brine shrimp hatchery

[mattgeezer]

does anyone have a brine shrimp hatchery in their tank at all , if so can anyone recommend the best way of doing this(making one or buying one)? And would it be beneficial IE cost effective and nutritious food for my fish and inverts?? do anemones eat brine shrimp (bubble anemone)

[dragonflylures]

I have one that I used to "try" to feed a mandarin goby with. All of the other fish hung out in front of it and ate them as they were hatched. I think it was 30 bucks to buy one and a vial of brine shrimp -- really cheap to use actually. I haven't had it in my tank for quite awhile but thinking about doing it again just for a treat plus it's kind of cool to watch them hatch and swim out.

[mistermikev]

got one myself but noticed that many shrimp are wasted as they swim up right away and not towards outer tube. I covered mine with black aquarium sealant to darken it so light only comes in in the outer tube... hope this will work. aslo, they are hard to get out of your tank without spilling out the contents - ie the brine shells - this is bad news. I will mod mine with a airline regulator so I can close it when removal is neccessary and keep spill out to a minimum. Def good for your fish though... worth it.

[rayjay]

IT IS NOT RECOMMENDED to allow hatch water to come into contact with the system water. Cysts harbour nasty bacteria that can, at worst case scenario, wipe out your tank contents.
While some get away with it, to me, it's not worth the risk with the money I have tied up in my tanks.
Brine Shrimp Direct has a note on their site regarding this point, and it is also noted in the article on Artemia in the UN's Live Food For Aquacuture.
Personally, I stick a piece of rigid air line tubing into standard air line tubing, and place it in an inverted 2L pop bottle with the bottom cut out, and sitting in the bottom that is cut off another bottle.
After hatchout, I siphon off the nauplii from between the top and bottom crap, rinse with fresh water, and then use as required.
To make use of the excellent fatty acid content, they should be fed to the target as soon as they hatch out.
Better yet, is to decapp the cysts with bleach and then either use normally or just add the decapped cysts to the tank where they can be eaten before hatchout when nutrient value immediately starts to decline.
RAISING BRINE SHRIMP TO ADULT
BRINE SHRIMP DIRECT
CLICK HERE AND SCROLL DOWN TO SECTION 4.0, ARTEMIA

[mattgeezer]

thanks for the great info guys