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I recommend this for approximately 20 fry or less.
Use a small cognac glass. It is similar to the size of betta bowls in your local fish store.
Filling it half-full of water is approximately ½ a quart.
Follow the directions for hatching the eggs: fill the glass half full, soak approximately ¼- ½ tsp of eggs for 1 full hour with aeration.
Be sure to keep the amount of airflow low to avoid splatter and turbulence. Taping down the airline with masking tape is helpful. You can use saran wrap to cover the top of the glass.
After soaking, add 1 flat Tbsp of aquarium salt to the water. To avoid crushing the eggs at the bottom, I suggest allowing the salt to slide into the water along the side of the glass. You may notice that the salt does not fully disperse, that is ok. It will over time.
To keep the water warm use a small 15W bulb that touches the bowl itself. This will keep the water warm, but not too warm.
Approximately 12-24 hours later, the eggs will hatch.
Use a medium sized dropper to pull up the brine. They tend to group together around the warmest part, which is the area touching the light bulb, making collection very easy.
By not needing to filter out the brine, you may keep a live supply of food for fry for about 5-7 days before needing to make a fresh batch.
Each time you pull the water from the hatchery, you may replace that water with tank water. This seems to aid in the survival of the brine.
Be sure that you do not reuse the water to hatch the eggs!!! The water will start to smell as the brine dies off and you do not want to be feeding that to your fry.
Submitted by Sorsha
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