Help with a Brine Shrimp Egg Hatchery

[MBF]

I purchased this Brine Scrimp farm from BRS with eggs…as a first attempt to hatch my own for my 125 Gal. 6’ Reef tank. I thought I followed directions…and I’m at the 72 hour mark with no visible signs of life. I live in the Seattle area (so not warm) but have kept the house at 68 degrees for the last three days. Nothing else used other than a small LED lights. Any thoughts or suggestions on this first post and call for help. My tanks do far better than my Brine Shrimp attempt.
Thank you!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I purchased this Brine Scrimp farm from BRS with eggs…as a first attempt to hatch my own for my 125 Gal. 6’ Reef tank. I thought I followed directions…and I’m at the 72 hour mark with no visible signs of life. I live in the Seattle area (so not warm) but have kept the house at 68 degrees for the last three days. Nothing else used other than a small LED lights. Any thoughts or suggestions on this first post and call for help. My tanks do far better than my Brine Shrimp attempt.
Thank you!

What was the salinity of the hatching water?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Salinity should be lower, I do it about 1.018-1.020.
There should be a bubbler to agitate the water, this is very important to keeps the eggs moving.
The water should be warmer, they don't hatch well in cold.
Lights are not needed at all.
48 hours is all it takes.

Thats it, its that easy, I hatch them in a 2 litre plastic coke bottle. I don't know how this brs thing works, but it looks more complicated than a coke bottle lol

I see a lot of eggs at the bottom, you only need a small pinch at a time.

 

[John Neuzil]

This hatchery does not need a bubbler.

Salinity should be lower, I do it about 1.018-1.020.
There should be a bubbler to agitate the water, this is very important to keeps the eggs moving.
The water should be warmer, they don't hatch well in cold.
Lights are not needed at all.
48 hours is all it takes.

Thats it, its that easy, I hatch them in a 2 litre plastic coke bottle. I don't know how this brs thing works, but it looks more complicated than a simple coke bottle lol

I see a lot of eggs at the bottom, you only need a small pinch at a time

 

[John Neuzil]

First it looks like you have too much water. There should not be any eggs beyond the outer ring. Temperature is important. At 68 i see a low hatch rate. At 73 and up the center should be filled with shrimp. A light over the top help. The eggs could be bad. I use the hatchery weekly and have had good success with it.

 

[BJK2]

I used that hatchery a few times when I was breeding FW fish.
Then switched to a Ziss Brine shrimp hatchery and my production amount went through the roof. I have had the best luck with the brine shrimp salt mix and eggs from Aquarium Co-Op compared to anything else I've used so far. I'd rather use that salt compared to my reef salt for the brine shrimp.
-Billy

 

[Jmp998]

I used that type of hatchery for a while and it worked fine, as said above don’t add too much water. I always just used instant ocean. Egg quality varies a lot. I have tried several vendors and Aquarium Coop are by far the best. If you are trying to hatch a lot, the Ziss Blender is a much better option, but if you are only doing a small amount that hatchery from BRS works fine.

It is hard to tell from the pic, but it almost looks like there are hatched dead shrimp in the outer ring. The BRS Hatcher needs to be in a room with some ambient light to draw the brine shrimp toward the collection cup in the center. They will start dying a day or so after hatching since there is no circulation, especially if you add a lot of eggs.

 

[MBF]

I purchased this Brine Scrimp farm from BRS with eggs…as a first attempt to hatch my own for my 125 Gal. 6’ Reef tank. I thought I followed directions…and I’m at the 72 hour mark with no visible signs of life. I live in the Seattle area (so not warm) but have kept the house at 68 degrees for the last three days. Nothing else used other than a small LED lights. Any thoughts or suggestions on this first post and call for help. My tanks do far better than my Brine Shrimp attempt.
Thank you!

 

[MBF]

Thanks much for all the replies!!

The instructions for this feeder said no heater, air or lights required(?). I’ve watched a half dozen YouTube’s and see much different perspective. I wasn’t clear on the water line—and as noted, I probably overfilled the hatchery with water.
Thanks for the Ziss suggestion too—I did see that recommended from others.
My salinity was at 1.005 BtW (based on adding too much water I think). Appreciated all the responses!!