Brine Shrimp hatchery

[FelipeBastos]

I have a 55g. Oceanic with 2 true percs, an anemone, a huge clean up crew, and a good bit of coral.

I was thinking hatching brine shrimp would be a good idea.

Anyone used the hatcher ( Hatch n Feeder). Is it easy? Does it pollute the tank visually?

Ciao,

Felipe
www.Felipe-Bastos.com

[bertoni]

[welcome]

I think it's better to hatch the eggs in a separate container to keep the shells out of the tank. It's quite easy to do, IME. I didn't think it was worth the effort, though.

[FelipeBastos]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7204546#post7204546 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bertoni
<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

I think it's better to hatch the eggs in a separate container to keep the shells out of the tank. It's quite easy to do, IME. I didn't think it was worth the effort, though.

If it was easy, why do you think it was not worth the effort? I read the newly hatched brine are quite nutritious.

[bertoni]

There are lots of good feeding options, and I didn't think brine shrimp were all that interesting as a food source. They are nutritious, but not any more so than frozen foods and small crustaceans, etc, from a refugium.

[rayjay]

I would never let hatch water contact my tank water because occasionally, the cyst harbour harmful bacteria that can be transferred to the tank. I have too much invested to risk that when it is so easy to hatch the cysts in an inverted pop bottle, siphon off, and fresh water rinse before feeding to the tank.
Actually, I don't feed the nauplii any more, I grow out the brine to adults, gut load them, and feed them to my fish.
The nauplii are best within hours of hatch out, so while it is easy to hatch them, it's a PITA to maximize the benefits by siphoning off the newly hatched ones at about the 20 hour mark, and about every two hours thereafter until no more are hatching out.
As soon as they hatch, they feed off the egg sack which is what makes them nutritious in the first place as the sack contains high huffa content.
To give them a higher protein level one needs to wait until about 24 hours after hatchout, and gut load them in 2 12 hour stages over the next 24 hours, doing a water change and replenishing the spirulina food that enriches them in protein. Nauplii don't have mouths until after the first molt, so feeding them in the first 24 hours is fruitless. As the brine mature, they can be gut loaded faster after each molt, until when adults, it only takes about an hour to an hour and a half.
If all you want is to use nauplii to feed huffa content to your tanks, then just buy decapsulated cysts, or decap them yourself, and there is no danger of reduction of nutrient level because they aren't alive to use it up.
If you want adults, it's easiest to buy live adults from an LFS. They can be grown out but for any significant numbers it's more time consuming.
Adults are low in huffa content and higher in protein, so many gut load with a Selco type product before using them.
If you wish to try growing them out, you might get some ideas to apply to your own situation by reading of my trials and tribulations on the grow out.
RAISING BRINE SHRIMP (http://www.angelfire.com/ab/rayjay/brineshrimp.html)