Baby Brine Shrimp Hatchery

[lxDarkxl]

Hello! I’ve been lurking around the forums and decided to join recently. I’m experimenting with hatching baby brine shrimp to feed my 25 gallon nano lagoon, more specifically my captive bred mandarin dragonet that’s the size smaller than a peanut. My question is, can I use regular marine salt? Can I use the old water from my display tank for the hatchery? I generally change my water when it’s about 8-10 ppm of nitrates. How much would baby brine shrimp would you dump into the tank this size that houses 4 fish?

Thank you in advance,
V-tek

 

[JeanR]

I regularly use waste water from my main system to hatch baby brine. Works great, no issues. The salinity from a reef system is a little bit higher than recommended for "optimal" brine hatching, but you won't be able to tell the difference (and brine shrimp eggs are super cheap).

 

[coralfishreef]

I’ve only used fresh saltwater with BBS but at same Salinity as my tank.

With my small, 3D printed BBS hatchery, I used to feed a small scoop of BBS over 2-3 days. Try a smaller amount at first and adjust from there.

 

[lxDarkxl]

Cool. Thank you for the inputs! I guess, my final question is how long do you guys keep the bbs stored in the fridge before they lose their nutrional value.. a quick google search can probably answer this but I'd much rather have inputs from people whom tested and tried. Thanks again!

 

[coralfishreef]

The eggs are good as long as the BBS hatch. The BBS themselves lose nutritional value over time as the yolk sac is consumed. Different sites have different views and recommendations, but I usually get 2 days of BBS from the hatchery. Nutritional value is supposedly 30-50% less after 24-48 hours post hatch. After 2 days the water smells and most of the BBS have already hatched.