Close call...

[Babers]

So yesterday, for some reason, my bbs didn't hatch. I have microworm culture (was gonna be my back up) but was not even close to being ready so I can use it to feed the fry. Anyway, I was able to find someone who had hatched bbs and was able to feed them last noc. Bless his heart.

My question is...what's your back up plan if your bbs crashes?

[BillT]

I have a can of decapsulated BS cysts.
No hatching required. Just throw them in.
Cheap because they make them of low grade (low hatching %) BS cysts.
However they sink and don't move, so how well it works depends on how your fish feed and how fast they feed.

[waterboy]

I feed them twice a day.  11 A:M and 7 P:M.  I have found that skipping a meal does not affect them at all.  I sometimes forget to put salt in the BBS or forget to make them at all. I've never lost any due to missing a feeding or two.  So I don't have a backup plan other than to make sure they get the next meal.

[BillT]

I used to have great Walter worm cultures. They a re better than microworms since they can live in the water for a week, microworms for about a day.
I could harvest 20-30 mls of worms a day when those cultures were going well.
They could certainly support baby danios without BS for a few days. Not great long term nutrition however.

[Mugwump]

I have bbs, microworms, Golden Pearls, another decap....and in a pinch...ground flake mixed in tank water and shot in with an eye dropper for movement......

[LizStreithorst]

I decapsulate my own.

[Babers]

Thanks for the input guys/gals.

A few weeks ago, I bought those hatching dish from Brine Shrimp Direct. No heat, no aeration needed. Just put in the salt/water mix add the bbs eggs, the place the lid. Easy, right?

My input on them...the hatch rate was very low. They would be okay if you have a really small batch of fry.

So I re-started hatching using the 2 L bottle (big difference)...using the dish as a back-up if needed and my microworm culture when it's ready. Also have first bites now by Hikari. I'll probably decapsulate some eggs also.

[Mugwump]

..having vinegar eels around helps too on some spawns....

[wallace]

One time I put a piece of metal on the bubbler to hold it down in a hatching bottle, and nothing hatched. I took it out and the next batch was fine. I don't know if that was the cause, but I wondered about it. It was stainless steel. 

[Mugwump]

One time I put a piece of metal on the bubbler to hold it down in a hatching bottle, and nothing hatched. I took it out and the next batch was fine. I don't know if that was the cause, but I wondered about it. It was stainless steel. 

...might have been made of low grade SS.....the 400 series of SS can even rust ...it's also magnetic......Since 400-series stainless steels are entirely ferritic or martensitic, their magnetic properties cannot be reduced through annealing......there are many SS grades....

[wallace]

A good possibility, with all that salt as a catalyst. It was a skewer, like a kabob skewer, from the kitchen.