Brine Shrimp Hatchery Dish

[cabrego]

Hi all,

I have heard good things from the vendors selling thebrine shrimp hatchery dish. Does anyone have any first hand experience?

Seems like a great thing but I am skeptical, the saleswomen at brineshrimpdirect said it works very well. So I decided to give it a shot.


Anyone have seen or use this before?

 

[goth]

Hi all,

I have heard good things from the vendors selling thebrine shrimp hatchery dish. Does anyone have any first hand experience?

Seems like a great thing but I am skeptical, the saleswomen at brineshrimpdirect said it works very well. So I decided to give it a shot.


Anyone have seen or use this before?

I believe they are anything but new... Anyways, I got one and I used it once so far.

It works. It does very well at seperating the eggs shells for the nauplii .

I don't believe that you should expect to hatch very large number of shrimps with one of these. Also don't expect to collect must of them in one shoot. I was collecting shrimps for something like a week from one batch of eggs. I cant say for sure if they were shrimps that had not previously hatched or shrimps that were not hanging around the sieve*. Mind you I was not using any lights other then when it was time to collect them. And the temperature was probably pretty low as well.

If you need small to moderate amount of shrimp I think they would work fine for you. It's pretty nice that they don't need anything more then a little shelf space.

-yvest

 

[cabrego]

I believe they are anything but new... Anyways, I got one and I used it once so far.

It works. It does very well at seperating the eggs shells for the nauplii .

I don't believe that you should expect to hatch very large number of shrimps with one of these. Also don't expect to collect must of them in one shoot. I was collecting shrimps for something like a week from one batch of eggs. I cant say for sure if they were shrimps that had not previously hatched or shrimps that were not hanging around the sieve*. Mind you I was not using any lights other then when it was time to collect them. And the temperature was probably pretty low as well.

If you need small to moderate amount of shrimp I think they would work fine for you. It's pretty nice that they don't need anything more then a little shelf space.

-yvest

Interesting, that is what I expect, I will be using this as one way to hatch bbs for feeding fry. It will be interesting to try out.

I like that you don't need light, or an air pump.. I plan to put mine under lights and in a reasonably warm spot.

 

[goth]

I have on idea how many shrimps you need to feed your babies, but I would be afraid of not producing enough with a dish. I might be wrong, but I feel that you could hatch alot more in an inverted 2Liters bottle of pop. Then again, you could setup multiple dishes.

Also, plan on setting up the dish somewhere where you wont need to move it until you've collected all the brine shrimps. I suspect that if you move the dish a little too much, you might end up with eggs in the sieve.

-yvest

 

[cabrego]

thanks for the tip. I also have the standard DIY 2L bottle, but I am not liking the manual separation of eggs from bbs. Also, I have used decapsulated the cysts myself, but found the hatch rate is significantly lower so I am trying different things.

 

[landlord]

I got one about a week ago and I am pretty happy. No large "All at once" batches though, but that's fine. In about 4 hours of collecting I was able to put a huge density of bbs into a tank. For my needs it will fit the bill. I'll be posting some pictures of it in my GSM breeding thread for another user who inquired about it as well.

Kurt

 

[buddha2364]

I dove into the BBS and tried the 2 liter bottle method several times. I have to say I was not too impressed as it's nearly impossible to get only the live shrimp without the unhatched cysts and whatever else floats to the bottom. While it did work, I was a bit dissapointed.

So I went ahead and bought the dish from Brine Shrimp Direct to give it a shot. I loaded it up an set the dish on top of my tank. The tank is acrylic with a top and the dish fits nicely between the hood and tank. This gives my a precise 80 degree temp with lighting for the first 7-8 hours depending on what time and refill the dish.

The first batch offry started showing up within 8 hours, peaking between 18-24 hours. I was a bit dissapointed in the numbers, but I was only removing BBS which was the goal. I was able to skim off BBS for a couple of day like this, but of cousre the numbers diminish over time.

I've read about water fresh water changes for each batch, cleaning the dish, etc. but I decided to recycle the water and see what it did to the hatch rate. I strained off all of the unhatched cysts and shells and was left with debris free water, but it was obviously "used" being a bit cloudy.

I used the exact same amount of eggs from the same container and checked the following morning. I have to say, I was a bit surprised at what I saw. The amount of BBS was astonishing. The hatch rate had increased by no less than three-fold. There were so many BBS in the trap that the water took some time to drain through. I seriously couldn't believe it. This continued throughout the day. I could see many of them in the inner circle on the bottom, waiting their turn to move to the center of the dish towards the light.

So I figured what the hell, I use the water again. Surely the O2 levels will be diminished, and the water has to be getting funky and the hatch rates will drop. Nope. They went bonkers again, possibly even more from the previous day. I had BBS coming out my ears and it was more than I could use in a day with 3 feedings. Iused the water one more time with great success.

