Baby brine shrimp

[ramsey]

I know some of you hatch baby brine for fish and coral food. Are any of you decaping them? What are you feeding the babies after they hatch and for how long do you gut load them before feeding?

[hobogato]

i dont decapsulate them, i just let the empty cysts settle to the top so i can siphon off the bbs when feeding. here is a thread with my whole process documented:

http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?75592-Hatching-brine-shrimp-for-food

[ramsey]

I remember that thread now! Thanks, Ace. I'm gonna go with you're method pretty soon. Right now, I'm gut loading them with ESV dried phyto and selcon.

[hobogato]

just remember that their mouths aren't fully functional until their second day of life, so they need to be enriched at about 24 hours after hatching and then at 48 hours most of them will have eaten some of the selcon and phyto. they are also supposed to be easier for the fish to digest after 48 hours.

[ramsey]

Cool, that's exactly what I was wondering. I read that they rely on the egg sack when they're first born, so I wasn't real sure when they need to be enriched. So what I'm going to do is hatch them, give them 24 hours, then enrich for 24 hours, then feed. You mentioned that you have two hatcheries you rotate. Are you feeding them everyday? It seems like I'd need four to have a daily supply assuming the hatch time is 24 hours.

[hobogato]

Yep, two hatcheries and feeding daily. Enrich at 24 hours and feed them to the tank at 48. Most of them hatch within 12 to 18 hours of placing them in the hatchery