Help with Brine Shrimp eggs

[krawat165]

Hello,

I have the JBL Artemio set for hatching brine shrimp and I have the eggs mixed with the food. I have followed the instructions but I cannot seem to get them to hatch.

I have left them for 24-48 hours at a temperature of 20-25 degrees but they don't seem to be hatching.

Is there any advise you can give me on how I can get them to hatch?

Thank you.

 

[Genny]

The main problem I had when first hatching was salinity. Once your temperature, aeration and salinity are right, they'll usually hatch. I didn't get a kit, I just made mine from bottles so I'm no expert, but I always had a high hatch rate with even mediocre eggs.

My temperature was 26 and I actually bought my eggs and salt already measured from Ebay. I got bored of measuring salt and eggs and liked the convenience of being able to take what I needed out of the fridge when I needed it with no effort. Yeah, I'm lazy with the little things.

Hope that helped

 

[Canecorsonewt]

I never worried about temperature. I just hatched in sunlight with 2 tablespoons of salt and a pinch of baking soda to a half gallon of water. I even had good hatch rate with no salt just baking soda, the bbs take longer to hatch in freshwater. They last longer in salt water and bett hatch rate. I used air pump and soda bottle for best hatch rate. I had no luck without baking soda. I even hatched with no air pump in a 3" deep by 5" wide clear plastic container by window.

 

[Genny]

Cliff has a good point. If you live in an area with PH below 7, you need to raise it a bit or they won't hatch well, that's what the baking soda is for (I've heard around 2 level teaspoons per litre, but maybe Cliff can clarify on that one) . When I measured my salt I used 1.5 to 2 level tablespoons (those measuring spoons that you use for baking) per litre of water and per 1/2 a level teaspoon of eggs. The only reason I heated my water is because in the south east, my flat gets to about 5 C in the winter (the call to arms for socks!) so they weren't hatching at all. I stuck my home made hatcheries in a bucket of water so the tops of the hatcheries were above the water (the necks of the hatcheries bottles were held in place by suction cups with clips on that you use for heaters), then I heated the bucket with a small aquarium heater.

The initial batch I bought never hatched no matter how many batches I did, but the new ones I got all hatched under the exact same conditions. Sometimes it can depend on how the seller stores them as to whether they hatch at all. You should keep dry unhatched eggs in an airtight container in the fridge when in use.

If they're floating when you put them in, you should stir the water a bit and use a clean finger to gently wipe any down from the sides. They won't hatch if they're not underneath the water! Though the hatched shells will float too, so after about 8 hours you may see some of those start to appear at the top that don't need to be stirred around.

 

[krawat165]

Thank you both for replying!

I'm going to try what you both have said and try varying it to see if it works.

Thank you!

 

[Elphick]

Genny, hi! Can you edvise me on where I can obtain shrimp eggs from please? Thanks! ��