A different type of brine shrimp hatchery

[tjudy]

Here is a picture of what I have starting using as a brine shrimp hatchery...

http://daah.info/index.php?board=16;action=display;threadid=1144

This is a 500mL glass graduated cylinder with a long piece of rigid airline tubing without an airstone in the bottom. I am getting excellent hatch rates from the NABS 90% eggs in small batches using 1 tsp salt. The amount of eggs varies between 1/2 and 2 tsp depending upon my needs.

These cylinders are heavy, have a great base and are stable, can be set in a heated tank, take up very little space, are very easy to clean, and layer better than a 2 liter bottle when it comes time to remove the bbs.

I have been playing around with 2 liter bottles for a couple months, and have come to the conclusion that there is no truly optimal way to use them compared to these cylinders.

I also have a 1000 mL cylinder that I use if I need more than a 2 tsp of eggs. A Tbs is not a problem in the larger cylinder at all.

The cylinders are available in plastic or glass. I like the glass. They are not that expensive... not as expensive as the commercial hatching cones, and I think they are easier to use. A cone has the same problem as a 2-liter bottle: how to keep it upright if you are not set up to hang it.

We could sell glass cylinders in the Store for these prices (I think... based upon advertised prices from three wholesale lab glass companies):
1000 ml: $25
500 mL: $15

Two cylinders should meet most hobbyists needs. If you are making small batches, and can give the hatch consistant heat and light, you may only need one. I get adequate hatches in 24 hours, but much better with a little more time. I use two and hatch at room temperature, so the mix gets two days.

I have what I need (though technically I do not own them.. they are in the lab at school), so we are not going to order any for the store unless there is an interest. Please post to this thread, and if the response is adequate (12 cylinders to get the wholesale price for he group), I will buy them.

 

[Neil]

OK Ted,
Your driving me crazy! Every couple of weeks you come up with something I want. You already know that i was asking you about a good hatcher. I am not quite sure weather I want 1 of each or 2 of the smaller 500s. But definitely put my name down on the list. I am tired of fighting with my 2l bottles.
Neil

 

[tjudy]

:?
Hmmm.. I thought these would be a hit for sure. I will order some for us Neil. Do you have a preference for the size? I hatch such small batches that it makes no difference to me.

 

[farm41]

They look good Ted , if I didn't have hatching containers that were free I would buy some.

I use a 1 liter pop bottle inverted with the bottom cut off. It works excellent, all the eggs stay in the water column. I support them with a small rack that I built. I just use 1tsp eggs and incubate them at room temp so I with 2 batches going I get 1 batch every day.

 

[tjudy]

Plastic bottle work great. I like the cylinders because they do not need a rack at all, and I can pour boiling water into them to sterilize them. We do not drink soda pop, so plastic bottles are actually rare around here.

I have an idea in mind for improving the pop bottle system, but I have not had the chance to perfect it yet. I have inserted a bulkhead into a cap, and the set an airpump diaphragm into a drilled piece of acrylic that has an airline running up into the diaphragm's center hole. The bulkhead in the cap fits snugly into the airline, and the cap fits snuggly in the diaphragm.

The 2-liter bottle has the bottom left one it, but has a single 1/4" hole drilled for air release. The cap is removed from the bottle to put in salt and eggs, and water is run in with your finger over the hole in the bottom. The cap with a bulkhead gets screwed on and the bottle gets inverted into the diaphragm/air line housing, which is in the bottom of a tank of water with a heater. Because the hole in the bulkhead and the hole in the bottom are so small, so long as your finger is blocking the hole in the bottom only a couple drops of solution escape from the bulkhead when you invert the bottle into the housing.

Air enters the bottle from the bulkhead in the cap and keeps the eggs rolling. No open top means no salt/egg shell spray. The bottle is also less flimsy that one with the bottom cut off. I have a commercial grease strainer from a fast food restaurant that I place a big restaurant coffee filter into that I pour the whole contents of a bottle through to rinse the bbs. I use a broth separator, one of those pitchers with the spout coming off the bottom, to pour out bbs and leave the egg shells behind.

The bulkhead and bottles work well, but I have found that the glass cylinders are a lot easier... and I do not have to build them. I can also let the culture settle in the cylinder and siphon out the center brine layer; that way I get even less eggs and shells in what I am feeding.

 

[Neil]

Ted,

I will order some for us Neil. Do you have a preference for the size?

I think that I would like the smaller ones.

Thanks,
Neil