Hey Guys,
Ok, so, I dearly apologize for anyone who tried this system and had their brine shrimp keep dying on them after a day or so. I realize I had made a couple of changes to this system because I realized a couple of days after I set up the system that baby brine shrimp need constant flow and aeration, without either, they would inevitably die (at least for me).
I'm going to do a full write up on the system in an effort to apologize to anyone who tried this and it failed them. So, here we go. Word of caution, do this at your own risk, and, when you run this system for the first time, make sure it is on a day when you can be next to the tank all day, to make sure the system runs properly and does not flood your floor due to back siphoning.
Things you'll need:
- A water bottle which can maintain an air tight seal and has a plastic cap which is at least 1.5" in diameter (what I use now is a 1 gallon hawaiian punch plastic bottle).
- 2 lengths of 3/16" rigid airline tubing which are as tall as the bottle you will be using.
- A length of silicone tubing which is 5 times the height of your tank (i.e., if you have a 2 foot tall tank on a 3 foot stand, then, it's 5x5=25ft). (A note on this, I recommend using silicone airline tubing and not PVC, as I've noticed the silicone makes a better air tight seal when inserted into the holes in the cap you will be drilling).
- One 10-20 gallon tank air pump (you can use larger than this)
- One 200+ gallon air pump (I use the petco 26-212 gallon, four outlet air pump) with all of the outlets feeding into one outlet (you can use airline tubing and t-adapters to do this).
- One power outlet timer (I use a basic digital one from home depot)
- One flat hose clamp adapter (I made my own, but you can use something like a SEOH Hoffman Tubing Clamp).
- Drill with a bit which is sized so it can slide into silicone tubing with ease (with little restriction when sliding it in/out) as well as a 2mm bit (doesn't have to be 2mm, but close to it).
- Velcro with adhesive backing
- One airline tubing elbow connection
- 2 Airflow adjusters (I use two basic ones from Petco).
- 2 airline tubing suction cups
- Heater (optional)
- Container which the water bottle you are using can fit into (optional)
- Hatched brine shrimp in enough water to fill the water container ¾ of the way.
Ok, so, first thing to do is, using your drill and bit, drill 4 holes into the cap of the water bottle, spacing them out evenly but making sure not to place any of the drill holes through the section of the cap which seals the bottle (if you look inside the cap, there will be a small ring in the cap, do not drill through that section).
Cut your airline tubing into the following lengths: 1 length is twice the height of your tank + 3 ft (we will call this Line A), another which is the height of your tank + 2 ft (we will call this Line B), another which is about 2 ft (we will call this Line C), and another which is ½ ft (we will call this Line D).
Cut off ½ of a ft from line A and cut Line C in half. Place one of the air flow controllers onto Line A so that and place the cut section of 1/2 ft tubing back onto the other side of the flow controller on Line A. Do the same thing for Line C so that the flow controller is in the middle of the two lengths of tubing on Line C.
Take your 2 lengths of rigid airline tubing and cut them to the following lengths: one which is 3 inches shorter than the height of the bottle (we will call this Tube A), and another two which are half the height of the bottle each (we will call this Tubes B and C).
Drill a 2mm (approximately) hole into Tube C at the middle of the tube (only drill through one wall, not both sides). Note, you can drill a bigger hole, but keep in mind the bigger the hole, the more water will dribble out of the tube at this location when you run the system.
Insert your 4 cut pieces of tubing in through the 4 holes of the cap, setting up the tubing so that the opening of each tube should sit 1 inch from the cap.
Put Tube A into Line A, then adjust the tubing as needed so that the opening of the rigid tube sits 2 inches from the bottom of the bottle when the cap of the bottle is screwed on tightly. Attach the other end of the tubing to the 10-20 gallon pump.
Put Tube B into Line B, then adjust the tubing as needed so that the opening of the rigid tube sits at half the height of the bottle when the cap is screwed on tightly. Attach Tube C to the open end of the tubing, then, at the open end of Tube C, attach your elbow connection (note, you may need a small section of leftover silicone tubing to connect these).
Connect Line C to the 212 gallon pump. Don't attach anything to Line D yet (having nothing connected to Line D will prevent you from flooding your floor during the next step).
