How do people keep baby brine shrimp in the water column?

[Karen00]

Hello fellow saltines,

I've been hatching baby brine shrimp for my fish for awhile which has been going well. The fish also eat frozen food so the bbs isn't their only food but I add it twice a day to the tank so they have setting to hunt (or so I thought). I just recently watched my tank after adding them and I realized the bbs immediately swim to the surface toward the light. In hindsight this makes sense given this is what makes them easy to collect from the culturing containers but I find myself standing there for half an hour just to keep swirling them into the water column with my brine shrimp net for my lower dwelling fish to get. I read that once it goes dark they sink to the substrate so my night feeding tends to be closer to when lights are out but during the day I can't avoid the light.

My question... Is there a way to keep them in the water column? I know people use these guys to feed seahorses and other picky fish so how does that work if the bbs float on the surface? I'm assuming they were being sucked into my filter before I started swirling them into the water column but I'm sure I'm still losing a lot of them to the filter.

 

[AlgaeBarn]

I would maybe try to get a feeder ring that either has a long tube or that you can attach one to? That way for the most part the brine stays suspended in that area because they are trying to swim to the light.- You would just have to make sure when you put them in there you do it gently so that you don't create flow that pushed them through the tube.

 

[boacvh]

Look up a Paul B Feeder

 

[Karen00]

I would maybe try to get a feeder ring that either has a long tube or that you can attach one to? That way for the most part the brine stays suspended in that area because they are trying to swim to the light.- You would just have to make sure when you put them in there you do it gently so that you don't create flow that pushed them through the tube.

Thanks for this. I will check that out.

 

[Karen00]

Look up a Paul B Feeder

Thanks for this. I have already looked at so many threads that reference this feeder but I can't find anything that says how it's made. I have also seen some pics but that doesn't help either. I can tell the base is like a petri dish but I can't figure out the top. It would have to keep something like brine shrimp down but still allow creatures to feed from it. I actually asked this question on another thread but didn't get a reply. If you have a link to the page that has the exact construction that would help. If I just search for that feeder I get tons of results. Too many to sift through.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Here's an article all about the feeder and how it's made:

DIY Target Feeder for Mandarinfish (and Pipefish) | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

We as aquarists tend to keep all sorts of creatures in our tanks, and some of them present a challenge to feed. We know what fish eat, and we know how fish eat, but sometimes the fish’s schedule does…

reefbuilders.com

 

[Karen00]

Here's an article all about the feeder and how it's made:

DIY Target Feeder for Mandarinfish (and Pipefish) | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

We as aquarists tend to keep all sorts of creatures in our tanks, and some of them present a challenge to feed. We know what fish eat, and we know how fish eat, but sometimes the fish’s schedule does…

reefbuilders.com

Thanks for this!! Hopefully I can find a small enough container. My tank is just a 5g with very little bottom space available. Do you know if this also works seahorses?

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

U can hang a large pvc coupling from your light hanger with fish line as well. I used some netting and a zip tie on the fish end.
Hths u
D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

I did have to drill two holes in it...
D

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

It works for pipefish, and I’ve seen it recommended for seahorses before too, so I’d imagine it works fine for them, but I can’t personally vouch for it working.

 

[Starganderfish]

This may be silly but.. turn off the lights when feeding?
We regularly put pumps and wavemakers in feed mode so food doesn't get pushed down the return, you could add the lights to that routine?

 

[Karen00]

U can hang a large pvc coupling from your light hanger with fish line as well. I used some netting and a zip tie on the fish end.
Hths u
D

If I understand correctly the feeder would be suspended in the water column? That's smart! If the darn brine shrimp would just stay in the water column they would be the perfect food. Easy to hatch and easy to use. LOL

 

[Cell]

I might try a small led puck or flashlight of some sort attached to outside of tank with tape or whatever, feed at dusk and pipette the shrimp near the light. When feeding is over, remove or turn off the light. PVC pipe with nylon over the holes works well too, but ain't the prettiest.

 

[Karen00]

This may be silly but.. turn off the lights when feeding?
We regularly put pumps and wavemakers in feed mode so food doesn't get pushed down the return, you could add the lights to that routine?

I thought of this (or just covering the light) but I wasn't sure if the lights going on/off, even during the day, might shock the fish. I was keeping this in my back pocket though.

 

[Karen00]

I might try a small led puck or flashlight of some sort attached to outside of tank with tape or whatever, feed at dusk and pipette the shrimp near the light. When feeding is over, remove or turn off the light. PVC pipe with nylon over the holes works well too, but ain't the prettiest.

