The Stats
Dimensions | Filtration | Heating | Air Pump | Lighting |
---|---|---|---|---|
16x10x8 | N/A | Acura 50w submersible | Dolphin P1 | N/A |
About The Brine Shrimp Factory
What I refer to as the Brine Shrimp Factory is just
that, a little assembly line of brine shrimp eggs we hatch to feed to the
youngest of fry. I don't like to send anything to it's death but after having
over 50% mortality rates with our fry I had to resign myself that this was
necessary. We use 2 litre pop bottles with the tops cut off to cultivate the
brine shrimp. We put them in the tank to keep them at a constant temperature of
82 degrees faherheit (hence the heater). We run airlines to each container
to keep the water both aerated and the eggs and subsequent freshly hatched
brine shrimp tumbling.
The Process
Other than the equipment you are going to need some
brine shrimp eggs, aquarium salt and dechlorinator. We first add the water to
the bottle and add a drop of dechlorinator. Next we add 1/4 teaspoon of brine
shrimp eggs. I'm not sure if its necessary but we let the eggs tumble in the
water for an hour before adding the salt. After an hour we put in just over one
tablespoon of aquarium salt. It usually takes close to 24 hours for the eggs
to fully hatch. To remove the shrimp from the bottle, first we take the bottle
out of the tank and let everything "settle". Normally the freshly hatched
brine shrimp will congregate toward the bottom of the bottle. We then use a
turkey baster to suck the brine shrimp nauplii from the bottom of the bottle and squirt them
into a brine shrimp net. Oh!! Forgot to mention you'll need one of those too!
*lol* Brine shrimp nets have extremely small webbing. Some of the shrimp will
still fall through so we do this over a glass container. The vast majority will
remain in the net. After we have the amount of brine shrimp we want in the net,
we rinse the brine shrimp off with tank water. (I just dunk the net in a tank)
Then I just take the net to whichever tank I want to put the shrimp in and
swish it around til the shrimp are all out of the net, take the net back and
rinse it out under the faucet, dump whatever is in the glass container back to
the pop bottle, put the pop bottle back in the tank and return the airline and
wait for the next feeding. :) We like to have a fresh batch going at all
times, that is why you see two containers in the tank. Normally a batch will
stay fresh for up to 2 days. Once the water in the bottle starts to get cloudy
at all I pitch it and start another one.
It probably isn't necessary to go to the lengths that we do to cultivate brine
shrimp but for the amount that we use, this is what works for us. :)
The Occupants
Well... I think it's safe to assume what goes here.
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