Yesterday I figured I'd put it to the test and mixed up a fresh batch of water and loaded the dish up. This morning I was back to square one (just like the first time I used the dish) with a moderate amount of BBS, but nothing to get excited about and definitely not 80% hatch rate.


Sooooo, after that book, has anyone else had this experience? What water parameters could possibly be changing that would increase the hatch rate like that? Anyone have any ideas? My only thought is that by reusing the water, there are nutrients left behind by the previous hatch suspended in the water, but why would that increase hatching?

I'd love to hear an explanation on this one.

 

[cabrego]

I dove into the BBS and tried the 2 liter bottle method several times. I have to say I was not too impressed as it's nearly impossible to get only the live shrimp without the unhatched cysts and whatever else floats to the bottom. While it did work, I was a bit dissapointed.

So I went ahead and bought the dish from Brine Shrimp Direct to give it a shot. I loaded it up an set the dish on top of my tank. The tank is acrylic with a top and the dish fits nicely between the hood and tank. This gives my a precise 80 degree temp with lighting for the first 7-8 hours depending on what time and refill the dish.

The first batch offry started showing up within 8 hours, peaking between 18-24 hours. I was a bit dissapointed in the numbers, but I was only removing BBS which was the goal. I was able to skim off BBS for a couple of day like this, but of cousre the numbers diminish over time.

I've read about water fresh water changes for each batch, cleaning the dish, etc. but I decided to recycle the water and see what it did to the hatch rate. I strained off all of the unhatched cysts and shells and was left with debris free water, but it was obviously "used" being a bit cloudy.

I used the exact same amount of eggs from the same container and checked the following morning. I have to say, I was a bit surprised at what I saw. The amount of BBS was astonishing. The hatch rate had increased by no less than three-fold. There were so many BBS in the trap that the water took some time to drain through. I seriously couldn't believe it. This continued throughout the day. I could see many of them in the inner circle on the bottom, waiting their turn to move to the center of the dish towards the light.

So I figured what the hell, I use the water again. Surely the O2 levels will be diminished, and the water has to be getting funky and the hatch rates will drop. Nope. They went bonkers again, possibly even more from the previous day. I had BBS coming out my ears and it was more than I could use in a day with 3 feedings. Iused the water one more time with great success.

Yesterday I figured I'd put it to the test and mixed up a fresh batch of water and loaded the dish up. This morning I was back to square one (just like the first time I used the dish) with a moderate amount of BBS, but nothing to get excited about and definitely not 80% hatch rate.


Sooooo, after that book, has anyone else had this experience? What water parameters could possibly be changing that would increase the hatch rate like that? Anyone have any ideas? My only thought is that by reusing the water, there are nutrients left behind by the previous hatch suspended in the water, but why would that increase hatching?

I'd love to hear an explanation on this one.

Buddah, that is an interesting observation. I will definitely experiment to try and reproduce what you are observing (hoping to maximize my yield).

Certainly, salinity is changing and ph is probably also changing too. You said you are mixing fresh saltwater...

What salinity are you starting with?
What kind of salt?

 

[buddha2364]

Cabrego,

I've used two different kinds of salt, water softener and Kosher and neither seem to make a difference. I don't have a way to get the desired 25ppt salt water they recommend ( 1.018 specific gravity), so I just add it by measuring spoons.....1 2/3 tablespoon per liter of water. I've got really hard water here in Missouri, but I add just a pinch of Baking Soda for good measure.

The only thing I know about hatching these eggs it that if the salintiy isn't high enough, the cysts cannot aborb enough water hatch from the shells. If this is the case, then possibly my water's salinity is increasing producing much better hatching rates? Dunno. I always go with a bit more salt than not enough.

I've contacted Brine Shrimp Direct to get they're thoughts on this so I'll post back with their info. It's really bugging the heck out of me.....lol!

 

[cabrego]

buddah,

I received my hatchery dish yesterday, I am not sure if I understand how it works.

1) how do the brine actually make it into the mesh?
2) it seems like you need to keep it very still, and not move it much as I seem to have unhatched eggs under my strainer.
3) My water level is just under the rim of the mesh is this too low?

 

[buddha2364]

There is a fill line all the way around the dish for the water fill line. What you end up with once it's filled is the water line will be even with the fill line (obviously) and the water line just UNDER the white rings.......you don't want it completely submerged. That's where you get your seperation.

As far as the BBS getting into the mesh, they have to swim under the white rings to make to the center of the dish. They will be swimming over the and in the scoop/seine once the dish is exposed to the light.

And yes, don't move it once you've set it up. If you start moving it around, the water will slosh over the rings with all of the hatched eggs and will lose your seperation.

