Can we talk?!...No I mean it. We need to get real serious here and discuss something that quite a few aquarists never thought about, and I am going to give you a solution to the problem...who said there was a problem? BABY BRINE SHRIMP.(Artemia salina)..Oh I know, it's not worth the time right?!?! They only last for about two days and the hatch is not very good and collecting them is a real pain and the bubbles create a mess your mother wouldn't clean up...RIGHT? Let me suggest a few solutions. I have been hatching baby brine on a regular (every day) basis for about 3 years now and all I use for equipment is one 2 gallon glass bowl and a shrimp net (bought at a local store)...Oh also a 2 gallon plastic lemonade pitcher...I'll explain in a moment. With that I have hatched enough baby brine for 25+ tanks of baby angelfish every day for about 3 years. OK, hear goes.......this is my experience. First of all I use the bay (Tampa) water. I live about 6-8 blocks from Tampa bay and make a weekly excursion to the shore and get 5 gallon bucket of saltwater...no cost! I have found that this water is perfect...salt wise, if you dilute it to about 1.015 on the hydrometer, but I broke my hydrometer several years ago so, the point is just water down the saltwater a little for the hatching. Generally I will run some sort of power filter on the water for several hours...but sometimes it is almost crystal clear...really! I'll fill the 2 gallon bowl with about 3/4 full with water and insert the air hose...did you notice I said "air hose" and not air stone? Not so much spray guys. It takes a piece or two of lead to keep each of the two airlines on the bottom but the fact of no air stones has cut the spray to virtually NO spray. I push the capacity of the 2 gallon bowl in terms of capacity of shrimp but if you do a good job of harvesting it will be fine. I generally put in 2+ tablespoons...not teaspoons...of brine eggs and NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING extra to help the eggs hatch...no Epsom salts, no nothing, they will do just fine. Which brings up the next point with brine eggs. I am really sorry fish shops, but those little vials of brine eggs wouldn't hatch if you hit them with a sledge hammer. A couple of years ago I found myself out of eggs and my source wouldn't have any for 5-6 days...I panicked and actually had to pay 5 gazillion dollars for a vial of eggs...well it would be okay if the hatch would be decent.....I think maybe 7 shrimp hatched...maybe it was 8. Another trip to another fish store and another 5 gazillion dollars and feeling that well, maybe the other store had an old batch and this one will be okay...maybe 10 shrimp hatched. Point to be made...if you don't want to buy, or don't have a need for a "tin" of brine eggs...retail.. eh $21.00+ then get several people and go in on a tin and all of you will have enough eggs to feed for quite some time. Yes you can......in fact freezing the EGGS in the freezer will make them last "indefinitely" (at this moment I have 5 tins of eggs in my freezer). Once you are using them just put the remaining portion in the refrigerator ...they will last (be active) up to 6-8 months after breaking the seal, if kept in the 'frige. HEY, Hey...it's now been 14+ hours since you put in the eggs. A great number, enough to feed will be hatched if the temperature of the room is anywhere near 800. It will take a little longer if the temp is a little lower...I know what the directions say...this time frame works for me. To collect, simply pull out the air hoses and turn on a little light that is aimed at the bottom of the bowl and go feed your bigger fish...come back in 5-10 min. and it will be a "sea" of orange brine shrimp collected at the bottom of the bowl with the eggs floating at the top. I then siphon the brine out with a stiff piece of air hose connected to regular air hose to the shrimp net that is resting in the mouth of the lemonade pitcher. When I get what I need to feed I simply put the air back in the bowl and let the water all go through the net. When the water is completely through the net simply dump the water back into the hatchery and feed what you need. BUY GOOD QUALITY EGGS...ask the breeders you know for a brand name.

Now........listen. Very often you will have too many shrimp ...or plan as I do, to have too many, what do you do with them...don't just dump them into a tank...FREEZE THEM!! IT IS SO EASY...and you can make enough of your own frozen food in 4-5 days to last for a month. Locally there are companies that manufacture plastic "zip" bags...they make all sizes but 2" X 3" is perfect. It cost me $12.00 for 1000 bags...split it with some people. When you have a net full that is drained of saltwater, go to the kitchen with it and get a coffee cup(wide mouth) and put about enough tap water in the cup to fill 1/3-1/2 of the plastic bag...put the shrimp in the cup of tap water and dump the mix in the zip bag...even my wife can now manage that...squeeze the air out of the bag and zip it closed and put it in the freezer...BINGO, INSTANT FROZEN BRINE FOR PENNIES...have you bought frozen baby brine lately $$$$$ ? Now you can use the brine as you please. Your fish will love you. If I dedicate the entire hatch to being frozen I can get 4-5 bags of frozen shrimp form 2-3 tablespoons of eggs.

MOORISH IDOL....Several years ago I went into my favorite shop and the "boss" showed me an "idol" that just refused to eat ...I know, what else is new...and he asked if I had any salt tanks up and going and was one empty...yea, yea, yea...would I take him home and try to see whatever. Well...I've not had very good luck with "idols" in the past but this challenge was too much... enough said. I took him home and plopped him in a 40 gal. tank with a couple of odd gobies and some odd bottom creatures...he wouldn't eat anything the next day. Drastic measures ...when I was down getting a bucket of saltwater for brine shrimp I noticed some rocks with hair algae about 6-8" long on them...the rocks were small, about the size of your fist or so, and I grabbed several thinking that there might be some small critters that might be in the "crust" of the rock that the "idol" might be interested in...after being in the tank for about ...oh, maybe ....ah...17 seconds this fish dove into the hair algae and didn't stop until his belly was totally distended.....I mean bursting. Several hours later there he was again eating the algae and that was that until it was all gone...BINGO-disappeared. I tried some live shrimp the next day but noooooo....more rocks...stuffed! After several weeks he began eating "normal" stuff but there you have it. Any comments out there guys?..Try it..you might like it!