Way to have a constant supply of freshly hatched brine shrimp?

oceaninabox12345

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I am looking to have dwarf seahorses and I have everything very well set up, except for the fact that I have a job and I would like a way to have a constant supply of bbs for them. Could I make a tank to keep a fresh supply of them? I have looked into auto feeders but they are way too large to fit into the tank i have set up. Whatever suggestions you may have i would love to hear!
The tank is 3 gallons and fully cycled.
 

Sallstrom

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You could do a batch of newly hatched artemia, put in a bucket with some air bubbles, and use a dosing pump to pump them from the bucket to the tank with the seahorses. Put some phytoplankton in together with the artemia and they will survive and grow and you can fill it up with newly hatched ones maybe once a week.
Just some thoughts:)

/ David
 
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oceaninabox12345

oceaninabox12345

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I am looking to have dwarf seahorses and I have everything very well set up, except for the fact that I have a job and I would like a way to have a constant supply of bbs for them. Could I make a tank to keep a fresh supply of them? I have looked into auto feeders but they are way too large to fit into the tank i have set up. Whatever suggestions you may have i would love to hear!
The tank is 3 gallons and fully cycled.
Just to clarify, im looking for a way to be able to pretty much have a constant supply of freshly hatched bbs, without having to do the water bottle method as you need to do that twice a day. Im looking for a way to just be able to scoop them out a tank/container without having to add new water and eggs every day. I expect to do work to hatch these obviously, but not once a day.
 
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oceaninabox12345

oceaninabox12345

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You could do a batch of newly hatched artemia, put in a bucket with some air bubbles, and use a dosing pump to pump them from the bucket to the tank with the seahorses. Put some phytoplankton in together with the artemia and they will survive and grow and you can fill it up with newly hatched ones maybe once a week.
Just some thoughts:)

/ David
Would this be able to allow me to have newly hatched bbs every day? I know thats probably a dumb question, but I have never hatched them before and I just want to make sure I understand everything
 

YumaMan

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Since BBS will live in the same salinity water as your dwarf seahorses you need only feed gut-loaded BBS once or twice a day and your seahorses will feed pretty much continuously. I would use two or three bottles hatching BBS at a time. The trick is to use decapsulated BBS -- the kind I use are actually smaller than the Salt Lake or even the San Francisco Bay BBS and hatch in less time, and since they have no shell they are ready to use. They will not pollute your display tank with a bunch of ugly shells. Well, you CAN feed your seahorses immediately, but I like to gut-load my BBS starting about 12 hours after they hatch with various kinds of marine algae. This turns BBS, a nominal food at best, into very excellent food. I also add Selco fatty lipids for Omega 3 and 6. Now you have a SUPER ENRICHED food for your seahorses. I would slow down the filtration and use sponge filters to prevent filtering out all of the BBS from their tank. The BBS will easily live several days in the tank, and your seahorses will have all the food that they will ever need. Go to www.brineshrimpdirect.com to buy the de-cap eggs and marine algae mix (Tahiti Blend is what I use). I am not affiliated with this company but have trusted them for 20 years.
 

Susan Edwards

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I'm using a brine shrimp hatching dish. I was skeptical when I bought it, figuring i'd return it if it didn't work. Works great. No air stone or anything needed. I place the dish on a plant heater mat (for germinating seeds). The next day, I have BBS in the middle of the dish. I use a turkey baster, suck them out. Usually do this for several times during the day, maybe two days then start it over.

Here is the link. Much faster, less mess and no time on my part

https://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/hatchery-dish

The idea is you set it up, add eggs to outside ring. When they hatch, and they hatch in less than 24 hrs with the mat, they will make their way to the middle where there is light (room light or window light) and gather. There is a scoop to just lift out but if you want a second batch, it's hard to put it back in and not on top of ones you missed. The hatched egg shells stay on the outside rings so you don't deal with that mess.

As I said, no mess, no fuss. Just rinse out dish, add saltwater (1.012-1.015), add eggs, close top (making sure it is in closed position so it doesn't let in light and next day, new batch). The heating mat doesn't draw that much power. I have it beneath the boot tray I use for the phyto jugs and copepod jugs and it provides more than enough heat.