Now, place the brine shrimp with water into the water jug. Close the cap onto the bottle (obviously with all tubes under the cap in the bottle) and make sure the cap is on tight. Plug the 10 gallon air pump in and adjust the flow controller on Line A until the water is has pretty turbulent at the water line but flow is slow enough at the bottom to just barely lift anything off the bottom (I actually turn it down a little less than this, but it results in me emptying the bottle and cleaning it once a week). Be cautious because I've seen that if you leave BBS in a very aggressive flow for more than 2 days all you end up with is orange water and no BBS.
Place a strip of the adhesive backed Velcro onto the middle of Line A. Place the other half of the Velcro strip onto the highest part of the tank where you won't see it (I put mine on a corner of the top bracing). Attach the Velcro from the tube to the Velcro of the tank. By doing this step, it will aid in the prevention of back siphoning (secondary backup).
Attach Tube C to the open end of Line B. Using a small piece of additional silicone tubing, put the elbow adapter onto the front end of Tube C.
Run Line B up the back of the tank so you can't see it and set up the line so that Tube C runs along the inside of the Tank above the water line with the elbow pointing down toward the tank. Adjust Tube C as needed so that the 2mm hole is also pointing down toward the tank. Adjust Tube C so that the 2mm hole also points down toward the tank. Use your suction cups to keep Tube C above the waterline inside the tank (Note, it is extremely important to always keep Tube C above the waterline, if it ever falls into the waterline unattended, it will back siphon and cause a slow flood. I have additional bracketing along the side of my tank as a redundant safety precaution to make sure that Tube C does not fall into the waterline by accident).
Now, place the tubing clamp onto Line D on the side which sits outside of the bottle. Slowly adjust the clamp to clamp down on the tubing, waiting about 30 seconds between each adjustment and paying very close attention to Line A where it exits the bottle. You want to adjust the clamp so that it is just slightly more open from where you see water begin to run out of the bottle up Line A. If you see water running up Line A, you are clamping down too much.
Now, attach Line C to the 212 gallon pump. Adjust the air flow valve on Line C to the fully closed position. Plug in the pump and slowly open the flow controller, waiting 30 second between each adjustment. Adjust the flow controller so that water from the bottle will run up Line B and into the tank.
Slow or speed up the flow as needed so you have a steady stream of brine shrimp out of the elbow, but not so much that you're flooding your tank with brine shrimp (adjust as needed to meet your feeding need). Please note, the 212 pump is pressurizing the system, so it is normal to see the air bubbles from inside the water bottle to slow down, but, the bubbles should never completely stop. If the bubbles slow down to about 2 bubbles a second or more after 2 minutes when the 212 pump is running, you are fine. It is normal to have water flowing out of the 2mm hole in Tube C, this will be a necessary evil to make sure that the system doesn't back siphon.
Unplug the 212 pump and make sure that the system stops feeding, the water in Line B will flow back into the bottle. Line B should be empty of water at this point and only contain air.
Plug your 212 pump and plug it into your electric socket timer. Set the timer as needed for your feeding requirements.
If you would like as added option, place the heater into the optional containers for the bottle, place the water bottle into the container, fill the container half way with water, and turn on the heater so that the brine shrimp bottle is in a warm water bath (helps remove temperature shock of the brine shrimp if in a cold room. The added benefit of the water bath is that if the system does happen to back siphon, it will pour into the water bath, giving you a little extra time to react.
Now is the tedious part. I strongly recommend you monitor the system for a minimum of 6-8 hours, making sure that the system is not doing any of the following:
"¢ The system is not back siphoning through line B: If this happens, then make sure that Tube C is not sitting under the water line. If it is above the water line, you may need to make the 2mm hole slightly bigger.
"¢ The system still feeds when the 212 pump is off, then you need to do one of two things: open the tube clamp on Line D or turn back the flow on the 10-20 gallon pump until the system just stops feeding.
"¢ When the 212 pump is running, it does not feed: turn up the flow on the 212 pump or turn up the flow on the 10-20 gal pump, or turn down the tube clamp so a little more pressure can build up in the system.
Sorry if it seems confusing above, just didn't have the time to take pictures of the system. Hopefully this might be able to help some of you guys out.
I designed, patented, and brought to or hobby at MACNA X, three & four chambered Refugium's along with the first BackPack skimmer first Refugium's. 
