Please help, need feeding advice.

[DeCypher]

I have around 65-70 eggs that have only a couple days until hatching. I am trying to develop an organized feeding schedule for BBS, for when to harvest, when to hatch, all that. I have a schedule here for myself to follow...if you have ANY tips or suggestions, please let me know! First timer, I want to do this right.
Okay, so I have 2 small bins for brine shrimp hatching. Bin 1 and Bin 2. They will be kept around 70 F. "Mix" means dropping eggs, salt, baking soda in 1 liter of water. Harvest means harvesting and feeding.
Monday AM- Harvest bin 1, mix bin 2.
Monday PM- Mix bin 1.

Tuesday AM-Nothing.
Tuesday PM- Harvest bin 2. Mix bin 2.

Wednesday AM- Harvest bin 1. Mix bin 2.
Wednesday PM- Mix bin 1.

Thursday- Repeat Monday.

Friday- Repeat Tuesday.
And so on. Is my schedule good? Will this work? Any good suggestions?
I'm stressing myself out over this. :errr:

 

[xxianxx]

BBS take about 48hrs to hatch, the surplus you dont need to use straight away can be kept in the fridge, i have read they can stay alive for a week or so but mine always die after a couple of days. I personally would have one hatchery running at all times and an emergency supply of daphnia if a batch fails.

 

[DeCypher]

Alright, I'll give the BBS 48-hour intervals instead of 36.
I just want to use BBS for now, I'll definitely try Daphnia the next time this happens, though.

 

[xxianxx]

Daphnia take a lot longer to replenish their population levels after harvesting than BBS. If you have 60+ larvae they will consume loads of daphnia, so i wouldnt try feeding exclusively daphnia on larger batches, they are very handy as a reserve food supply and have the advantage of not fouling the water as fast as BBS. The hatching times for BBS can vary with temperature, salinity, ph etc, so experiment to see what yours tend to hatch at and plan your schedule around that.

 

[DeCypher]

pH will be fairly high, because I am adding baking soda. Temp will be maintained at constant 69-70 F.
I think 48 hour intervals would be good though, because they should hatch by 48 hours at the most.

 

[DingoDoo]

I find it stange your quoting 36 or 48 hours to hatch BBS

I can hatch mine in 15 hours if its gaining heat from my aquarium and only 18-20 hours if at room temp.

 

[DeCypher]

The last time I hatched brine shrimp it took 72 hours in 60 F.
I assume it will take ~48 hours to hatch in 67-69F. If earlier, they can stay in their tank for a couple hours before being eaten...they just lose nutrition.

 

[xxianxx]

I find it stange your quoting 36 or 48 hours to hatch BBS

I can hatch mine in 15 hours if its gaining heat from my aquarium and only 18-20 hours if at room temp.

As i stated times will vary.

 

[DeCypher]

I guess I'll just experiment. I want the eggs to hatch at 40-48 hours. I will try placing them in cool and warm locations, experiment.

 

[JessKB]

Put a desk lamp next to your bbs hatchery and you'll get them hatching in less than 24hrs usually.

When I raised 200+ larvae a couple months ago I did it like this:


Late afternoon: set up bbs hatchery, feed larvae all bbs that hatched out since last feeding, Leave the bbs in there for 3 or 4 hrs, siphon out bbs and change water, put the larvae away for the night. repeat for 3 weeks and move on to chopped black worms (which are soooo much easier)