Brine Shrimp Growout.......

[spk]

Ok,

All you smart people out there who are doing this successfully please give me some guidence.

I have the FAF manual, I have read the sticky, I have searched and searched, but to date have not had any sucess at growing these beasties.

What do you do and how do you do it. Pictures tell a thousand words.

Please lend a hand.

Thanks

Steve

 

[NicoleC]

How old are you getting them to, and how are you trying to raise them?

 

[Kathy55g]

I've had some grow out to pretty big cocultured in my larval tank. They only got nannochloropsis.

 

[mano]

I've had some luck. I have two tubs, one with smaller brine for seahorse fry and another is a growout tub for adult brine. I enrich both a couple times a day, usually with super selco plus spirulina and some other homemade vitamin mixes. I hatch new brine everyday and add it to both tubs and feed out of the tub with the smaller brine everyday and occasionally out of the other. This way I get a variety of sizes and some do reach adulthood. I replace water in the smaller sized brine tub everyday and every time I harvest from the larger brine one. You will definitely want a small heater in the container and airline.

What specific problems are you having?

 

[KMatysek]

I've gotten brine shrimp in my rotifer tanks where they grow and reproduce abundantly. All they get are nannochloropsis and weekly tank bottom siphoning.

 

[spk]

Thanks for the comments folk.

To answer the questions.

Nicole - I cannot seem to get them past 3 days old. I have a tank with both light and air, feeding them Nanno. But they just seem to die after about day 3.

Mano - when you mention "tubs" what are you actually talking about. The one thing that I do not use is a heater, as they are in a room where the ambient temp is around 22-25 deg C. So this is one thing that I will do.

KMatysek - what temp are those tanks running at.

Perhaps this is all down to a remp problem. I will try and change that first.

Thanks again.

Steve

 

[KMatysek]

I don't use a heater and the rotifer tanks are in our basement. I just measured the temp and it's 17.5C (63F). I'm surprised it's that low, but we're in a cold snap and haven't been running the furnace. I suspect it's normally around 20-21C (68-70F).

I was wondering about air (I run the air pretty strong in my hatcheries, but not in my rotifer tanks, so I'm not sure that's it). I recently had a problem hatching and thought there was something wrong with my cysts or my process for decapsulating (even though they had been fine). Then I had the same problem with some newly purchased decapsulated cysts, so I realized that the bottle (or air hose) must be contaminated with something. Soaked them in bleach and then hatching went fine. I don't know if something like that could be a factor since you're getting them to hatch and to live for 3 days, but you could try bleaching the container.

Kathy

 

[mano]

Steve,

I use a rectangular bin for the smaller ones that is about 40 L and a trash can that is about 30L for the grow out. I do sterilize the tubs with bleach every week also so that is something you should look into. My heaters are set at 25-26 C so you may not need that. They do prefer water in that range I believe and will grow faster in warmer water. I use pretty strong aeration for my tubs too because the density is usually high. That could be an issue for you too if you are putting to much in. How big is the tank you have them in? If the density is high you may be having a dissolved oxygen problem, meaning not enough O2.

IS this live nanno you are using or a paste? Maybe you are overfeeding them? If you put some nanno in the tank how long does it take for them to clear it? Give them enough that they can clear it in a few hours and then add some more.

 

[spk]

Kathy - That is something that I have not thought of doing and will do so.

mano - Right now I am using a small 10l tank, so that I can get the process right. It is in the house so the temp range is pretty constant. However, I do not bleach it between attempts, just give it a very good wash and wipe.

I am feeding live nanno that I am growing, so have not yet started to use paste. Thought I would understand things first. But that has proven quite difficult. As this is a learning curve, I am not putting in too many. In fact, I hatch feed my bangaiis and then use less than 4 drops or so of NHBS.

Anyway, will start again, bleach everything and then see where we go from there.

Thanks

Steve