This method still requires hands on. Don't think there is a way to automate just due to the empty shells and how quick they foul the water. But after doing it in open top water bottles, and the waste of unhatched eggs and the mess, this is about as painless as it gets. and getting the live BBS out is a snap. Oh, one thing I learned. Have the tray and water where you want it before adding eggs or they can shift chambers though water movement.
20180526_165206.jpg
20180526_165218.jpg
20180526_165226.jpg
20180526_165326.jpg
 
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oceaninabox12345

oceaninabox12345

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Thank you so much! I will definitely keep this in mind. And as I have never done this, you just dump the bbs eggs in the display tank and they hatch on their own? Nothing special? And I already have a sponge filter [emoji4]
 
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oceaninabox12345

oceaninabox12345

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Since BBS will live in the same salinity water as your dwarf seahorses you need only feed gut-loaded BBS once or twice a day and your seahorses will feed pretty much continuously. I would use two or three bottles hatching BBS at a time. The trick is to use decapsulated BBS -- the kind I use are actually smaller than the Salt Lake or even the San Francisco Bay BBS and hatch in less time, and since they have no shell they are ready to use. They will not pollute your display tank with a bunch of ugly shells. Well, you CAN feed your seahorses immediately, but I like to gut-load my BBS starting about 12 hours after they hatch with various kinds of marine algae. This turns BBS, a nominal food at best, into very excellent food. I also add Selco fatty lipids for Omega 3 and 6. Now you have a SUPER ENRICHED food for your seahorses. I would slow down the filtration and use sponge filters to prevent filtering out all of the BBS from their tank. The BBS will easily live several days in the tank, and your seahorses will have all the food that they will ever need. Go to www.brineshrimpdirect.com to buy the de-cap eggs and marine algae mix (Tahiti Blend is what I use). I am not affiliated with this company but have trusted them for 20 years.
Thank you so much! I will definitely keep this in mind. And as I have never done this, you just dump the bbs eggs in the display tank and they hatch on their own? Nothing special? And I already have a sponge filter [emoji4]
 
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oceaninabox12345

oceaninabox12345

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Since BBS will live in the same salinity water as your dwarf seahorses you need only feed gut-loaded BBS once or twice a day and your seahorses will feed pretty much continuously. I would use two or three bottles hatching BBS at a time. The trick is to use decapsulated BBS -- the kind I use are actually smaller than the Salt Lake or even the San Francisco Bay BBS and hatch in less time, and since they have no shell they are ready to use. They will not pollute your display tank with a bunch of ugly shells. Well, you CAN feed your seahorses immediately, but I like to gut-load my BBS starting about 12 hours after they hatch with various kinds of marine algae. This turns BBS, a nominal food at best, into very excellent food. I also add Selco fatty lipids for Omega 3 and 6. Now you have a SUPER ENRICHED food for your seahorses. I would slow down the filtration and use sponge filters to prevent filtering out all of the BBS from their tank. The BBS will easily live several days in the tank, and your seahorses will have all the food that they will ever need. Go to www.brineshrimpdirect.com to buy the de-cap eggs and marine algae mix (Tahiti Blend is what I use). I am not affiliated with this company but have trusted them for 20 years.
Hey, what would you recommend for shipping? Im reading about them and they sound perfect
 

Mrsjesrobertson

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I'm using a brine shrimp hatching dish. I was skeptical when I bought it, figuring i'd return it if it didn't work. Works great. No air stone or anything needed. I place the dish on a plant heater mat (for germinating seeds). The next day, I have BBS in the middle of the dish. I use a turkey baster, suck them out. Usually do this for several times during the day, maybe two days then start it over.

Here is the link. Much faster, less mess and no time on my part

https://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/hatchery-dish

The idea is you set it up, add eggs to outside ring. When they hatch, and they hatch in less than 24 hrs with the mat, they will make their way to the middle where there is light (room light or window light) and gather. There is a scoop to just lift out but if you want a second batch, it's hard to put it back in and not on top of ones you missed. The hatched egg shells stay on the outside rings so you don't deal with that mess.

As I said, no mess, no fuss. Just rinse out dish, add saltwater (1.012-1.015), add eggs, close top (making sure it is in closed position so it doesn't let in light and next day, new batch). The heating mat doesn't draw that much power. I have it beneath the boot tray I use for the phyto jugs and copepod jugs and it provides more than enough heat.

This method still requires hands on. Don't think there is a way to automate just due to the empty shells and how quick they foul the water. But after doing it in open top water bottles, and the waste of unhatched eggs and the mess, this is about as painless as it gets. and getting the live BBS out is a snap. Oh, one thing I learned. Have the tray and water where you want it before adding eggs or they can shift chambers though water movement.
20180526_165206.jpg
20180526_165218.jpg
20180526_165226.jpg
20180526_165326.jpg
I know this is an old post, but just wanted to say thank you. I’m new to hatching bbs, and my hatch rates haven’t been that great. My guess is that ambient temperature in my house has been too cool since it’s been hovering around 70, and my first thought was using my seedling heat mat. Glad to find that it will work well, and won’t cause any issues.
happy reefing!
 

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