Re: APR (was Re: Oryzias latipes)

You asked Wright, but I'll sneak a quick two shiny pennies in here. I use 2 liter soda bottles for bbs. I find that waiting 10 minutes after I remove the air tube allows the nauplii to sink to the lower levels while shells float. It helps if there is not a bright overhead light to attract the bbs to the surface. I then use a siphon with a rigid tube on the end to reach down past the shells and siphon the bbs from the bottom. If you allow a drop or two of water to drip from the siphon end onto the shells, surface tension forms a clear space you can dip the siphon through so the shells in the tube are minimized. This works great for two feedings a day for me. Something else I did a few years ago was to use gallon iced tea jugs with spigots attached. I know they sell them at Wal-Mart. The shells floated, and then you just poured the shrimp and water out through the spigot from the bottom straight into the net. These were harder to keep clean than I wanted to mess with then, and I didn't have an automatic dishwasher to help. Also, It left too many bbs below the spigot level where they were just wasted. I felt this was too expensive at the current prices, but that method sure was easy. I even had a special cardboard cover I put over the jug so light only got in around the spigot area, attracting the bbs right where I wanted them. That also works for any other type of hatching bottle if you have trouble with the bbs swimming too near the shells.