how to separate brine shrimp babies from its eggs ?

[discus123]

Hi ,
Iam trying to hatch brine shrimp by placing the hatcher in the discus aquarium.Could anyone tell me, once some of the eggs have hatched to small babies usually within 48 hours,how to separate the live brine shrimp babies from the rest of eggs ,so as to feed them to discus babies?

Thanks

[Phlipper]

For starters I wouldn't be putting the hatchery within the Discus tank, hatching BBS is pretty messy and you dont want any of the putrid shrimp water anywhere near you fish, especially Discus.

How you now get the shrimp out will depend on the type of hatchery it is.........picture would be good. But if it's simply a bottle hatchery, then turn off the air to it and place the hatchery in bright light, by a window is good. Get a turkey baster, or a syringe with a piece of tubing attatched. Once the air is turned off and hatchery is in bright light let it sit for 10 or 15 minutes without touching it. The BBS will swarm together towards the light and the empty egg cases will float to the top of the water. Then stick the end of the baster or syringe down into the swarm of reddish coloured BBS and draw them up, strain them through a coffee filter or tissue, rinse into the tank and let the fish eat 'em.

[Ben]

Phil hit the nail on the head!!

its too easy!

[discus123]

Thanks Phlipper for the advice !

[madaboutfish]

IMO that the best way is to decapsulate the brine shrimp eggs before hatching them. previously I could never completely separate the baby brine shrimp from the shells. Now with the decapsulation of the eggs first it is so much easier as i don't have to wait too long for the eggs and shrimp to separate out and with decapsulated eggs there is no risk of killing the fry.

Regards

Nick

[marg]

How do you decapsulate them?

Marg.

[mistakes r crucial]

Hi Marg,

There are all sorts of ways including bleach, vinegar and God knows how many others. Personally I find it a pain in the ass and prefer to just make sure I dont get cysts and shells in the finished product. It's not that hard, just leave 'em for 10 minutes and the job is done. If you want to go that way just do a Google search, there are literally hundreds of articles on the subject.
MAC

[mistakes r crucial]

hehehe I just found out that this forum writes the word butt if you inlcude a.ss in your reply...neat!

[samir]

i use @ss, @rse, sh1t etc :) d@mn

[mistakes r crucial]

Ur a very naughty girl Samir!
MAC

[goldenpigeon]

*quickly attempts to edit samirs post but cant be bothered*.... im telling proteus on you samir!

[samir]

Ur a very naughty girl Samir!
MAC
:evil: :evil: :evil: I'm a BOY. hehehehe :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[goldenpigeon]

^ REALLY! OMG i wouldnt have guessed!

just joking i knew it all along :roll:

[samir]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: my girlfriend's son screams that out (I'M A BOY). he's got long hair and people sometimes mistake him for a girl.

[madaboutfish]

Hi Marg,

To decapsulate brine shrimp eggs, I put about 1 level teaspoon into a 50 ml centrifuge tube (or you can use any small 50 ml container) I will then fill it up with tap water to the 20 ml level, give it a good shake and put it aside for 10 minutes. I would then add bleach (concentration 4-5%) up to the 40 ml level and shake the tube until all the eggs turn orange. This decapsulated eggs are then filtered and rinsed well through a nappy liner. The eggs are then ready to be hatched but you will need strong aeration now as all the eggs will now sink without the shell. HTH


Nick

[Phlipper]

Gotta tell ya, it always seems like such a bother to decapsulate the shrimp eggs, I never do, and haven't done it for many years and never had a problem with many thousands of fish all happy and healthy :?: