favourite brine shrimp setup?

[Nornicle]

This topic is open to people's favourite brine shrimp hatcheries and collection methods, links are of course welcome

I'm looking for the best way since every man and his canine has his own way!

[catalyst]

I am just trying this for the first time and would also like some info.

[Goobz]

I'm about to set one up so I'm keen for some advise to!!

Bring It On!

[Gigitt]

I have never hatched Brine Shrimp - 3 years ago I was looking into it but it was too much of a manual exercise and the Auto setup kits were way too expensive.

I saw this earlier this week on e_Bay...

Here is an actual picture

http://www.petdiscounters.com/aquarium/foo...os_hatcher.html

and it looks quite promising. There are other comercial units out there and they cost AUS$80-150.

I don't know how effective they are - efficencies are rated at the number for brine eggs/gram hatched vs lost/unhatched.

But the fact that you don't have to manually do it looks like a bonus.

EDIT: I just found this site: http://www.saltlakeshoreline.com/

[Magica DiSpell]

Hmm, this device looks interesting, but there is one claim that makes me a little suspicious. The tank water and the salt water don't mix, but the shrimp can freely swim into the tank. I am not quite sure how that could be possible.

A few years ago we used a brine hatchery (a little small black box with a hole in the top, where a clear waterfilled vial was inserted upside down with a little hole in the lid). The eggs would hatch in the dark container and the hatchlings would swim toward the light and collect in the clear vial. In winter we would place the black box into a very small heated tank. That way we got shrimp all year round. It worked really well.

We only stopped it, because when I got pregnant, I couldn't stand the smell of it (just about the only thing that really set me off). Six years later, and I still have problems with the smell (but I think now it is more a memory of the effect it had on me).

[Gigitt]

From what I can see...

This unit is submersed into the tank.

The main airation area is a separate container with an open top. The airation and salt water are contained only here.

The Chambers water line will meet the water line of the tank.

The tea pot pout thingy is connected to the bottom of the airation chamber and has an output to the tank water.

Water is not flowing throught this device or tea pot spout but there is contact, it will just stay like that and act like an exit tube to the tank that the brine can swim too.

The salty water is not being pushed out into the tank as there is nothing to do that.

The airation chamber bubbles will only create turbulant water only in this chamber but it is only this chamber that is turbulant.

If anything the water level will always be equal to the tank water line due to airation in this chamber evapourating water and more tank water will be sucked in through the tea pot spout.

It looks pretty good and self contained.

[Magica DiSpell]

But there is still diffusion and all those little brine shrimp would create quite a bit of water movement swimming around as they do. Mind you I am problably just paranoid and picky.

I don't know if you ever get to the NSW CS meetings. Charlie Wright (one of the committee members) has a really neat system, that looks very similar to the one you mentioned, but it is more manual and doesn't sit in the tank. He might be worth talking to. I have seen his and it looks good (but I also have to admit that our attempts to copy his system failed miserably - reason unknown).