Finally, an adequate over the counter Brine Shrimp Hatchery?

...or at least a repurposed one.

© Alan S. Bias

Permission granted for nonprofit reproduction or duplication of photos and text with proper credit for learning purposes only.

January 4, 2025 

Over the last 56+/- years of raising Guppies, and other species, there has always been one single consistent.  That being the need for hatching and feeding Baby Brine Shrimp (BBS).  Other live foods, while often positive in benefit, often fail to produce the needed volume of live food for rearing young fish in bulk fashion.  Nor, are they as user friendly, i.e. cultures can be messy, time consuming, require frequent attention, and restarting.

Hatching BBS in itself can be a tedious, if not laborious, task when done daily with small scale commercial or homemade Do It Yourself (DYI) bottles.  Personally, I’ve tried numerous types of bottles, jugs, funnels and containers made from various materials over the years.  Sometimes hanging, or on a PVC stand, though most often within a homemade lighted box for heat.  Each always seemed to have both positive and negative aspects.  Hatches are good, cleaning is hard.  Cleaning is easy, hatches are variable.  Too large a container for current needs or too small a container for periodic needs.

My most recent setup utilized an inverted 5-gallon blue water bottle with a portion of the bottom cut off to form an open top.  Cleaned easy enough and provided bulk hatching capabilities.  However, the near flat sides near the funnel top, now inverted bottom, did not provide complete agitation of eggs with any amount of air flow.  Nor did the reinforced ribs on sides allow for complete agitation of cysts.  Hatches were good, but rates were much reduced from expected 90%.

So, time to search again for funnels and conical bottles.  This time I stumbled upon a new idea.  That being using an inverted fermentation bottle with tapering end.  Worse case scenario I would have to cut down the container and buy/build a valve for drainage to fit my needs.  Which include ease of use, ease of maintenance and ability to hatch variable amounts of BBS (1-10+ liters), as needed, at a time.  Most importantly, a near two-day hatch time to further reduce breeder inputs without a decline in hatch quality.  A narrow online search for “3-gallon conical fermenter” did the trick with a cost of 45-55.00 USD.

Results:  Using 8 liters of water, 4 tablespoons of Morton non-iodized salt, 4 teaspoons of cysts (Brine Shrimp Direct 90%), 2 teaspoons of baking soda and 2 tablespoons of Epson Salts hatch rate was nearing 99% in 36 hours at 81*F (27.22*C).  Yes, you read right:  99% hatch.

After simple settling (removal of airflow), hatched BBS deplete oxygen in short order and settle to bottom of bottle with lighting turned off.  Harvesting consists of 5-10 seconds to open valve and fill small tub (no BBS nets are ever needed or used).  Let hatch resettle in tub for a couple minutes.  Pour off excess water with any unhatched cysts.  Then, re-fill tub with cold water (repeat process if you find need).  Store and refrigerate in lab style squeeze bottles as needed for use over 3-4-5 days.  Online publications and test feedings I have made using live BBS vs. cold stored find little if any difference in nutritional value.  Freshly killed BBS has higher value cold stored with yolks intact vs. live depleted yolks.  Babies Guppies do not require live motion, as do some species, to trigger a feeding response.

Any prior concerns I had about using a white (non-clear) vessel did not come about.  When first added to mix non-hydrated cysts do tend to stick to sides of the softer food grade plastic at a much higher rate vs. clear, glass or acrylic containers.  After several hours of hydration, cysts easily free themselves and circulate with ease.  At first you may notice some cysts continue to collect and move along bottom edges, like sand in a river eddy.  Where they fall to the bottom and re-enter the water column.  Once all grades of eggs are fully hydrated, they remain evenly dispersed in the moving water column.  Give the mix a quick stir after several hours if needed.  A simple shop light hanging on the outside provided need illumination to trigger hatching.  Add a small heater if needed to maintain water temperature at 80-82*F. 

The agitation provided by the tapering conical-circular shape of the vessel is far better than any I have tried to date.  To include inverted pop bottles of various sizes and acrylic pyramid containers used in larger hatcheries, labs and breeder rooms.  Both for movement of hatching cysts and lack of collection of cysts during active agitation along the top edges.  When airflow is stopped, all hatched cysts quickly float to top of water without sticking to the sides or bottom.  Nor, were any unhatched cysts noted after hatched BBS settled.

Cleaning fermentation vessel, i.e. hatching bottle, with a small spray nozzle & hose, restarting new hatch take a minute or two with ease.  The container comes with a more than adequate ball value (only top portion is needed) and tank is marked in gradient for both gallons and liters.  Imagine that, no longer a need to use a magic marker.  Top is large and round for ease of access to clean.  In addition, the metal stand is more than sufficient for use.  Sturdy, stable and high enough to place a collection container under the value.  No real need to make a PVC stand in most cases.

Good hatching…

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Finding a balance in your fishroom is not only limited to the number of tanks, filters and strains you maintain.  Design and layout can have a direct impact on the amount of time and maintenance required for optimum results...

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