Hatching Brine Shrimp

[disc1]

I haven't messed with brine shrimp since I was a very little boy. Tell me how you do it. My problem is this. They won't hatch out at the 70F I keep the house at, but if I let the house get much warmer then the tank goes to 85F. I don't have any heaters small enough to maintain a coke bottle full of water without cooking it. What do I do? I've had a pod populaton collapse and I need something to tide the mandarin over until I get the fuge back up.

 

[cloak]

Check this out.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-05/nftt/index.php

 

[disc1]

Great thread, but does anyone have any suggestions on the temperature issue. How do I keep a coke bottle at 80F in a house that is 70F?

 

[jeff@zina.com]

Great thread, but does anyone have any suggestions on the temperature issue. How do I keep a coke bottle at 80F in a house that is 70F?

Float it another tank with a heater.

Jeff

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

Do it outdoors.
The brine that is.

 

[cloak]

Do you have any small lights laying around? Something that might sit on top of a desk for example? If so, that bulb is bound to generate some heat. After that it's just a matter of how close or how far the coke bottle needs to be away from the light to maintain a constant temperature. HTH.

 

[disc1]

Do it outdoors.
The brine that is.

Was my first thought, but it got to 97F today and is supposed to be even hotter tomorrow. I guess I'm going to have to get creative with a bucket and the heater out of my 14ga.

 

[geccles]

brineshrimpdirect.com has good stuff.

I always floated 4 2 liter bottles in a 5 gallon bucket with water in it. Heat the water in the bucket to 80 & you're good. Four 2 liters prevents them from tipping over into the bucket. It also allows you to stagger batches so you always have newly hatched shrimp available.

 

[jeff@zina.com]

Was my first thought, but it got to 97F today and is supposed to be even hotter tomorrow. I guess I'm going to have to get creative with a bucket and the heater out of my 14ga.

Sit it next to a light bulb then. It's not that critical, or hard.

Jeff

 

[disc1]

Do you think a rock in the bottom (used to be top) of an inverted coke bottle would keep it from tipping over if I set it in my fuge for a while?

 

[disc1]

Sit it next to a light bulb then. It's not that critical, or hard.

Jeff

Now THAT's a winning idea. I hadn't thought of that. I have a desk lamp I could put right over it. Would probably do the trick. Thanks man. That's one of those that's so simple I'm kicking myself for not having thought of it.

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

They do make mini heaters that might do the trick:

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12087

 

[disc1]

Well the deal is, I'm not doing this for more than a few days. I've been raising tigger pods for the mandarin, but I crashed the whole thing this week. I really don't normaly feed brine shrimp, I just need something to tide him over until I get the tiggers back up. That won't take too long.

 

[Rybren]

I hatch brine in my basement - it never gets warmer than ~68*. It takes a little longer to hatch (36-48hrs) but other than that, I've never had an issue.

How long did you wait before determining that they weren't hatching?

 

[disc1]

OK, I only waited 24 hours but I didn't see anything at all hatching. In the few hours since I put the light on them, I am starting to see a little action. I'll give 'em another day and see what happens.