diy artemia hatchery

[hobogato]

materials:

2 - 2 liter soda bottles
short piece of rigid airline tubing

1. cut one bottle in half and toss the top in the recycle bin
2. cut the other bottle near the bottom
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/2011-04-12_09-08-03_443.jpg
3. bend short piece of rigid airline tubing into a 90 deg. curved elbow with a flame - a lighter works fine
4. drill a hole in the bottle cap and use your favorite superglue gel to glue the curved airline tubing in place. use plenty so it will be water tight.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/2011-04-12_09-08-14_607.jpg
5. cut a hole in the small bottom piece so soft airline tube will fit thru it.
6. put it together and feed your reef!
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/2011-04-12_09-11-28_497.jpg

btw, the easiest way to hatch brine is to use water from your tank. add 2 cups of tank water and 1/2 cup of (non chlorinated) fresh water (thanks for this recipe melev). add brine cysts and a fluorescent light near the hatchery. in 24 hours or so, you will have lots of little wigglers to add to your tank

[justahobby]

Much nicer than my mason jar. :lauging:

Don't forget to use a check valve or keep the air pump ABOVE the water level if you try this at home

[Europhyllia]

Much nicer than my mason jar. :lauging:

It's sort of tough to keep them from hatching really! I've hatched them in a Pilsner glas.

[justahobby]

MMMM, beer battered shrimp!

[justahobby]

I didn't realize you could bend rigid airline tubing. I thought it would break. Oh the possibilities.....

[txav8r]

Heat is your friend Justin! You can bend anything with the right amount of heat.

[allan]

Man... I was thinking about doing this but I don't have a recycle bin to toss that piece in :)

Hey, no airdrome, right?

After 24 hours put the whole container in the tank or do you have to take out the stuff that settles at the bottom?

[hobogato]

no, dont put the whole container in the tank! to harvest them, turn off the air and put a small light about 3 inches up from the bottom of the hatchery. this will attract most of the artemia. you can then siphon them out with airline tubing, avoiding the unhatched cysts at the bottom and the shells floating at the top. once you siphon them out, it is recommended that you strain them out and discard the water the were in - putting only the artemia in the tank. some people even rinse them with a little bit of tank water first.

[hobogato]

once randy takes this hatchery home, hopefully he can get some pics of it in action :)

[justahobby]

Hmm, hadn't thought about giving them a WC. It would be pretty simple since they collect at the bottom even without a light IME. They molt several times in succession so that might not be a bad idea, especially if hanging on to one batch for a few days.

[hobogato]

when i was growing them out in the classroom, i did a total water change every other day. they were in the hatchery for two days, then 2.5 gallon tanks after that. about a month after i stopped hatching them in class, i found a few in my rotifer colony that were over 1/4" long :)

[wolff809]

As requested
http://i826.photobucket.com/albums/zz188/wolff809/IMG_1263.jpg

http://i826.photobucket.com/albums/zz188/wolff809/IMG_1266.jpg

http://i826.photobucket.com/albums/zz188/wolff809/IMG_1267.jpg

i started them around 7 this morning so they should be good to go tomorrow morning.