Just in case... Best way to culture bbs?

[sherry]

read best to mean easiest please

thanks!

 

[Apistt_ed]

I wouldn't know if it's the simplest, but this would be the way that I have been hatching bbs for the longest time. I use the big jug-like jars that pickles come in from wholesale stores to get the most out of my bbs because I'm lazy and all my fish are fed bbs so it lasts about a week. so the things you'll need are:

1 large jar (about 2 gallons)
non chlorinated salt- I find that sea salt or aquarium salt works good but never table salt.
an aerator + air stone
bbs eggs - (1-2 tblsp)
dechlorinated water

fill the cleaned jar with dechlorinated water up to the beginning of the curve and add about one and a half cups of the salt and stir till all of it is dissolved. Add two tablespoons of the bbs eggs and stir lightly to get then wet enough to have most not floating. Add the airstone and make sure the pressure is just enough to have the eggs moving in the water but not bubbling at the surface. Store it in a warm dark area and wait for about a day and a half depending on temperature. Every once in a while check to see if there are any stuck on the side of the glass and if so, stir them back into the water. when ready to feed, use a small piece of tubing to siphon the bbs into a bbs net and rinse under lukewarm water. put this into a cup filled with the tank water and take pipette and spray into tanks.

** IF this seems overwhelming and you need only a small amount,

San Francisco Bay Brine Shrimp CO. has a bbs hatching kit with eggs & instructions for small cultures. You can find any of the San Francisco cultures at most petshops. Just ask for SanFrancisco Bay Brine Shrimp hatching kits.


good luck! John

 

[Apisto ranch]

Here's afew links to bs hatcherys that works really good
http://www.geocities.com/lfs2002sg/brine.htm

I use this one here it's a good one but I have 4 frys I'm feeding so it's easyer with this set up for me.
http://www.fightingfish.com.au/article.php?id=41


http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/food/bbs/how_to_bbs.html



http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_brineshrimp_hatchery.php

Maybe one of these will help you as well.

 

[Zapisto]

actually
i use chlorinated water direct from tap.
i found the chlore start decaps the eggs and time they hatch chlore already gone.

i test it with two batch
the first with dechlorinated : hatch after 28~30 hours
the second with tap water : hatch after 18 - 20 hours

just my observation .....

and for salt i use the cheapest salt in my grocery stop , 2pound for 2 or 3$
naturel big size granularity with nothing fancy and work leke a charm

i hach them in my fishroom where the temp is 28degree celcius

du to the number of fish fry i use my home made hatchery :

 

[aspen]

'just in case' means that you should be actually hatching bbs now. i had a bit of trouble getting them to go, i tried everything, that was until i got good brine shrimp eggs. you can't afford this time when you got wrigglers. this will be days lost. get yourself set up now. the fish will eat them, and it may actually trigger a spawn.

what you need to hatch bbs is, a container of water at 80 deg f. i have 2 small maple syrup bottles i float in an aquarium. you need air. i use 2 small syphons made with 1/4" air line tubing and a piece of rigid tubing, which rest in the bottles. i use 1 tsp salt per litre (quart) of tapwater. water should not be too soft. they also need light. i use a 9 watt screw in flourescent lamp running 24/7 next to the bottles.

the most important thing you need is good eggs. you will not know if the eggs you've bought are any good till you've tried them. i would stay away from the small glass bottles that sell in lfs. they are often too old and likely weren't any good anyway.

keep your good eggs in the freezer, portion out a small amount to use immediately.

rick

 

[Apisto ranch]

I have tow hatchers going at one time. I'm like zapisto I have so many fry going at any giving time so i need to keep up. My rule is to start hatchery 1 then 3 days later I start hatchery 2. So that on the 4th day I can clean out hatcher 1 and restart it with more egg. That gives the hatcher =

1st day to hatch
2nd and 3rd to feed
4th day to start new batch

It only over laps on the 4th day. So on the 4th day I have one starting and one on it's last day of hatching. I got my BS eggs off aquabid for $5.00 bucks i got 70mg, 90% hatch rate of bs. When i make up the new batch. I use 1/2teas of eggs,2 tabs aqum. salt, str8 tap water. You can get some really good deals on bs off aquabid or even some of the shop/swaps on fish sites. When i get my bs eggs I always look for a 80% to 90% hatch rate.
Here's a picture of my hatchery,salt,eggs. The bottle of eggs is right to the right of the salt. there the ones I got off aquabid and I got 5 of them bottles for $5.00 and that was shipping and all.

here's apic of my 20day old Orange Flash eatting bs notice the bright pink belly he's almost full. LOL

 

[Apisto ranch]

I agree with aspen;

'just in case' means that you should be actually hatching bbs now. i had a bit of trouble getting them to go, i tried everything, that was until i got good brine shrimp eggs. you can't afford this time when you got wrigglers. this will be days lost. get yourself set up now. the fish will eat them, and it may actually trigger a spawn.

if you thank you have eggs and there starting to become wigglers then it's time to get stuff ready ,ordered , going.