Brine Shrimp Hatchery?

Question

i want to setup a brine shrimp hatchery but what salt do i use i accidently put in red sea Salt will it work or will they all just DIE?

Answer 1

I'm cheap, I use a 2 liter bottle for hatching in, and built a box with a dimmer to contain the light, and heat.  The dimmer adjusts the temperature, you can see the setup here; http://www.fishforums.net/content/forum/...

  You can just as easily use a desk lamp, or other lamp in an enclosed area to keep the temperature at 80F.  I imagine a deep drawer from a discarded dressed would work good, a cardboard box would probably be a bad idea due to being more flammable.  I've seen people run hatcheries with a 2-liter bottle, and a gooseneck desk lamp on the corner of a table.  Anything that provides light 24/7, and a constant temperature of 80F will do.

  I used to run my hatchery off of a small air pump; it's hooked into my centralized system now.  You do want plenty of aeration; this keeps the artemia cysts suspended in the brine solution.

  You can see from the pics in the link how much water I fill with, about 1 1/2 liters.  I don't add any dechlorinator, just cold tap water.  I add 2 tablespoons of non-iodized salt; I've been using livestock salt, $3 for a 50-pound bag.  I told you I was cheap.  I also add about 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda, and since doing a little experimenting, 3 drops of chlorine bleach.  I've seen breeders add a drop or two of acriflavin instead of bleach; the idea behind either of these is to keep bacteria levels down.  The baking soda increases hardness; some folks will use Epsom salt instead.

  So, after adding salt, baking soda, bleach and eggs I give the hatchery a good stir, and ignore it until the next night.  The next night I pull the hose out of the hatchery, put the hatchery on the table, and shine a bright light on the bottom, this makes the bbs settle to the bottom.  I then get what is left from the previous evening hatch out of the fridge, and get my bbs cup, which is nothing more than a large deep plastic cup with a paper coffee filter rubber banded to the top.  I take my turkey baster (every aquarist should have a turkey baster) and take the previous hatch out of the old sour cream container I use to store bbs.  I have a 1" square hole cut in the top; this lets a little fresh air in during storage.  The stored bbs goes into the filter/cup gizmo, and drains while the hatchery is settling.  After about 3 minutes I pour a little fresh water into the filter to rinse.  A few minutes later I take the baster, and add some of the fresh bbs from the hatchery to the now empty & rinsed out sour cream container.  To get past the shells floating at the top, without mixing them in, rub your nose a couple of times with you finger.  Touch the surface of the bbs hatchery.  Oil from your skin reduces surface tension, and the shells all go to the edge.

Answer 2

Red sea salt should be fine, your shrimp need salty water.  Sea water is around 1.020 to 1.022 specific gravity, whereas brine shrimp grow in saltier water.  Make sure you don't use too much, as it can stunt their growth.

The shrimp eggs should be put in room temperature dechlorinated water.  

Water chlorinators should work fairly quickly, I use Seachem Prime, it works immediately.

Wait until your salt has dissolved, heating the water in a saucepan can speed the process up. (see below). Make sure not to have your water so warm it hard boils the eggs LOL.

You will need to keep the water warm, from 80-90° F (27-32° C).    The warmer the water the sooner your eggs will hatch.  You should have a fresh hatch of brine shrimp after 24-48 hours.