Thanks! At this point I'm so frustrated with the bbs that whatever gizmo I put in there doesn't have to be pretty it just has to keep those darn creatures down. Haha. I am willing to try all ideas. Maybe even a stick on dish like the powerheads are. It's a pain having such limited space on the sandbed. This might force me to do some aquascaping to make more room on the bottom. LOL

 

[Karen00]

It works for pipefish, and I’ve seen it recommended for seahorses before too, so I’d imagine it works fine for them, but I can’t personally vouch for it working.

Great thanks! I don't have seahorses yet but maybe someday which is why I was asking.

 

[Kraig]

This is interesting. I wonder if your situation is common or not.

I just started feeding bbs this past weekend, so just a couple of days, and several feedings a day. I only watch for 10-15 minutes after feeding, but so far, they seem to disperse all through the water column. My fish have been loving it. Most feedings have been lights on, but each morning I've feed before lights come on.

I've also left the pumps on during feedings. Maybe that is helping disperse them. I'm sure some are going into the overflow but I still see a bunch swimming (or maybe getting blown) around.

Sorry for your issues with this, frustrating.

 

[Karen00]

This is interesting. I wonder if your situation is common or not.

I just started feeding bbs this past weekend, so just a couple of days, and several feedings a day. I only watch for 10-15 minutes after feeding, but so far, they seem to disperse all through the water column. My fish have been loving it. Most feedings have been lights on, but each morning I've feed before lights come on.

I've also left the pumps on during feedings. Maybe that is helping disperse them. I'm sure some are going into the overflow but I still see a bunch swimming (or maybe getting blown) around.

Sorry for your issues with this, frustrating.

I wouldn't think it's unique to me. They are drawn to the light. If you're keeping the pumps on then that might keep them in the water column. My tank is too small (a 5g) to do that. If I leave the filtration pump on everything gets sucked into the filter almost instantly and leaving the powerheads on is too much turbulance. I did read somewhere (I think it was for seahorses) to leave the filtration pump on but remove any filter media so the bbs flow right through and back into the tank. I might try that as well but I have a few ideas for feeders from this thread. What I did find is that the older the shrimp got the more they stayed in the water column. I let a few batches grow out for my larger goby and those guys stayed down but they were too big for my mandarin.

I bet if you turn your pumps off and just watch you will find them all swimming at the surface about 5 to 10 minutes later). Look carefully because they're tiny. Do this with lights on. If the lights are off supposedly they stay near the bottom. I have been feeding bbs for easily three months and it was only a couple weeks ago that I noticed this because it's the first time I looked at the surface. I think I was actually looking at the surface at an upward angle. I was crouched down inspecting the tank and I looked up and I was like "what the heck is swimming at the surface?". That's when I looked down and saw them all congregating up top. I also noticed they were where the light is strongest. I have one AI Prime 16 over the tank. Dead center of the tank is the strongest. That's where they all were. Try it and let me know. If it doesn't happen to you then I want to know the brand of cysts you have. LOL

 

[Kraig]

Try it and let me know. If it doesn't happen to you then I want to know the brand of cysts you have. LOL

Ha! I will have to try that. That makes sense having a smaller tank and not having the option to leave filtration on.

I do see them "swimming" around in the tank, and the fish are feeding on them in the middle to bottom 3rd of the tank when they go in. I will have to turn all the pumps off tonight to see what happens. I will let you know.

I'm pretty new to this hobby and kind of decided to hatch brine shrimp on a whim. I haven't done much research on these little guys outside of how to use a hatchery. I got a 3d printer not too long ago and came across a 3d printed hatchery so I had to try it! It has the added benefit of watching the fish chasing these things down in the tank. They seem to thoroughly enjoy it.

 

[Karen00]

Ha! I will have to try that. That makes sense having a smaller tank and not having the option to leave filtration on.

I do see them "swimming" around in the tank, and the fish are feeding on them in the middle to bottom 3rd of the tank when they go in. I will have to turn all the pumps off tonight to see what happens. I will let you know.

I'm pretty new to this hobby and kind of decided to hatch brine shrimp on a whim. I haven't done much research on these little guys outside of how to use a hatchery. I got a 3d printer not too long ago and came across a 3d printed hatchery so I had to try it! It has the added benefit of watching the fish chasing these things down in the tank. They seem to thoroughly enjoy it.

To quote one of the brine shrimp hatching pages... "The shrimp are phototropic and will swim toward the light, conveniently gathering themselves together." This pretty much sums up my experience. LOL That's also why a lot of the hatcheries are dark and the shrimp are forced to swim to a light source where the collection area is. Here's one of the hatcheries I have. There are a gazillion bbs swimming in that collection cup right now. They swim from the dark hatchery box up through a hole into the cup where they detect light. I have another inverted bottle hatchery where most of the bottle is blacked out except an area at the bottom so they swim to that area where the light is and I siphon them off. So in my tank with the pumps/powerheads off they just swim to the surface toward my light.