Brine Shrimp

Naraku

New member
Is it OK to directly hatch brine shrimp eggs in the main tank?

How long will they live. These will be for my picky Rainfordi butterflies.
 
you can do an in tank hatchery, they have those, but you wouldn't want to the egg cases able to float free. they're nasty. so you would want a way to contain them so they can be removed after the brine shrimp have hatched.

additionally if you're thinking of making this a primary food source, you may want to consider raising them externally so you can gut load them, unless you're only planning on feeding the little nauplii.

as far as temperature and salinity, they will hatch just fine under normal reef conditions.
 
too late. Already added eggs to tank. Should I take them out?
Why are they nasty. can they cause issues?
 
If you've never hatched them before, the water gets nasty. It is my preference to hatch externally then dose them to the tank.

It is also real easy to out in far too many eggs.

Then when they hatch, nothing really eats the old shells, so they're added waste.
 
They usually like strong agitation too. There are some great tutorials around, but the cliff notes are:

Use an upside down 20 oz soda bottle with the bottom cut off.

Fill with water and eggs. I like to go for the more expensive eggs with the higher hatch rate, and usually start with 1/8 - 1/4 tsp or so.

Take an air pump and soft airline and place a piece of rigid airline on the end long enough to reach the bottom, and turn the pump on.

Wait. Usually 24 - 48 hours depending on salinity, eggs, temp, etc...

The user PaulB on here has some really slick brine shrimp hatcheries and feeders, so his threads are worth checking out.

They also do sell special in tank brine shrimp hatchers, or you can make your own, that let you hatch in tank while keeping the spent egg casings separated out. So that's another possibility to look in to.
 
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