Post by phish on May 9, 2016 20:10:16 GMT -5
Phish's Floating Bring Shrimp Hatchery
- Designed to float in a heated tank
1) Get 2 plastic bottles (I use 750ml bottles as I don't need lots of brine shrimp), 6 or more feet of airline tubing, air pump, check valve for pump, some silicone, gravel, brine shrimp eggs, salt, etc.
2) Chop the top off of one bottle (right below the neck) and the bottom off of the other (right above the base).
3) Put an air line size hole into the cap of the bottle.
4) Feed either a short rigid tube or flexi tube into the hole you made and silicone around it (you don't want the brine mixture seeping out of the inverted bottle)
Wait 24hrs or whatever is needed for silicone to dry
5) Put a hole near the bottom of the upright bottle for the air line to snake through. This hole should be loose enough to also help the bottom half fill with water once held submerged into aquarium tank.
6) Add some gravel for weight to the bottom portion. This part might be some trial and error as to how much to add as you just want this thing to float but not tip over or sink when put into a tank.
7) Snake the air line leading from the cap of the inverted bottle in and out of the upright bottle then push the inverted bottle into the upright so that it looks like the cartoon drawing in the picture.
8) Now you put it in the tank and push it down so the bottom portion with the gravel fills up with water. You can also fill the top half with the water/salt solution at this point. Make sure not to fill too high as it will sink and the salt water will mix into your tank. Adjust so that it floats just about 20mm above water level. If you have large fish in the tank that may knock this thing around then this probably isn't going to work for you.
9) Add the brine shrimp eggs. Don't turn on the pump yet, wait for the eggs to absorb some water for about 10-15 min. This will make sure that most if not all eggs will get submerged when the pump is turned on.
10) Turn on the pump and watch the eggs get tumbled around. Eggs should start hatching in 12 hours if the temp of the tank is around 78-80 degrees. All eggs should be hatched in 24hrs.
This design may or may not suit your needs. I like it because the water will stay constant with the aquarium temperature and I have had great hatch rates.
Feel free to add comments, questions or concerns.