Hatching your own brine shrimp - Live food! why not grow some?

melev

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[I'm going to be taking a sample of the phyto I just grew along with a sample of DTs to my son's school. The chemistry teacher and the principal gave me the green light. (green ... lol) Why not bring in some baby brine shrimp as well? So I threw together this hatchery for now.

It is an inverted bottle inside of another bottle that is filled with rock to keep it from toppling. The airline tubing from below gives it a healthy bubbling, and hopefully in 72 hours I'll have something cool to use at school, plus food for the reef!

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[Man, you always come up with the coolest things Marc, Next time you just decide to create something give me a call :laugh:]
 
@Jon wrote:
[You bet I will. We need to invent the SCWD hanger bracket! :;):

Have you started your sump yet? I still totally love the idea of a cube that is diagonally split. Just for the fun of making it. LOL We'd definitely need your tablesaw to make it work though.]
 
[Haven't started on the sump yet, I upgraded my tablesaw last week to one that has a routing station built in and have not assembled it yet... :O I am planning on putting it together tomorrow morning, I built a return pipe earlier etc I am moving at a snails pace on this tank, but if I take my time hopefully it will really be nice when I am finished. Would there be anything wrong with putting a valve on the drain and returns? Was thinking I could put a couple of valves on them so I could start cycling my tank and take my time on the sump, or put a rubbermaid under there for a temporary sump, what do you think? :D]
 
[Yes, you can put valves on drainlines and returns, so you can seal the tank and start your cycle. Later when you get your sump set up, you should leave your drainline fully open. I read about some that put a valve to restrict the flow and make them quieter, but I'd rather make sure my drainline is unobstructed at all times, so the tank never overflows. :p

Did you buy the craftsman table saw then? I saw one last week that was nice and pricey.

Take your time. This is a hobby, and it should be stress-free.

Riiiiiight. :laugh:]
 
[Yes it is a Craftsman and was not cheap but I thought it would last awhile, I liked how I could do most of my sawing on the one table. All I need now is a 10" blade for cutting acrylic and a router bit. I will try and pick those up tomorrow. I am going to head up to HD or Lowes to get my plumbing for the SCWD, should I go for some flexible hose or hard pvc? I was planning on using elbows with barbed ends coming out of the bulkheads on the closed loop/scwd (your opinion here would be appreciated) Also, I am not sure where to place the mag 9.5 for the closed loop, I don't want to haveit behind the tank due to space, I know you haven't seen my tank or stand but what would you suggest here?

One last thing, I am going run my skimmer outside the tank, I have not picked up a pump yet, they suggest something over 900gph I was considering a mag12 or Gen-X Mak4(external pump) would there be any plusses or minuses with one vs. the other??? Thanks.]
 
[I know that table saw wasn't cheap. Add that router attachment and you just about have a house payment in that thing! LOL

You will need some flex hose to connect the scwd at all three locations, and 6 hose clamps, plus 3 barbed fittings.

If you can't put the Mag 9.5 behind the tank, where can you put it? Do you want to put a shelf up high? Or do you want the pump all the way down in the base of your stand? The higher it pumps, the less flow you'll get due to head pressure. Take a lot at this chart to determine how much flow you'll get for each vertical foot of water pressure. Remember to calculate the 20% drop of pressure the SCWD causes as well.

A Mag12 would run internally in your sump attached to your skimmer (1200gph) and will eat up some space, but if you have space then it doesn't matter. An external pump will need to be planned for, as the skimmer and the pump will need space in your stand along with your sump. I like using submerged pumps, since they aren't too expensive (when I order them from Marine Depot).

The blade you'll want to buy would be a "triple cut" blade. Freud makes one, and Home Depot sells it. If you do a search for "saw blade" and "Lunchbucket" on RC, you'll find the exact blade and SKU number. Or you could go to Harbor Freight perhaps and save some money? It is near the old Dollar Theater (Wedgewood Theater).

Plan on using plumbiing pipes bigger than your pump. If you have a pump with 3/4" threads, plan on using 1" to 1.5" plumbing. Put "unions" on the intake and output sides of your pump, so you can remove the pump later for maintenance or repair. Put ball valves on both returns of your closed loop so you can close them to work on the tank and not lose water.

Woohoo. :D]
 
[whew, lot's of information =) The skimmer is too big for my stand so I am going to have it under my L shaped desk next to the stand out of sight. I didn't give the mag placement much thought, guess I would like to try and get it in my stand, I have lots of space, the inside of the stand is 29" tall so If I make my sump 16" tall that will leave me with around 13" to make something work ???

The saw I bought came with the router table it doesn't look quite as sophisticated as the one on display, it almost seems like an afterthought, but I'm sure it will work great for me. I couldn't find the blade at HD or Harbor Freight, I knew you had bought a Freud blade at HD so I stopped by and couldn't find any 10" triple cut blades. I will check out Lunchbucket's posts thanks. On the flex hose is there a particular one to get?]
 
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