing brineshrimp i tried a lot of kinds of salts (must be a chef thing!) But the best for actually growing brineshrimp was marine salt used for salt water tanks. It has all the good trace elements and worked a treat!
I believe the salt can be more denser when hatching brineshrimp than when actually growing them.
But play around and find what works best for you.
A density reading of 1.250 worked for me.

HTH
Ben

Oh Junior, a couple of times when the sun was out in Melbourne i started them in the morning out in the sun. Got a very good hatch rate!

[Brian]

Just a side note, there is a very easy way to harvest the shrimp. You can go and buy the San Francisco Bay Brine Shrimp Hatchery. I find that if you hatch the shrimp the standard way which is the inverted bottle, you can just dump all the contents into the hatchery and the shrimp just swim into a little bottle for you to just open up and dump into the water for your fry.

The way it works is that the shrimp are attracted to bright lights. The hatchery is all black with a clear medicine bottle kinda thing. You put it into a little reservoir on the top of the hatchery and the shrimp swim through a little hole into the bottle, cause they are naturally attracted by the white light. I found this to be a very cool investment if you are lazy, and it comes with a couple of bags of eggs too. I used it when I was breeding bettas and such.

[jwight]

If anybody can please show a picture of their hatchery it might better explain your instructions. thanks.