compatibility and bbs question

[uberape]

I was recently billed heavily from my electricity company and need to shut down one of my tanks. I was wondering if in a very very complex 30 gallon, I could get away with a nannacara anomala male, a baenschi inka 50 male and maybe as well a cacatouides male. The anaomala is aggressive but although my inka's are juveniles, a fully grown male i presume are large enough to live with the anomala. The caca accidentally came with the inka's and he is growing in to a fine specimen so I'm tempted to keep him as well. there will be 8 tetra, two sparkling gouramis and a banjo catfish with them.

I also would like to ask, do bbs actually need light to hatch? I hatch them in a cupboard so have been using a light to both moderate temperature and to provide light, but this has upped the bill by £40. If I switch the light off completely, will they hatch with just an airstone and no light at all?

 

[aquaticclarity]

As far as the baby brine shrimp go...they do not need light but the temperature determines how fast or slow the cysts hatch. So if the space they are in isn't warm your hatch rate will be pretty low (some cysts hatch earlier then others even in cooler temps so you will end up with a lot of waste).

 

[uberape]

thanks, ive worked out a happy medium of heating the hatchery for half the original time, it seems to work ok but takes longer to hatch. I might look into cheaper heating methods.