OK as promised a step by step as to how I decapsulate brine shrimp eggs. I don't know if its right or wrong but it does work and my fish seem to love them with no ill effects thus far.
1. I gather all my equipment next to a sink as this does require some water to rinse and drain things into.
the 2 bottles on the right, the big one is filled with salt water that I mix for water changes and the little one is just plain ole RO/DI water, not sure if RO/DI is really necessary but I always have some on hand so I use it for rehydrating and the final rinse. Also present are an Air pump, 20 CC syringe, K-cup reusable coffee filter, Clorox, a store bought brine shrimp hatchery and a simple home-made hatchery.
2. The first step I do is rehydrating the eggs. I use my little hatchery for most of this process because since my tank is little I don't need a huge quantity of eggs. I measure out 1/8th of a teaspoon of eggs and put it in the hatchery with RO/DI water. I let this bubble using the air pump for anywhere from 10 minutes to 1/2 hour depending on what I am doing at the time. I do occasionally stir it to keep all the eggs I the water as they like to rise and stick to the sides of the container out of the water.
After about a half hour I take the eggs and strain them through the coffee filter. Notice how the eggs are kinda a brownish color at this time.
3. At This point I pour a little bleach into the little home-made hatchery. Using the 20 CC syringe I then squirt the eggs out of the coffee filter into the hatchery. I get as many as I can out and start the clock. I once again drop the airline into the hatchery and let them bubble for about 5 minutes. The eggs will turn from that brown color to a bright orange. This can be from 3-5 minutes but I never go over 5 minutes. The orange color is what you are looking for.
4. At this point I once again pour them into the k-cup coffee filter and rinse thoroughly using tap water. I rinse until I no longer smell the bleach and then usually a little longer just to make sure. I then give 1 final rinse with RO/DI water.
5. I then transfer the eggs into the main hatchery using saltwater this time (I use the same mix that goes into my tank for water changes). I put a small light in them that runs 16 hours on and 8 off (only because its on the same timer as my phyto). I bubble them at a pretty good rate (Enough to keep the eggs from sticking to the side of the bottle). For the first few hours if I can I stir them occasionally also. seems like this is the worst time for them to want to kinda clump up and stick to the side. After that I turn the air down to a lower flow. as to not injure the baby brine.
From here I wait about 24 hours and start harvesting baby brine. For my little tank this nets me 2 feedings over the course of 2 days. Using a turkey baster I suck out about half of the baby brine and strain them through a brine shrimp net, then scoop up some adult brine from my other tank add them directly to my DT and the fish go nuts. 24 hours later I do the same thing again and start the whole process of decapsulating over. On the second day I also feed a pinch of pellet or frozen Mysis (depending on what I feel like doing at the moment) just to make sure the fish are getting enough nutrition. They seem to be fat and happy so it must be working.
for the great pics & documentation - well done ! Enjoyed the :read:
