How to Hatch Brine Shrimp

Brine shrimp are high in nutrition and are an excellent food source for plankton-eating saltwater creatures. Hatching your own brine shrimp and collecting them after hatching is easier if you follow these tricks.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Small tank or clear container
• Saltwater for tank
• Submersible heater-tank set-up
• Air pump, airstone and tubing tank set up
• Brine-shrimp eggs
• Coffee filters
• Large glass or plastic cup
• 4 clothes pins or clips for securing filter inside cup
• Flashlight or small portable light
• Syphon hose
• 4-cup freshwater rinsing bowl
• Dechlorinator for dipping and tank set-up

Brine Tank/ Harvesting Essentials

1. Set up the tank and add about 1/8th teaspoon of brine-shrimp eggs. (This will yield a significant amount of brine shrimp.)
2. Adjust the air stone to ensure that the eggs keep moving in the tank. Wait 72 hours.
3. Check for hatched brine shrimp. Turn off the air pump and point a flashlight toward the bottom of the tank, then wait five minutes. Brine shrimp will be small, yellow and tadpole-shaped, and will collect near the light. If none are hatched, turn the pump back on and wait another 12 hours, then check again.
4. To harvest the brine shrimp, place a coffee filter inside a large glass or plastic cup and secure it with four clothes pins or clips. Keeping the flashlight positioned, syphon the water next to the light into the coffee filter. Avoid floating egg shells, as they are not digestible and can harm your ocean creatures.
5. Once a desired amount of shrimp has been collected (about a tablespoon) or when the collection cup has reached its capacity of saltwater, gently rinse the brine shrimp in a prepared bowl of freshwater. To do this, keep them in the coffee filter, gather the ends of coffee filter together and dip the pouch of brine shrimp in freshwater.
6. Turn the filtration off in your tank while feeding the brine shrimp to your fish or other sea creatures. Allow approximately 5 to 10 minutes for feeding.