Anyone Had Any Joy In Growing Adult Brine Shrimp?

[totally tropical]

I purchased a NT labs brineshrimp hatcher kit just recently and followed the instructions to the letter in regards to growing adult brineshrimp i.e feeding, temperature etc. Unfortunately I was unsuccessful in rearing - I believe I was successful in hatching, but apparently the trickier bit is rearing till adulthood which takes two weeks.

The NT Labs website does mention that rearing brineshrimps to adulthood is somewhat a case of trial and error, that said, has anybody here had any success with the little blighters! After hatching I placed the brineshrimp into a tiny aquarium as instructed, but ended up with tiny floating bits - I never actually saw anything living so am quite frustrated.

Hope you can help in any small way. Thank you.

 

[three-fingers]

Very easy.

Put a light over the bottle/tank/whatever 24/7, add 30 grams per litre of sea salt from the super market, buy a cheap airpump (less than £10) and put the airline in (without an air stone). Then buy the cheapest small bottle of marine phytoplankton of ebay and any other brine shrimp food off ebay and some brine shrimp eggs.

Add everything together with dechlorinated tap water (or even fish tank water with yummy nutrients for the algae), and put in whatever brine shrimp food whenever the water looks a bit clearer. Also top it up with fresh water to account for evaporation.

Had my culture going in a 5L drinks bottle for nearly a year now. I add a bag of brine shrimp (80p) from the LFS every now and then becuase I use them up too fast to keep it going otherwise though, but theres loads hatching in there every day and I have all the different sizes.

 

[totally tropical]

Very easy.

Put a light over the bottle/tank/whatever 24/7, add 30 grams per litre of sea salt from the super market, buy a cheap airpump (less than £10) and put the airline in (without an air stone). Then buy the cheapest small bottle of marine phytoplankton of ebay and any other brine shrimp food off ebay and some brine shrimp eggs.

Add everything together with dechlorinated tap water (or even fish tank water with yummy nutrients for the algae), and put in whatever brine shrimp food whenever the water looks a bit clearer. Also top it up with fresh water to account for evaporation.

Had my culture going in a 5L drinks bottle for nearly a year now. I add a bag of brine shrimp (80p) from the LFS every now and then becuase I use them up too fast to keep it going otherwise though, but theres loads hatching in there every day and I have all the different sizes.

Thank you so much for your help

Hi, I did exactly as you mentioned apart from:

1) Once I took my brineshrimp hatched from the aquarium and put into a tiny aquarium, my instructions stated that I leave in a darkened area so I had no light on at any point. Are you stating that I should have a light over the tank 24/7?

And 2) I used brinesrimp food (came with hatcher) as directed 15 drops per day (I assume this is marine phytoplankton)?

I used my fish tank water for the tiny tank so I am guessing that I failed by having no light over the tank? The instructions also stated that the water must appear cloudy at all times?

Cheers.

 

[wilchil64]

I'm following this thread with interest as I'd like to hatch my own brine shrimp too, my fish love live brine shrimp.

I have been looking at kits but would be interested to know how much luck others have had with these.

 

[three-fingers]

No problem .

1) Once I took my brineshrimp hatched from the aquarium and put into a tiny aquarium, my instructions stated that I leave in a darkened area so I had no light on at any point. Are you stating that I should have a light over the tank 24/7?

Yes, the light is for the phytoplankton. Though brine shrimp will hatch in dark or light, and are in fact attracted to the light. So light does no harm and the instructions are a bit odd.

And 2) I used brinesrimp food (came with hatcher) as directed 15 drops per day (I assume this is marine phytoplankton)?

It may be preserved marine phytoplankton (it could also be a mixture of many other things), ut I should have said live phytoplankton (which is why you need the light). The phytoplankton grows using the waste from the brine shrimp and oxygenates/cleans the water for them (consuming toxic ammonia). The brine shrimp will eat some of the live phytoplankton, which is great for them and makes them more nutritious for the fish too, however it would be bad for the culture if all the phytoplankton is eaten, so you will still need to feed the brine shrimp other food to make sure all they phytoplankton isnt eaten and is free to multiply.

The reason most peoples brine shrimp cultures are so unstable is because you are effectively doing the same thing as keeping goldfish in an unfiltered bowl, nothing consumes the ammonia. Phytoplankton is a way round this, replacing filter bacteria and feeding them at the same time.

I used my fish tank water for the tiny tank so I am guessing that I failed by having no light over the tank? The instructions also stated that the water must appear cloudy at all times?

If the water wasn't cloudy, they probably weren't getting enough food. However, ammonia could have also killed them.