Need advice on DIY Brine

[Gimplar]

Okay, this is what im planning to do:

35 gallon (brute trashcan)
Airstone
Maxijet 900 (i think its like 210 GPH)

Of course im going to make it saltwater for the brine, i was thinking about 1.025 ppm for salinity. I heard you're suppose to have lighting, but i wanted to put a lid on it to keep down the evaporation. I could probably rig a 30" florecent light in side, but i heard you could just put the water, airstone, maybe some water circulation and just wait about 2 weeks - 4 weeks and you'll get brine (adults being at a Month). As far as feeding, i'm going to put Phyto feast in. I'm not really sure how much i should use, but i was thinking about even putting in freeze dried cyclop-eeze for the adults, once they've reached that size.


Any suggestions or anyone try this?

 

[stevemc]

I have done it many times. You will need some back up phyto. Get several 5 gallon white buckets. A small air pump with NO STONE, just slow big bubbles, enough to have a current.. Rubber band a rock to the end. Unless you have many, many fish to feed, 1 bucket at a time works well. I use regular strength seawater 1.032-1.036, but if you really want to you can use less saline, it should work. I hang a 100 watt floodlight(any kind) about 18 inches over the water. You can do 24 hours a day. I get the fertilizer from Florida Aqua farms, and get the water very green. Then I put in a scoop of adult BS, that you can get at a fish store. You wont want a lot, as they start reproducing very fast. They have live birth when they are not stressed, such as when there water dries up. So you wont have any eggs, just tons of BBS and soon many adults. They will get very large and they are well fed from here, so you can use them right out of the bucket, rinsed of course. You can just scoop a net for the adults or stack an adult net over a BBS net and catch the adults then the babies, by scooping a cup in the water. If you let the shrimp go for a week, you will have millions of shrimp, and they fertilize the water, so it will get greener and eventually you will set up another- maybe every month, and just strain out a bunch to start another, prior to taking down the present one. No lid, just add some fresh water to keep it up. You could use a flouresent light, but the flood light worked very well for me, and you cant really concentrate the light of a long tube. Very easy. Good luck, Steve.

 

[Gimplar]

hrrm, so a 35 gallon trashcan would produce massive amounts of brine? lol, well i have friends that do the hobby as well, but ill see what im gonna do. The only problem i have is lighting, What affect does the lightning have on the growth of brineshrimp? Would i be able to just leave a porch light on and that would be adiquate?

 

[stevemc]

You wouldnt want a 35 gallon trash can, you only want a 5 gallon bucket. You will need a 100 watt spot light hanging about 18 inches above the water. In 2 weeks or so, you will have more adult and baby brine shrimp than you could use. You probably will need to get rid of some. Just get the water very green first, add a small amount of adult brine shrimp and you can leave the light on 24 hours a day. Just add fresh water to keep the salinity what it was, by putting a mark inside and keep it at that level. See my post and read that...... Steve.

 

[stevemc]

Oh I was thinking when you said salinity 1.025 You meant specific gravity, at least thats what I did 32-36. Your 1.025 is about 3o/oo salinity. Sorry about the mix up. Hows the brine shrimp farm going? Steve.

 

[Gimplar]

i havnt tried it yet, im still in the process...i need to get a light for it. does it have to be a spot light? and how do i make the water green? just let it sit out?

 

[Gimplar]

I get the fertilizer from Florida Aqua farms, and get the water very green.

Where is that located and is this fertilizer something that an be found at a LFS?

 

[stevemc]

No you have to get it there. Look it up on the internet and mail it, or drive up. You might be able to use orchid fertilizer, just a few drops. You must inoculate the water with microalgae for the shrimp to eat. Several folks here have some. Greenwater, microalgae.

 

[robthorn]

gimplar I have some fertilizer you can have. I got it from there.