# hatching brine shrimp salt water



## marktrc (Jun 6, 2012)

I have 2 different brand brine shrimp. One says 1 tablespoon rock salt per quart of water. One says 2 tablespoons of rock salt per quart. I'm having a little trouble hatching the 2 T ratio eggs. So now I switched over to the eggs that call for only 1T salt. I follow the directions that come with each for that vial of eggs.

I was wondering what ratio of water to salt has worked for other people.

Or I wonder if certain eggs hatch better with a certain ratio.


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## VictorP (Jun 5, 2012)

Getting the salinity of the water the 1.02 always works for me


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Brine shrimp eggs hatch rate can vary from brand to brand. Plus, brine shrimp eggs can get old and this can decrease hatch rate.

What brand of BBS eggs are you using and how old are the eggs.

I keep my eggs in the fridge so they last longer and I only buy in small amount...I have had to toss lots of old eggs due to them not hatching well and its a waste of time....lol.....

I hatch small amounts per hatchery and use 2-3 hatcheries started 24h apart- depending on how many spawns I have going. 
I only feed newly hatched BBS with their yolk sac intact to the Betta fry from first feeding to about 1-2 month of age. Once the BBS use their yolk sac they have very little nutrition. Poor nutrition can cause mass deaths and other problems. Especially if BBS is the only food you are feeding-if you are offering other live food it not as problematic.
Once the Betta fry get older I will fed older brine shrimp that I have supplement with HUFA supplement called "Silcon" I get in the saltwater section.

My hatcheries are pretty simple-homemade out of half gallon plastic peanut container that I drilled a hole in the lid for the airline hose for the airstone.

I use pickling salt or ice cream salt 3tlb/half gallon-water temp 85F to start-I add the airstone and place the hatchery in my china cabinet-No extra light or heat and I will have about 80% hatch within 18-24h more or less depending on how old or fresh the eggs are.

To harvest-I remove the airstone and place the hatchery on top of one of my tank light so that it can settle-The shells will float and the unhatched eggs will settle on the bottom.
The newly hatched BBS (_NHBBS_) will usually be at the bottom and/or at the surface depending on how long they settled.
You can use a flashlight and shine in for awhile too and the NHBBS will be drawn to the light.

I use my homemade siphon I made out of a section of airline hose attached to a couple of chopsticks to siphon the NHBBS into a brine shrimp net I have resting over a empty container to catch the water.
Once I collected what I need to fed-I pour the hatchery water back into the hatchery.
Then I give the NHBBS that are in the brine shrimp net a good rinsing under cold running water. (_Really important to rinse them well and not get any hatchery water in the fry tank._)
Once rinsed-I fill that empty container with like temp dechlorinated water or you can use some of the fry tank water.
I rest the brine shrimp net with the NHBBS in that container of water and use a eyedropper to collect the NHBBS to target feed the Betta fry.

I also condition the Betta fry at this time to a "feeding tap" I give the rim-not the glass-two taps as I add the NHBBS-In about 3-5 days the Betta fry will associate the 2 taps with food.

Since I use a more natural method to spawn and rear fry using a full to the top with water, soil based very heavy planted tank-This help me see the fry easier to observe, count, cull, catch....etc......


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