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Artemia Grow-Out Tanks
M.T. Fukada:> I can never seem to get the quantities that a few of the
people in the Honolulu Aquarium Society seem to be able, maybe I need a
tank bigger than 20 gallons.
I keep a fairly large quantity of artemia in grow-out both for myself and
for one of the local pet shops in the area. The LFS requires about a sieved
US pint (.5 ltr) per week, while I need about 1/4 of that for my own
purposes.
I have three tanks in use (actually four, including the filter tank). One is
a ten-gallon "hatching" tank that, after hatching a teaspoon of cysts in a
bottle, is used to grow the nauplii to young juvenile stage. There is no
filtration, only aeration, in this tank, and two gallons of water are
changed with each batch. Eight days later, when reaching the adult stage,
they are netted and and placed in the grow-out tanks.
The grow-out tanks are connected to a central filtering tank in an "H"
pattern. The sump feed is a large, screened rectangular U-shaped sump with a
large opening (15 x 5 cm). The large opening, in combination with a very
slow trickle feed, prevent the artemia from being filtered also. All
filtration is accomplished in the central tank and returned to the grow-out
tanks via hang-on power filters. Two grow-out tanks are maintained to
facilitate the large numbers I raise, allowing me to harvest each on a two
week rotation. Since the hatching tank's time is "built-in" to the schedule,
the artemia are allowed three weeks to fully mature. Of course, if these
numbers of artemia are not required, modifications of the lay-out would be
at your discretion.
Separating the nauplii from the adults also ensures that I can maintain
filtering capability without sifting the shrimp from the water. The idea for
separate filter tanks came from the Artemia FAQ, but the layout is something
that I've worked out on my own. I've been using this system for well over a
year now, with great success.
I hadn't planned on releasing the address until the site was finished,
reviewed and edited, but since the diagram of my lay-out might be useful in
grasping the concept, the address for the particular page is
http://www.mindspring.com/~nestor10/livefood.htm . Should your curiosity
lead you to look at the other pages, I give you fair warning - the site is
only about ten days old, and I'm still in the process of writing and trying
layouts. As I said, I had not intended to release the address yet.
Oh, and as far as foods go, I use the _Spirulina pacifica_ *powder* sold by
Nutrex, which is right there in Hawaii. Much easier and more economical than
the tablets. I would think you'd be able to get the best prices directly
from the source. They also have a web site.
Hope this helps. Merry Christmas!
-Y-
David A. Youngker
nestor10 at mindspring_com