Brine shrimp and ammonia spikes. What am I doing wrong?

[Stv]

Hey guys. Been harvesting baby brine for a while and all is very successful. I do about a gram a week in a one liter bottle with great success. My struggle is that I set up a 10 gallon breeder with just an air line and heater to try and raise them to adults. I use freshly mixed salt water that I would use for normal tank water changes and back the salinity down to 1.020 with RODI. I don’t over populate the tank and only add maybe 10% of the hatch to this tank and feed the rest immediately after hatch. The 10 gallon tank seems to do fine for a couple to few days and then I get an ammonia spike and they all die off. I’ve tried three different food sources for them on three different attempts and the outcome is the same. Ammo ia spike and dead tank. I’ve used in house bread Phyto plankton, R
I make my own Phyto plankton so I’ve tried that, RG complete and spirulina powder. I’m careful not to over feed and make the water too green, I feed daily in all three cases just so the water has a slight color change.

what am I doing wrong and why am I getting this ammonia spike and dead tank after just 2-3 days 3 times in a row? I’ve been successfully breading chaeto, Phyto plankton and multiple strains of copapods for a very long time so I’m confused on what I’m missing here.

Any advise would be much appropriated from peeps that have successfully raised bring to adults and have a proven success rate. Cheers and happy reefing.

 

[SlugSnorter]

I think the proper range for their salinity is like 1.024-1.028. Phyto plankton and spirulina powder are both good foods. make sure there is enough water movement to keep it suspended.

 

[Stv]

I think the proper range for their salinity is like 1.024-1.028. Phyto plankton and spirulina powder are both good foods. make sure there is enough water movement to keep it suspended.

Yes I have adjusted the flow and the bubbles to make sure the tank is completely circulating but not overly. Just can’t seem to figure out this ammonia spike thing.

 

[SlugSnorter]

Yes I have adjusted the flow and the bubbles to make sure the tank is completely circulating but not overly. Just can’t seem to figure out this ammonia spike thing.

rotting food or dead brine shrimp.

 

[Stv]

rotting food or dead brine shrimp.

It happens after 2 to 3 days every time. They are healthy and happy they’ve only had one tiny dose of food. Then bam. Ammonia and e surging dead.

 

[SlugSnorter]

It happens after 2 to 3 days every time. They are healthy and happy they’ve only had one tiny dose of food. Then bam. Ammonia and e surging dead.

i think 1.020 is too low of a salinity

 

[Stv]

i think 1.020 is too low of a salinity

Are you suggesting the salinity is too low and the tank has a massive die off and that’s what causes the ammonia spike?

 

[Stv]

Are you suggesting the salinity is too low and the tank has a massive die off and that’s what causes the ammonia spike?

I am using a fresh mix of instant ocean reef for the water

 

[Garf]

I am using a fresh mix of instant ocean reef for the water

Try decapsulating the eggs.

 

[Stv]

Try decapsulating the eggs.

I do t understand. I hatch them in a separate one liter incubator. Screen them out so it to not use the hatch water and add them to the larger tank. All the eggs and empty ones are removed before they go in the large tank.

 

[Saltydog69]

its from the food that you feed them. its causing a cycle in the 10 gallon tank.. the holding tank needs to have some established rock or sand bed to feed on the ammonia

 

[Stv]

its from the food that you feed them. its causing a cycle in the 10 gallon tank.. the holding tank needs to have some established rock or sand bed to feed on the ammonia

That’s what I thought as well could possibly be the issues but I’ve watched dozens of videos people doing it in buckets and or glass bottom tanks with just a heater and air line absolutely nothing else and growing them successfully two adults for months and months at a time so what am I missing?

 

[Stv]

That’s what I thought as well could possibly be the issues but I’ve watched dozens of videos people doing it in buckets and or glass bottom tanks with just a heater and air line absolutely nothing else and growing them successfully two adults for months and months at a time so what am I missing?

 

[Stv]

In fact in every single video I’ve ever watched of people doing this successfully, no one has rocks or sand in their tank.

 

[Joe31415]

i think 1.020 is too low of a salinity

That's about-ish what I use and never had any issues.

Regarding the ammonia, are you changing the water? I only make one 'batch' at a time (more or less as much as I use in one shot). If I let it go for an extra day or two, everything dies and it smells pretty bad.
I'd imagine if you want to keep them longer, you need be filtering them and replacing the old water every few days. But I could be wrong, I've never had any (living ones) in water for more than 48 hours.

 

[Garf]

I do t understand. I hatch them in a separate one liter incubator. Screen them out so it to not use the hatch water and add them to the larger tank. All the eggs and empty ones are removed before they go in the large tank.

I don’t remember ever testing for ammonia but I put the crashes down to bacteria. Decapsulating the eggs gets rid of any nasties that may or may not be on the shell. I’m actually gonna start this game again as it’s been a while.

 

[Saltydog69]

ok so then its something in your rodi water.. or the food that you giving them. your using the green powder food right?
maybe silicates in the water are too high.. have you ever tested your rodi water with icp test?

 

[Stv]

I don’t remember ever testing for ammonia but I put the crashes down to bacteria. Decapsulating the eggs gets rid of any nasties that may or may not be on the shell. I’m actually gonna start this game again as it’s been a while.

How do you decapsulate the eggs prior to adding the babies to the tank?

 

[Stv]

ok so then its something in your rodi water.. or the food that you giving them. your using the green powder food right?
maybe silicates in the water are too high.. have you ever tested your rodi water with icp test?

Yea water has been tested. Zero TDS, choline etc. I run a shop and propagate corals. Have over 2000 gallons and 11 tanks that use the water. I have a 200 gallon RODI with TDS alert systems on it and a 100 gallon mixing station. All the water is ran through a huge while house system then two softeners, then three stage prefikteting and 2 stage RO before 3 stage DI then UV sterilized.

 

[Stv]

ok so then its something in your rodi water.. or the food that you giving them. your using the green powder food right?
maybe silicates in the water are too high.. have you ever tested your rodi water with icp test?

I’ve used spirilina powder, RG complete and Phyto plankton on three individual tries and they all crash from ammonia after 2-3 days regardless.