najrick

Sounds like it is too wet then. Moist is good. Once the MW have munched their way through whatever medium you use then it will become quite sloppy again. Sometimes it's just a matter of adding more medium to thicken it up and rejuvinate the mix -- in our case a slice of bread. Then check it later to make sure it hasn't soaked up too much moisture -- adjust accordingly. Pat.

Or rub some sandpaper along the inside of one side of the container to roughen it up a bit. They'll have something to hang onto then But they should climb it without this bit of assistance anyway. Perhaps the mix is too wet ? Pat.

Aquarium lights are great for heating MW's up. I use Aged water or aquarium water since all my cultures are near one tank or another. Not sure how tap water would work but since it has chlorine in it I avoid it. Brine shrimp should still hatch in cooler temps though it might take longer and the hatch results might not be as good. I think some people have hatcheries sitting in heated tanks like spawn / grow out tanks but I'd be too worried of spilling them into the tank. Otherwise an empty heated tank would be OK I guess but finding an empty tank is not possible here and would be wasted space for us Maybe sit them on top of aquarium lights too?? Anyone else It could be that the BBS eggs you have are old As we got to the end of our old batch of eggs we noticed the hatch rates dropped significantly (maybe down to 30%) but with our new batch it is back up to being nearly 100% -- not that I'm counting the eggs and BBS but they are huge hatches of BBS. It is a very noticeable difference. We also keep all our eggs in the fridge. Personally I don't bother with heating or lights. Our hatcheries sit next to the window in our garage so they get some morning sun but no artifical heating as such. We haven't had too many hassles doing BBS this way. Pat.

The smell of any MW culture can take some getting used to At best it smells like a lot of yeast -- like brewing beer. At worst -- well lets not go there. Best to keep MW cultures away from sensitive noses and queasy stomachs. It has taken my stomach quite some time to get used to especially when cleaning out one that has gone bad. The medium you use also varies. Lisa uses Weetbix and I use bread. I've never used Weetbix and I think I'll give it a go. The principle is the same and the end result is MW's. But they do need yeast to thrive. With bread I find I don't need to add any yeast and I can stretch out the culture by adding another slice of bread on top of an older one, sometimes having to add a little water. However every 10 days to 2 weeks I make sure I restart some cultures to keep them going. You can also put a few established cultures in the fridge as a back up. Just make sure no guests decide to eat the special breakfast or takeaway you have in the fridge They will last for some time in the fridge (I've kept them for months) and they don't smell since they go into hibernation or something. To kick start them off again just take them out of the fridge, put them into a warm place and add a little water. I use aquarium water or aged water not tap water. A culture can go for some time but it does need to be looked at regularly to see if it hasn't gone off and died. We are still on the same culture we got over 2 years ago. I always have about 6 active cultures going and one or two in the fridge. I harvest mine with a toothpick scraped along the side or if it is a very active culture and they crawl all up the sides and lid I'll dunk the lid into the water. You do need to spread them about the tank like Lisa says and not put too much in. MW's also attract all sorts of other creepy crawlies. Ants and Flies (and subsequent maggots) for one. Although disgusting the maggots make great adult betta food. Ants are quite simply annoying. Pat.