decapsulated brine shrimp

[LizStreithorst]

I had a circuit breaker trip last night and woke up to dead BBS because they had no air.  I decapsulated some and fed a bit of the decaps to my fry.  I put the rest back in salt water to hatch.  I know it doesn't taked decaps as long to hatch as regualar BBS.  Any one know how long  it takes?  The fry are eating the decaps but I like live and swimming better.

[Mugwump]

I had a circuit breaker trip last night and woke up to dead BBS because they had no air.  I decapsulated some and fed a bit of the decaps to my fry.  I put the rest back in salt water to hatch.  I know it doesn't taked decaps as long to hatch as regualar BBS.  Any one know how long  it takes?  The fry are eating the decaps but I like live and swimming better.

Are the decaps orange colored? If so, they hatch out pretty much like normal bbs eggs....18hrs, depending on if the temp is about 80 deg....

Here's a vid that I've had around for reference...

[LizStreithorst]

Thanks, Jon.  My method is somewhat different but my decaps were orange and the fry are eating them so I guess it worked.  For some reason I was under the impression that decaps hatched out faster than the ones with shells.

[EverythingAquatic]

Fresh decaps can hatch in 12 hours, but there is no guarantee this would be your case.

[BillT]

It is possible to over bleach when decapsulating. This can lead to decapsulated BS eggs that can be eaten but will never hatch.

At the aquaculture meeting I went to recently, there was a talk by a guy who tested using decapsulated brine shrimp to feed zebraifsh. This worked just as good as live hatched BS. Because the brine shrimp that get decapsulated would normally have a hatch rate of something like 15% the decapsulated eggs only cost about $15/lb.

He had not tried it on larval fish where feeding BS nauplii is most important however, so it is not clear if the lack of movement affected how readilly the fish ate the decapsulated BS.

[Mugwump]

It is possible to over bleach when decapsulating. This can lead to decapsulated BS eggs that can be eaten but will never hatch.

At the aquaculture meeting I went to recently, there was a talk by a guy who tested using decapsulated brine shrimp to feed zebraifsh. This worked just as good as live hatched BS. Because the brine shrimp that get decapsulated would normally have a hatch rate of something like 15% the decapsulated eggs only cost about $15/lb.

He had not tried it on larval fish where feeding BS nauplii is most important however, so it is not clear if the lack of movement affected how readilly the fish ate the decapsulated BS.

Interesting....that's why I asked if they were orange....I should have asked if she rinsed promptly too....hatch time depends more on solution temp than anything, not warm enough takes longer...80-82...brings em home in 14 hrs if you want the smaller newly hatched...

[BallAquatics]

He had not tried it on larval fish where feeding BS nauplii is most important however, so it is not clear if the lack of movement affected how readilly the fish ate the decapsulated BS.

I've had mixed results with about half of the fry going after them like nobody's business.  I keep my decaps in the freezer just like my regular eggs.  They work especially good for bottom feeders like corydoras fry and the carnivore plecos.

Those newly hatched Danio/Devario fry you sent to me, (BillT), fed on the de-caps very well and grew at a very good rate.  I'm not nearly scientific enough to say whether just as quickly as they would have on live BBS though.

Dennis

[LizStreithorst]

This is the way I did it:  I put the eggs in tap water and added aeration for about 20 minutes.  Then I added a cup of bleach to the water and waited for the solution to turn orange.  When it was orange I poured it into a brine shrimp net and rinsed with water.  Then I rinsed the eggs in vinegar, and then rinsed them thoroughly with tap water.  I fed some right then and put the rest back into the hatchery filled with salt water and turned the air back on.  I fed more this afternoon.  The kids went for them as well as they go for the swimming ones.

Dennis, please tell me how you go about freezing them. 

[BallAquatics]

Dennis, please tell me how you go about freezing them.

Liz, I buy mine already decapsulated, (http://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/c2/Decapsulated-Non-HatchingBrine-Shrimp-Eggs-c21.html), nd then just store them in the freezer until needed.  I usually keep about 2 weeks worth of de-cap & my hatching eggs in the fish room.

Dennis

[BillT]

Live decapsulated BS eggs that will hatch can be kept for one to two weeks if they are kept in saturated brine.

You can make saturated brine if you put enough salt in a container of water so that there is always undissolved salt on the bottom. The solution can not dissolve anymore salt and is therefore saturated.

The high salt content of the water osmotically pulls water out of the decapsulated eggs to dilute the salt in the water. This dries out the eggs (while they are submerged in water) like the dried eggs normally used for hatching are. They last pretty well if kept in the frig. and can hatch out in a normal egg hatcher.