Brine shrimp Hatchery

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CarlNJen

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Carl & Jennifer
Hey guys :D

Im soon to start a family of 4 alpine newts and rather than buy in live food all the time I was considering starting up a Brine Shrimp Hatchery where I can breed them to adulthood and then feed them to my newts.

Has anyone else had any past experience doing such a thing and have any advice to pass on?
From my readings, it seems relatively easy to raise them, but any further hands on knowledge would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance! ;)

Carl
 
Ooops

Ooops. This might of been better posted in the live food section....

Sorry guys..
 
I've moved this to the live food area.

I don't think it's so easy. Hatching the brine shrimp eggs is easy. But anything you put in to feed them will tend to foul the water. So either you have to feed them very carefully, or you have to raise a second culture of salt water algae to feed them.
See:
http://www.sfbb.com/growingoutofbbs.html
http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=48514

If you're willing to go to the trouble of raising brine shrimp, I would recommend raising Daphnia instead. Fresh water may be easier for you to maintain than salt water, and Daphnia stay alive in the tank until eaten. Alpiine newts love them.
 
Prepare for trial and error, my first attempt with a all-in-one hatchery failed because of overfeeding (there doesn't seem to be a single clear answer on how much to feed at which frequency), and the second time it succeeded, but I don't think it's possible to bring all the hundreds of hatchlings to adulthood in the rather small space that my hatchery aquarium gives. I had about 30 adult brine shrimps in the end.

So I think I will just use it for hatchlings in the future, which are many, as for me it currently does not pay off to bring the few that survive to adulthood.
 
I tried once with daphnia and ended up with the stinkiest mess ever...I've read different directions on how to get started. Can you recommend and easy method? I think I tried boiling lettuce and putting it in a jar of water. Maybe I should have an air bubbler in it?
 
I was about to answer your question, Dawn, but I think we might be off-topicking this thread. If you read through the daphnia posts in this section of the forum, you'll get some ideas. A bubbler helps, but isn't essential. The "boiling lettuce" thing works for infusoria, but for daphnia you need a larger container and different food.
 
Many thanks for you help all!

(Thanks for moving the threat Jennewt)

I think I'll start reading into daphnia and see what I think!

Cheers

Carl
 
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