Auto brine shrimp hatchery/feeder

Paul B

Paul B

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This is a much larger version of my normal feeder except this one allows for the water to be constantly renewed. There is an auto dry food feeder on the rim of the tank (above the funnel) that I tweeked a little so it only lets about 1/4 teaspoon of brine shrimp eggs into the funnel at the top of the tube just at the waters edge twice a day. There is a small tube (3/16") that disperses water into the funnel from the tank. That comes from my algae trough but an air bubbler would work. The water flow provides 2 services. It aerates the eggs and pushes them down the tube to the feeder and even if it doesn't, after the shrimp hatch, they will be forced down (I hope). I may have to tweek this a little but I have an other design in my head for that possibility. There is a stocking over the feeder to allow the shrimp to exit. The water being pumped into the device also changes the water in the device. "most" of the eggshells will stay under the mesh (stocking) but not all. The eggs are slightly larger than the mesh and most of them sink anyway. When I come back from vacation I will run my diatom filter if there are any visible eggs to remove from the tank but I don't think it will be a problem in a few days. Right now the 3 pipefish, 2 mandarins and scooter dragonette are all around this thing and the rest of the fish come by for a snack. I will get the fish used to feeding in this place for a few days before I go anywhere and I will be using it now. The powerheads will turn off a couple of times a day to allow the pipefish to feed without searching all over the place for new born shrimp. I like this idea even better than how I am feeding them now as it keeps shrimp in the water continousely and that is how pipefish and mandarins are supposed to eat. I will update with any problems and maybe a video.

 
I took a video of the thing working. The mandarins also hang out on it but they are afraid of me and run away as soon as I get near the tank. You can see the male mandarin to the left at the start but he leaves when he sees the camera because he got up on the wrong side of the tank today and doesn't like his picture taken.
The two pipefish just stay on it all day and every minute or so they can grab a shrimp. This works differently than my normal feeder in that the shrimp are expelled a little faster but more spread out during the day. They do that because they hatch all day long. The fish don't have to sit on it as they can constantly eat shrimp all around it.
It is a very natural way of feeding such fish and the large copperband also visits on every trip around the tank. You can see the funnel at the top with some water running into it to push the eggs down which they all do. The auto feeder is missing the hopper for the video.
 
hi Paul... another awesome invention from you. just a quick question.. I understand that the brine shrimp eggs have to be in constant turbulence and not to be allowed to sink to the bottom... how do you prevent that from happening once they are in the box? and also what size mesh do you use?
 
The mesh is a nylon stocking. The eggs can sink, that is finn but if the water is moving over them, they hatch. If they are moving even more, the hatch rate is a little higher but they do move enough to hatch. They hit some turbulence as they are in the funnel for a couple of hours before they sink, then they slowly make it down the tube.
 
Nice, Paul.

Any chance of sharing a simplified sketch of your invention?

:blush:
 
Hey Paul, I've built a prototype of this design, but I'm not sure whether the eggs are hatching. I can see the eggs going down the pipe slowly, but I can't see any newly hatched shrimps coming out of the box.
I took it out after about two days and saw quite a few small shrimps in there.
How will I know that the holes in the stocking is big enough to let the shrimps through?
 
Stocking holes are usually a little to large for them to get through so it should be fine. If you are not sure, after the shrimp hatch, put a stocking over a glass and pour the shrimp and water through it to see if they get through.
 
Paul B said:
The mesh is a nylon stocking. The eggs can sink, that is finn but if the water is moving over them, they hatch. If they are moving even more, the hatch rate is a little higher but they do move enough to hatch. They hit some turbulence as they are in the funnel for a couple of hours before they sink, then they slowly make it down the tube.
Click to expand...

Would the travel time of the egg from the top of the pipe to the bottom of the pipe be enough for them to hatch.
Want to build my own feeder like yours. But would like to know if I need to hatch the brine shrimp Be4 adding to the feeder.
I'd prefer a one action solution.
 
I am not sure what you mean by the eggs hatching on their way down the tube. They get down the tube in a second and (in that pictured version) they hatch in a day and a half and slowly make their way to the mesh where the fish suck them through. Many of them get through the mesh on their own and the fish eat them as they try to swim away. That feeder is diagramed in my book as all my designs are. That's why I wrote a book so it would all be in one place instead of me re drawing it all the time. I know I put it on a few forums but my threads span years so it will be hard to find.
 
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