Feeding hatched BBS with dosing pump?

[Darth Vedder]

I'm just thinking out loud here, but do you think it would work to use a dosing pump to dose newly hatched baby brine shrimp throughout the day? I was thinking this could work similar to the feeding station that Paul B designed but would be much simpler

Have two hatching stations (soda bottle style), place the input line into the hatched bottle for the day while the other is aerating. Then just switch back and forth so you have a fresh batch daily to feed?

You could either decapsulate the eggs or if you had a small led at the bottom near the input the egg shells could float and the might would attract the babies near the suction line?

Seem reasonable or would the feeding station be more effective

I even thought you could run the tubing to a feeding station like Paul B uses in the tank so it will continually pump more BBS into the station that can then swim out through the mesh

 

[thepotoo]

Why do you need a dosing pump? Get one of the 2L soda bottle hatcheries with air line that comes in the bottom, a couple T valves, and alternate between dripping the bottle slowly into the tank or pushing air into the bottle.

 

[EnderG60]

Look up the PaulB baby brine feeder.

I made one and it works great, just requires cleaning every 2 weeks.

 

[Darth Vedder]

I seen that, my thought was to build one and use a dosing pump to deliver the BBS to the feeder. I'm trying to make a auto hatchet that would add decapsulate eggs on a timer then slowly feed the tank, then refill and add more eggs, etc

Just in the thought process stage at the moment but would be nice to feed some live food daily without the work of hatching manually on a day to day basis

 

[Paul B]

This is my vacation feeder. Brine shrimp eggs are deposited into it from a flake food feeder above the funnel. A small supply of water is pumped into the funnel constantly through an airline hose. The eggs descend and hatch. In a day and a half, the fish eat the shrimp which constantly hatch. A small amount of eggs are deposited into the thing twice a day so there are always shrimp. It works great. After about a week I need to remove it to clean out the shells.

 

[csammis]

Paul, doesn't the constant stream of water going into the funnel displace the hatching shrimp in the box and force them out faster? I've wanted to do something like this but I haven't been able to think of a way around that problem.

 

[Paul B]

The water going into the funnel is miniscule. Just enough to get the eggs down. It's practically a drip. It also keeps the water in the device pure by constantly renewing it.
Here is a video.

 

[Darth Vedder]

Thanks Paul, this is basically the same idea I was hoping to build so I may try your method

 

[EnderG60]

It works great. Ive been using one for almost a year now. I just clean and change the screen once every week(or two).

 

[MondoBongo]

are there any pics of the box construction?

am i right in thinking that this is similar to the feeding station you created Paul, but with a large and opaque receptacle at the bottom?

 

[Paul B]

Yes it is similar but this is my vacation feeder so it also hatches the shrimp. I actually used it last week when I was in Punta Cana for 8 days.

 

[RedStangGA]

Can anyone see an issue with building one of these in a sump or fuge? Any drawbacks?

 

[Paul B]

You need it where the fish are so they can eat off of it.

 

[Celtic_Fox]

This is my vacation feeder. Brine shrimp eggs are deposited into it from a flake food feeder above the funnel. A small supply of water is pumped into the funnel constantly through an airline hose. The eggs descend and hatch. In a day and a half, the fish eat the shrimp which constantly hatch. A small amount of eggs are deposited into the thing twice a day so there are always shrimp. It works great. After about a week I need to remove it to clean out the shells.

Hi Paul.

Which flake food feeder do you use? (Or would you recommend a different one from the one you currently use?)

Thanks!

 

[Paul B]

The cheapest one I could find. Then I had to glue in a little piece of plastic because even the smallest setting added to many eggs. I only want a tiny pinch a day.

 

[Celtic_Fox]

The cheapest one I could find. Then I had to glue in a little piece of plastic because even the smallest setting added to many eggs. I only want a tiny pinch a day.

I was wondering about that. Seems like every one available in the U.S. would dump too much, or have issues with eggs escaping under/through the feeding wheel.

There's an interesting rotating wheel version available in Germany that has individual bins, but then you have to deal with power conversion... (Unfortunately I cannot remember the name and I'm not at a computer that I have the link saved...)

Thanks for the reply!

 

[monkeyruler90]

The water going into the funnel is miniscule. Just enough to get the eggs down. It's practically a drip. It also keeps the water in the device pure by constantly renewing it.
Here is a video.

this is an awesome idea!

 

[Paul B]

I have been using it for a few years and it seems to work well. You can't leave this model on all the time because it would fill with shrimp shells so I would only use it for a week

 

[Nrupaw]

A small supply of water is pumped into the funnel constantly through an airline hose.

Great idea! Can you elaborate a little on how you are pumping water into the funnel? pics would help, if any.

 

[Paul B]

I have an algae trough just above the water at the back of the tank. I have a 1/4" hose from that to the funnel above the hatchery. You can use a tiny water pump but you only want a trickle or the eggs would be washed out of the thing. Or just put a bent piece of tubing into the tubing and stick an airline in the bottom to pump a little water into the funnel