# DIY Mini Brine Shrimps Hatchery



## Captured Moments

I used to hatch my brine shrimps using the inverted 2 L pop bottle method but this time I devised a mini hatchery system that is really easy to make.

Here's a picture of the hatchery. I will post some pictures of the construction process later.
Updated. Construction shown a few posts down.


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## Claudia

Is that glass an old heater?


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## neven

i plan on doing this in time once i get my reef going, its one of the best foods to feed your fishies if you have a deep sand bed in your sump. They gotta be enriched of course though


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic

I'm currently hatching bbs in three containers to feed to some baby Bangaii Cardinals (sw) that I bought off Daniel (YVR) a couple of weeks ago. The volumes I use, can't go nano. I basically feed most of a container a day, then carefully catch most of the rest to feed to the corals & sw fish.


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## Captured Moments

Ok so here's the building process:

Start by getting a water bottle used by hamsters/gerbils. 







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The diameter of the glass tube is about the same as a heater so perfect fit for a heater clamp.









Take a pop bottle cap and drill 3 holes through it. One large one for the air intake and two tiny holes for the exhaust.







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For the intake through the bottle cap, i used a glass rod about the same diameter as an airline hose. I make the intake hole slightly smaller in diameter than the airline hose or the glass rod to ensure a tight fit and get a pinching effect. That way you get the adjust the height of the air outlet at the bottom of the tube.







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With the clamp on and the finished product.







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Next I will cover the preparation of the brine solution and the eggs.


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## rickwaines

genius. apparently just genius is too short a comment. How about really really fantastic and uber clean look.


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## Shiyuu

Wow that's awesome man~!!
I bet somehow you want to enlarge it, you can use the water bottle for rabbit/cat, and just have to figure out the cap size...


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## Captured Moments

Claudia said:


> Is that glass an old heater?


No but that was a good guess.



SeaHorse_Fanatic said:


> I'm currently hatching bbs in three containers to feed to some baby Bangaii Cardinals (sw) that I bought off Daniel (YVR) a couple of weeks ago. The volumes I use, can't go nano. I basically feed most of a container a day, then carefully catch most of the rest to feed to the corals & sw fish.


This setup is only good for a small batch of fry or more depending on what else are you also feeding the fry. It's enough for my batch of jelly bean fries but perhaps I would think of another larger setup.



rickwaines said:


> genius. apparently just genius is too short a comment. How about really really fantastic and uber clean look.





Shiyuu said:


> Wow that's awesome man~!!
> I bet somehow you want to enlarge it, you can use the water bottle for rabbit/cat, and just have to figure out the cap size...


Thanks. One of the thing I like about this setup is that it is internal as I don't have to shine a light to try to keep a certain water temperature especially in the winter time. Since the tube is inside the tank, the temp will be the same as the tank water temperature. It's also absolutely quiet unlike the 2L bottle with the loud gurgling sound. Cleaning and re-doing a batch is super easy and fast. For feeding, I just remove the cap, let it sit for a minute or so. The shrimps tend to settle at the bottom. I just plug one end of a glass rod (or a straw) with my finger and dip to the bottom. Let go of the finger and they will be sucked in. Plug back and release in your fry tank.


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## Captured Moments

So to make the mix hatch fill the tube with dechlorinated water to within about 1 inch from the top. I use distilled water.










Add 3 pinch of salt and a tiny bit of baking soda (about the same amount as a grain of rice) to bring the PH to about 8. About 1 to 1 1/2 smidgen of brine shrimp eggs.







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Settle in place in the tank and put the cap with the tube on. Sorry for the blurry picture but my camera is not good with close ups.







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After 24 hrs, I find that most of my eggs have hatched and I can start feeding. Since my batch fry is small, I use half for feeding and the rest the following day so I end up making a new batch every 48 hrs.


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## MEDHBSI

very cool setup  did you create that yourself or from internet plans?


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## Captured Moments

I devised it myself. I needed to hatch brine shrimps but I wanted something simple and small so there it was.


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