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Brine shrimp shells

idris

idris

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Joined
3 Jan 2011
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Herts
Posting for "a friend" who only wishes to be identified as The Lazy Aquarist ...šŸ˜…

TLA has found an unopened bottle of brine shrimp eggs at the back of their cupboard.
They're only planning of feeding them to their fish maybe once or twice a week, and not with the aim.of raising fry, and probably hatching only 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of eggs at a time.
TLA has a 50gal tank, and wondering whether its a big deal filtering out the shells from the hatched brine shrimp, as it'll probably only amount to a gram or two.

Thanks in advance eon behalf of "my friend".
 
Hi @idris

Your ā€œfriendā€ may want to consider one of these:

1632122484120.jpeg

The Artemia gather in the collection cup where the hole letting the light in is positioned, in the middle. Lift the collection cup upā€¦ baby brine shrimp, no eggs.

Only make one batch per week and after three days, collect for the other four days of that week. Just place on a warm window sill, no air pump, no light needed. Wash the unit each week after use and hatch rate will remain high.
 
Here is my lazy cheap way of doing it cos I hate buying specific gear.
  • Get a plastic takeaway box or plastic tupperware box that's a not-too-deep cuboid. No need for a lid.
  • Fill it with tapwater and add a heaped spoon of sea salt (the kitchen kind not the marine kind). Don't bother with dechlorinator.
  • Add half a teaspoon or less of BBS eggs
  • Float the box in one of your tanks, ideally a heated one.
  • Wait a day
  • Harvest your BBS - I use a big plastic syringe. Angle it so you get more BBS than shells - they will congregate together at the brightest corner usually.
  • Put a paper coffee filter over a cup or glass
  • Squirt all the BBS with water into the coffee filter and wait for it to drain
  • Suck up some aquarium water with your syringe and slowly squirt it into the coffee filter as soon as the waste water has drained
  • Immediately suck the water back in with the syringe, the BBS will come with it.

  • Enjoy your fish going bananas for BBS, it's easy to target feed with the syringe so perfect for babies or shy fish, my fish aren't always of the syringe at all any more and go towards it immediately excitedly.
  • If you want a constant supply, have 2 boxes on the go, and replace 1 daily. I only feed hatched BBS for 2 days before replacing.
 
TLA has reminded me their main question is how much of a problem. It would be if the empty shells weren't separated out. In a moderately planted, well populated, good sized tank, would they get eaten by inverts or would their decay provide any nutrients for plants?
 
idris said:
Not even an air atone?
Click to expand...
Nope! I tried it for a while but it didn't seem to make any difference tbh. And since I've bought more expensive eggs with higher hatch rates there isn't too much shells either.

Back to the question: When I was feeding loads of BBS to babies in a tank I got quite a few shells mixed in there too. The fish eat them and then spit them out, I think it's like eating a bit of sand for them - not tasty. I also found it annoying that they float on the surface and get stuck in hard-to-clean places. They do eventually go away, getting sucked into the filter and then that's cleaned, or with a hose. And I never noticed any negative effects in the tank from them. Mostly they are just ugly. Personally I like to separate out and almost all tutorials will too, if you get a plastic syringe it's very easy to do, because the shells float or sink to the bottom, and the BBS swim in the water congregating at the brightest light source so can be targeted without hassle.
 
Last edited:
As another Lazy Aquarist, this seemed like a good place to add my question! I have hatched a few batches of brine shrimp now, using an old water bottle with an airline threaded through the drinking spout, wedged in the corner of the tank to keep it warm. It's working pretty well and is free -- my favourite price šŸ™‚.

My question is, is there a recommended brand for a high hatch rate? So far I've used pre-made mixtures with the salt already in there and I'm wondering if it's the best value. If I buy just the eggs, can I use table salt?

With thanks.
 
Hi all,
Chez_ said:
My question is, is there a recommended brand for a high hatch rate? So far I've used pre-made mixtures with the salt already in there and I'm wondering if it's the best value. If I buy just the eggs, can I use table salt?
Click to expand...
Try <"Tim Addis"> - <"TA-Aquaculture">, he will both sell you some Brine Shrimp Eggs that hatch and give you his "secret" culture method.

He is a <"man who can">.

cheers Darrel
 
I've been hatching brine shrimp, learning as I go, due to an unexpected batch of eggs my fish gifted me with.

I use table salt and it works well enough. Never tried anything more specialized to compare to, though.
 
dw1305 said:
Try <"Tim Addis"> - <"TA-Aquaculture">, he will both sell you some Brine Shrimp Eggs that hatch and give you his "secret" culture method.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Darrel! I did an order and also bought some of his soft artemia and spirulina. The fish love the first but I don't know whether they would have liked the second because the dog tore the package open and ate the whole thing before I realised it had been delivered! I'm just about to order some more, and also start off some brine shrimp.
 
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