 

[cabrego]

There is a fill line all the way around the dish for the water fill line. What you end up with once it's filled is the water line will be even with the fill line (obviously) and the water line just UNDER the white rings.......you don't want it completely submerged. That's where you get your seperation.

As far as the BBS getting into the mesh, they have to swim under the white rings to make to the center of the dish. They will be swimming over the and in the scoop/seine once the dish is exposed to the light.

And yes, don't move it once you've set it up. If you start moving it around, the water will slosh over the rings with all of the hatched eggs and will lose your seperation.

Thanks for the tip, I accidentally filled it to the top most line which is too high.

So far this device works nice. In 12 hours I had a nice amount of bbs in the sieve. Today is day three and the the bbs is still coming. I suspect they may be at least a day old, but it is hard to tell. I have been harvesting and saving them in the fridge so I can have a good supply for at least a couple of days.

Thanks,

 

[billsreef]

I dove into the BBS and tried the 2 liter bottle method several times. I have to say I was not too impressed as it's nearly impossible to get only the live shrimp without the unhatched cysts and whatever else floats to the bottom. While it did work, I was a bit dissapointed.

The secret is to decapsulate the cysts prior to hatching. This way there are no shells to deal with, no matter how many you hatch at a time

Those dishes have been around for decades, my Mom had one when I was kid Still have it around somewhere. They work, but no large yields.

 

[cabrego]

The secret is to decapsulate the cysts prior to hatching. This way there are no shells to deal with, no matter how many you hatch at a time

Those dishes have been around for decades, my Mom had one when I was kid Still have it around somewhere. They work, but no large yields.

Decapsulation is an option I have tried, the problem I have with it is that it can be time consuming, although I have not tried decapsulation with long term storage. I also notice the hatch rate is never as good as with the decapsulated eggs.

 

[billsreef]

Long term storage in a nice saturated brine solution works well You will see some decrease in hatch rate over time, but time savings and ease more than make up for any decreased hatch rates when you only need small batches.

 

[cabrego]

Long term storage in a nice saturated brine solution works well You will see some decrease in hatch rate over time, but time savings and ease more than make up for any decreased hatch rates when you only need small batches.

What recipe do you use for decapsulation?

 

[buddha2364]

The secret is to decapsulate the cysts prior to hatching. This way there are no shells to deal with, no matter how many you hatch at a time

Those dishes have been around for decades, my Mom had one when I was kid Still have it around somewhere. They work, but no large yields.

Now you tell me!

After using this dish, it's right up my alley. I've got the perfect place for it and hatch rates are unbelievable with the right water "recipe".

Cabrego, have you seen any increase in output with used water over fresh, or you even had a chance to mess with it?

 

[cabrego]

Now you tell me!

After using this dish, it's right up my alley. I've got the perfect place for it and hatch rates are unbelievable with the right water "recipe".

Cabrego, have you seen any increase in output with used water over fresh, or you even had a chance to mess with it?

Buddah,

I set it up using my display tank's water which is at a salinity of about 1.024 and ph of 8. So far, this has worked pretty well I had BBS overnight and continued to collect for 2 days.

I did not re-use the water, did you just pour fresh cysts around already hatched ones?

So, far it works fine, I don't need mass output so this is working pretty good.

 

[buddha2364]

Buddah,

I set it up using my display tank's water which is at a salinity of about 1.024 and ph of 8. So far, this has worked pretty well I had BBS overnight and continued to collect for 2 days.

I did not re-use the water, did you just pour fresh cysts around already hatched ones?

So, far it works fine, I don't need mass output so this is working pretty good.

That sounds about right. You can easily pull BBS off of it for two days.....even three but the output drops quite bit.

When I reuse the water, I always double strain it with a BBS sieve. It would be a huge mess otherwise, not to mention I would assume it would really foul up the water.

I'm still getting the same results. Used water produces waaaaaay more BBS the following day. I just put in a fresh batch of eggs today........this will be my third hatch on this water. We'll see what the output is tomorrow; more or less.

At this point I'm going to have to post some pictures of my hatches so you anyone interested can get an idea of what I'm talking about. I'm still finding it very interesting.

 

[billsreef]

What recipe do you use for decapsulation?

My recipe is for 5 gallons

3 gallons unscented bleach
500mls NaOH (sodium hydroxide) solution
5.4 L of seawater

This can be scaled down for smaller batches. Brine Shrimp Direct also has a small scale recipe on their site.

General decapsulation directions:

Soak cysts in fresh water for 1 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Drain through sieve and let excess drip off for a few moments.
Place eggs in plastic container and add decapsulation solution (10:1 solution to cysts ratio is best IME)
Stir for 5 minutes while keeping container in a cold water bath to keep temperature down (reaction produces heat)
Strain and rinse with copious amounts of fresh water.
Place in hatcher or prep for storage and later use.