new brigs egg hatcher set up

[bethany]

You need the 7 mesh plastic canvas, it's got the biggest hole size of the readily available products. I have always hatched one plastic canvas except in the very beginning when the bottoms of all clutches were yucky on styro.

But I don't make legs. I use silicone to glue strips of styro onto the mesh. Water level doesn't matter, it will float on whatever depth.

Because I have 6 different colored clutches, and need to keep them seperate to sell them as certain colors, I made a stackable set to put in a big tub with a lid.

A few weeks ago I had something silly like 70 clutches all of which had to be kept according to color. Each of the stackable racks had 10 - 20 clutches and it was nice to only have a couple of manageable containers to keep them all in.

The advantage of glued on styro pontoons is that they are rigid and it you put one on the full length of all sides the platform is easy to pick up. Plain mesh is kind of floppy and can warp or twist, even the so called heavy duty extra thick stuff.

[luvfishies]

Here's mine

[luvfishies]

Bethany, your stryo pontoons sound great! Thanks for sharing that excellent tip!

[SnailTrail]

For those of us who aren't very good at making things and continue to use the styrofoam method it's easy to keep the underside of the clutches from getting wet and going gooey....just pop a few toothpicks under each clutch.

Janet

[Pamelajo]

Snailtrail: This is very easy. Bethany's idea would be even easier. Just cut glue and stick. Come on give it a try. I made two yesterday with an X bottom. Next I am going to try the styrofoam bottom.

[SnailTrail]

Snailtrail: This is very easy. Bethany's idea would be even easier. Just cut glue and stick. Come on give it a try. I made two yesterday with an X bottom. Next I am going to try the styrofoam bottom.

I might give it a try with my netted laundry wash bags when I start getting into hatching again...at the moment i'm too engrossed in my spixis to consider hatching anything else.....and there's the lack of room for any more hatchlings too.

[SunsetSnails]

Does anyone have a problem with keeping them heated? How do you know they are at a good temperature for hatching?

[bethany]

I keep the box or boxes on a light strip. Any place over 70F will hatch the clutches, it's just a matter of how long it will take.

My first attempts with glued on styro were bad, all strips were parallel. The mesh is too flexible and it bowed with time. The ones with a single strip on the full length of each edge have been best but I fixed the *all parallel* ones with more strips at right angles between the original strips.

I run a bead of silicone down the styro, squish down the mesh onto it and run another bead on top and smooth it a little. Again, early efforts were flawed. I didn't have the glue on top and strips would come loose eventually.

Every couple of weeks I scrub the mesh as it always gets a bit messy.

[Daddyo72]

I need to try this! I need to do some research on hatching eggs. How long do you leave them in the tub before you move them to the main tank? Whats the process after hatching?

[luvfishies]

I need to try this! I need to do some research on hatching eggs. How long do you leave them in the tub before you move them to the main tank? Whats the process after hatching?

Daddyo, I move mine to a floating fry net/container as soon as they hatch, as they need food ASAP! That's more for ease of feeding than anything else, as they are quite able to find their way to food once they are hatched. I don't like the idea of "feeding" the water they fall into in the hatcheries as the water there will soon get really bad.

I once had a clutch hatch unnoticed and the babies were all dead within 48 hours, so I'm now a bit paranoid about checking, and moving the babies to a nice stable environment, while still being protected by the floating fry container.

[LeFleurs]

Hi All,

I'm new to snails.....as of Sept. when I got my first babies from Terri at Rainbow Snails. I've already ordered more babies from her and they are growing as beautifully as the first batch. Also got quite a few "ugly snails" from Autumn Again.

Well, I've had about 25 Clutches in the last 3-4 weeks. I've been a avid reader here and was using styrafoam floating in breeder in the tank. Nothing was happening..those first 10 clutches still haven't hatched. Got discouraged and was just leaving the clutches where they were laid.

Then on the 5th of this month, I read about this new brigs hatchery set up. I had everything in the house already and within half an hour, I had my own hatchery done. I removed the last 10 surviving cluthes from the aquarium into the hatchery along with the unhatched clutches.

Yesterday, one of the last 10 clutches hatched! I don't have a turkey baster but do have a huge syringe (30cc). I used that to draw up the babies from the hatchery and placed them in the breeder in the aquarium where I can monitor them.

I just love this brigs hatchey!

Gail from Florida

[littlecobra1977]

Hey LeFleurs, welcome to the forum and glad the hatchery has worked well for you. I would like to give you a warning on useing the syringe, your taking a chance at damaging the new shells of the babies. instead of sucking them up in the syringe, attach a section of air tubing or similar size tubing that will fit the syringe. instead of them going into the syringe, just suck them up into the hose itself. It works wonders and you can even see how many you have sucked up, giving you an accorate account for how many have hatched and been moved to the desired tank. just useing the syringe is still a good idea, but the hole thats in most of them is fairly small and id rather not take a risk. i also use a syringe for feeding my fish blood worms and brine shrimp but melting it in a glass and sucking it up and giving it to the bottom dweller fish like my eels, and cories. i glad this helps give you better hatch rates.

Shane

[LeFleurs]

Shane,

The opening of this 30cc syringe is larger than an air hose. I drew up quite a few cc's of air before drawing up the babies so there would be a cushion of air so the babies weren't accidently crushed during the transfer. They are all moving and eating so I'm assuming at this point that all survived just fine.

Gail

[littlecobra1977]

well like i said i was not sure of the hole size but if its that large then they should be fine, as you see them moveing around.
Shane

[luvfishies]

Hi LeFleurs and welcome aboard!