BBS questions

[rsa1]

Hi,
A few questions about raising baby brine shrimp. I'm trying the 2 liter soda bottle method and it seemed to have worked well for me, but I'm not clear on a couple of topics.

1. The bbs hatched after about 24 hrs. I'm not feeding the bbs. For how long after hatching will they remain suitable food for apisto fry?

2. If I feed the bbs, will it extent their 'shelf life' much? If so, what do I feed them?

3. My house is a little cold during the winter. It might drop down to 50 deg. For this first batch of bbs, I put my bbs hatchery in a small bathroom with a space heater and was able to keep the water temp at 70 - 75 deg, but that little electric space heater is expensive to run. How low a temp will the bbs hatch at? Can you recommend a method to keep the water temp up?

4. I'm probably going to need to move the bbs hatchery out to the garage, so it will be colder yet. Is there a better hatchey method where I can heat the hatchery water?

Thanks!

 

[farm41]

I have my hatcher in my daphnia tank, heated to 72F, takes 48 hours and is just about the right timing for me. I keep the bbs after hatching for up to 48 hours in the fridge in fresh saltwater. They will begin to small bad and you will know when to throw them out.

 

[tjudy]

Use an incandescent light over the hatcher. That will warm and provide light. Light is crucial for good hatches. IME, trying to keep bbs alive is a waste of time. You can siphon off a portion of the culture and let the rest cook for another day and they will probably be ok. Beyond three days and they die and rot very quickly.

 

[fishgeek]

you can keep them alive , much like their commercial cousins, the sea monkeys
they feed on green water and other small phytoplankton

the whole point of producing bbs is so that the fish get the nutrition from the egg sac , so growing them on will only decrease their nutrional value, once fully grown the brine shrimp will release free swimming youngsters and the eggs are only released if water parameters are not ideal

if you want to grow them set up a tank with some breakingdown plant or algal growth and a small air filter to just circulate the water , it's pretty easy

heat will determine the length of time till hatch and i'm not sure how low it can be
i have hatched bbs with no heat in a house overwinter , roughly averaging 15 celsius
i have seen lots of hatcheries based around a few bottles standing in a small glass tank with heated water to keep the temperature steady

best of luck
andrew

 

[rsa1]

thanks

OK, thanks for the info. I'll try a lamp. If that's not warm enough, I'll try submerging the hatchery in a small tank. I guess I'll need to set up two hatcheries as to have newly hatched BBS on hand.

 

[farm41]

I keep my freshly hatched bbs in the fridge for 2 days while the next batch is hatching. I use a rubbermaid container about 4" square and 3" deep. After straining and rinsing the freshly hatched bbs, I fill the container to 1.5" of water and add 1tsp salt, then invert net with bbs into the container.

If left at hatching temp. the bbs will use up the most nutritious part of the bbs, the yolk sac. When chilled in the fridge, they use much less yolk and are nearly as nutritious as when first hatched.

 

[rsa1]

thanks again

FARM41 - The refrigeration tip is a good one. Thanks

 

[Ray McCaleb]

I use two of the two liter (inverted) bottles in the black plastic commercial fixtures. I add eggs (3/4 tsp.) to both cones daily after draining off the shrimp. Each evening I clean one of the cones, the one that's been in use for two days. The shrimp all settle to the bottom after 1/2 hour with the air off. I simply unplug the 12" airline tube from a plastic valve and let gravity do the rest. I have three plastic drink cups that go in the door rack of an apartment sized refrigerator in my fishroom. I fill a cup, feed my fish three times over three hours, and place the remaining shrimp in the refrigerator. After three days it gets tossed. I rarely have to use the refrigerated shrimp...they're there for backup, in case I forget, get sick, go out of town, bad hatch, etc. The cones are heated by a 40 watt bulb in a desk lamp, close...almost touching the bottles. This also provides a simple nightlight for the fishroom.

Hope this helps,

Ray

 

[donjascomb]

Hi,

Here's how I hatch BBS. I use a spare 10 gallon aquarium with a submersible heater. I bought a plexiglass top that I cut to fit & then I cut 3 holes/circles big enough to fit three (3) 2-liter bottles. I fill the tank with tapwater and the plexiglass holds the bottles in place. I have an air pump with airlines into all three of the bottles plus one airline in the aquarium to keep water circulating for heat distribution. I also keep a lamp nearby but I only turn it on to attract BBS after removing the airline. I use a baster to remove the BBS from the bottle that collect near the light & then I squit it through a brine shrimp net & then rinse in freshwater before feeding. I hope this helps...works for me, anyway.