Hatching brine shrimp

[evut]

Hi everybody, I know there are dozens if not hundreds of threads about hatching brine shrimp but I would like to start a new one anyway :happy:

As I am currently feeding one Cynops larva (there will be more but not a lot) I don't really have the space or equipment to perform experiments.

After reading numerous articles and forum threads, I am mainly confused about the salt type (rock salt with no additives is the most expensive one here so I'm wondering about something cheaper like table salt) and the amount of salt to give the highest possible hatching rates.
I am also wondering if anyone has tried using baking soda instead of salt as mentioned here: Wayne Schmidt's Brine Shrimp Hatching Page

If you have any other advice please share it here as well.

Thank you!

 

[bmp1976]

I use kosher salt. 89¢ where i live. A pinch of baking soda helps the PH.

 

[froggy]

With the baking soda, does it have to be sodium bicarbonate only? All the bakig soda I can find is a mix of rice flour, sodium bicarbonate and Disodium diphosphate - will this still work? If not, will lmestone flour at least buffer the pH?

C

 

[evut]

What you have is baking powder, you should be able to get bicarbonate of soda as well in it's pure form. These two are not interchangebale, at least not in baking. Just look in the baking section of a supermarket, it should be there next to baking powder (Tesco version has a Gingerbread man on the box). I think "baking soda" is the American name for bicarbonate of soda.

I didn't try just the soda for brineshrimp. I used a little bit, together with rock (coarse) salt and it worked fine. But maybe it wasn't necessary because we have very hard water with pH exceeding 8 anyway.

 

[froggy]

Thanks, I will look for it at Sainsbury's. Water here is soft and acidic, so I think it will be useful to have it.

 

[oceanblue]

Brine shrimp do not seem to be that fussy about pH for hatching. Many people use too much salt. The lower the salt level the quicker the hatch down to about 5g/L salt. I tend to use a bit more than this, about 9g/litre and then attract them to a light and refridgerate any not immediately needed in the same strength salt in petri dishes (any flat bottomed container will do).

9g/litre seems to be optimal for long term cold survival, based on rather small samples using unspecified but apparently great salt lake strain shrimp.

They stop moving but remain alive and nutritious for two weeks: half are still alive after three. They wake up quickly on warming.

You should find sodium bicarbonate in the cooking section but if you do not most pharmacists sell it usually a lot dearer! It is a useful chemical to have around for raising pH.

 

[evut]

The recommendation on the Waterlife brand decaps. cysts is 3 tsp for 1 pint if I remember correctly which is a lot more than what you are saying (1 tsp is approx 5g).
Considering pure salt is more expensive than one with additives, I suspect there might be some sort of cospiracy between the brine shrimp and salt industries :happy:
But seriously, I would definitely try using less salt next time as you are suggesting.

 

[bmp1976]

KOSHER SALT .99 Cent

 

[oceanblue]

The FAO has a document on brine shrimp (and other live foods) here is a link to the middle of it.4.2. Use of cysts

" Optimal hatching can be obtained in the range 5-35 g.l-1. For reasons of practical convenience natural seawater is mostly used to hatch cysts. However, at 5 g.l-1 salinity however, the nauplii hatch faster, as less glycerol has to be built up. For some sources of cysts hatching the cysts at low salinity results in higher hatching efficiencies, and the nauplii have a higher energy content (Table 4.2.5)."

The document also says the hatching enzyme requires a pH of at least 8 so a pinch of sodium bicarbonate is a good idea.

I use Morrisons bettabuy table salt. It was 14 pence a kilo a year or two ago it might be more now.

 

[froggy]

Does anyone know where to get hatchable decapsulated eggs? All the ones on ebay are desiccated and are non-hatchable...

I ended up buying the expensive 'sea salt flakes' as everything else had anticaking agents in it.

C

 

[evut]

Hi Chris,
Waterlife is available on Ebay, our World of Water also sell them.
Just type "Waterlife Artemia" into Ebay and it finds it.
I used to buy them but using these gets quite expensive after a while, compared to regular cysts.

Regarding salt without additives, you can get SAXA Coarse sea salt (dark blue, 350g for 60p in Tesco). Tesco also sell "Tidmans Natural Rock Salt", 500g paper box for 90p.

 

[smily sam]

Hi Chris,
Waterlife is available on Ebay, our World of Water also sell them.
Just type "Waterlife Artemia" into Ebay and it finds it.
I used to buy them but using these gets quite expensive after a while, compared to regular cysts.

Regarding salt without additives, you can get SAXA Coarse sea salt (dark blue, 350g for 60p in Tesco). Tesco also sell "Tidmans Natural Rock Salt", 500g paper box for 90p.

so you can use ordanary salt for brine shrimp? or does it just have to be aquarium salt?
Sam:wacko::happy:

 

[froggy]

Well, I will get through my box of expensive salt and hope that the nauplii appreciate it!

Thanks for the brand name - I have ordered myself some.

Yes, normal salt works

C

 

[Coastal Groovin]

I use salt for fish tanks. It buffers and adjusts the Ph for me. Keeps it simple and I get the same results everytime. It also dechlorinates the water.

 

[froggy]

I have just started my second hatchery (yesterday) and today found that the airline had moved, leaving most of the eggs settled in the bottleneck at the bottom of the hatchery. I have corrected this and the eggs are now suspended again. Will they hatch still or should I start it again?

C

 

[smily sam]

I think they will still hatch, I don't think it afects the brine shrimp eggs to much if they arnt floating for a bit, some people don't use pumps and they still hath (but I would advise you carry on useing your pump), also sea monkeys (hybrid brine shrimp) don't need a pump to hatch (I know from personal experience) So no I wouldn't start all over again.
Hope your brine shrimp hatch,
Sam:happy::wacko:

 

[erfus]

I tried different kinds of salt and brine. I think it depends more on the mark of the brine shrimp to get a good hatching rate than the type of salt.

I also tried different containers for hatching: a small box built with a cd, no aerator, I was fine for a few nauplii hatching.
The typical water bottle cut with aerator, for me the best choice for large quantities of hatching.
Water temperature also influences the hatching rate.
But I still think a good brand of brine is ideal ...

 

[5040victoria]

Hi guys i have just set up my first brine shrimp hatchery and OMG..how do i know when they have hatched they are so tiny !!!

 

[rayray10584]

I have some guppy fry that are super tiny so I went to my local pet shop and bought a brine shrimp hatchery for like 13 dollars. It came with premessured eggs and salt. The package said that you could order more of the premessured eggs and salt from them. All I needed to buy was a two liter of pop so I could use the bottle for the water. All I had to have was enough room for a small square. It worked very well within two days I had baby brine shrimp.

 

[smily sam]

Hi guys i have just set up my first brine shrimp hatchery and OMG..how do i know when they have hatched they are so tiny !!!

Turn off the pump and any light in the room or near by then shine torch at the bottom of the botle then once all the egg shells float to the surface and all the brine shrimp are at the bottom of the botle looking at the torch light (baby brine shrimp look like tiny fleas trying to get past the wall of plastic to the torch) unplug the air line hoseing and sython out the bbs (Baby brine shrimp) into a fine mesh net, tea strainer or fabric like a tight. now You can either put them directly into what you want to feed them to by dipping the net/tea strainer/tight into the water of the animal you want to feed or you can store them in a container in the fridge by dipping the net/tea strainer/tight into a container containing salt water then to make them last longer pop the container in the fridge:happy: