Brine Shrimp Hatchery

twocents

Does anyone here have any experience with the 'continuous hatching' brine shrimp hathery device?
It attaches to the inside of a fresh or saltwater aquarium and runs on a small air pump.

twocents

and yes, I should have titled it brine shrimp hatchery.. but I don't know where my mind was at

ok, no comments so far so I will at least post observations. I think the manufacturer is 'tom' or something. Quality is ok, but typical chinese crap. There is a partition at the top which is removable, but the plastic seam that is there is not too good. However, it is 'tight' and will serve whatever purpose it has to.

I installed this last night according to directions. It isn't too hard, but the little partition between the hatching chamber and the egg/salt addition chamber is a little difficult to remove. Other than that, I added the salt and allowed the air from the pump to mix it in, then added the brine shrimp eggs. Everything seems to be working according to design, as of this morning (may 24) the eggs are all at the bottom. What is amazing is that the line of demarcation between the salt and freshwater is plainly visible. The buggers should hatch tomorrow most likely. They will gravitate towards the light after hatching, but they do not give any guidelines as to how long that will take. It depends on individual tank conditions.
Are these things visible to the naked eye?

aunt kymmie

I don't know anything about them but I changed the thread title for you.

iamntbatman

Newly hatched brine shrimp really take a sharp eye to see. A magnifying glass might be helpful.

twocents

Thanks Aunt, imntbatman...
I would think it would take a magnifying glass. Depending on how much air I have moving through it, the water is also always in motion along with the occupants. I do see small brownish specks. Makes me wonder how the fish see them, but I guess everything is relative.
Unfortunately, I have no way of checking the salinity. The directions call for anything from 3 -5 spoonfuls (their spoon) of salt. They also do not give many clues on how long it takes for the little buggers to 'move on out'.
Since it is continuous, I think I'll add some eggs every 3 days or so. (after 10 days, it all has to be cleaned and replenished).
Even if the eggs don't hatch, I think the fish would enjoy them. There are also fry in the tank which can make use of the brine shrimp, living or dead.
Again, thanks.

zof

Ive heard from a couple places the eggs are bad for the fish, so you might want to double check that. I think thats why even in salt water you hatch them first before giving them to the fish and eliminate the unhatched eggs.

twocents

Ok, thanks for the tipoff. I'll try and check it out. As it is, I don't think the eggs can get out unless they are spilled out into the main tank.