Re: "Kosher Salt" (was frozen brine

["Bruce J. Turner" <fishgen at vt_edu>]

Hello all:  We have found that rock salt as used for de-icing sidewalks and
roadways, or making ice cream, is even more reliable for hatching brine
shrimp than the so-called kosher salt. Many aquarists shy away from this
salt because it often contains insoluble particles, some gravel, dust, etc.
and sometimes is brownish in color, but I find it nonethless easily handled
and very reliable.  Objectionable stuff can be removed by filtration
through cheesecloth, if you want to do this.  In my lab, we feed more than
1500 Rivulus marmoratus a diet that includes almost daily feedings of
nauplii---even for adult fish, as well as some other foods which vary from
day to day.  In other words, nauplii are our staple food.  We use Artemia
cysts ("eggs") from Brineshrimp Direct, usually, but have also used other
brands from time to time. We use 10 to 12 oz. of eggs per month, sometimes
a bit more.

The hatching solution is made up by measuring 7 tablespoons (roughly 100
mls, packed) of the coarse rock salt, 2 teaspoons of Epsom salt, and 2
teaspoons of sodium bicarbonate.  3800 ml (1 gal)s of HOT tapwater is added
to this, and the mixture bubbled with an airstone overnight.  By the next
morning everything is in solution, the pH is about 8.3 - 9.0 and the
solution has cooled to room temperature (74 F for us) and is ready for use.
There is often an insoluble residue, but usually we just ignore this.  We
have great hatches in 36 - 48 hrs at 80 F.  In the quantities we use, this
soln is about 1/8 the cost of artificial seawater.  It performs as well as
seawater, possibly a bit better.

Currently, we do not dechorionate our brine shrimp eggs, though we have
done this in the past.  With good quality eggs it just did not seem to be
worth the effort.  However, a local commercial breeder of angelfish, who
has perhaps 150 aquaria in production, buys very cheap brine shrimp eggs (I
think from China) and routinely dechorionates them (before hatching them
out) with the standard bleach/vinegar protocol.  He is very satisfied with
the result.

******************************************************************************

					Bruce J. Turner
					Assoc. Professor of Biology
					VPISU, Blacksburg, VA 24061
					(540)-231-7444
					fishgen at vt_edu


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