How to Hatch And Harvest Brine Shrimp

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By Walkaboutangel
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Newly hatched brine shrimp are a wonderful addition to the diets of the fish and invertebrates in your fresh or salt water aquariums. They are not hard to hatch and harvest at home, but before you invest in a hatchery try this easy method and see if you like working with the brine shrimp.

Brine shrimp are native to the salt lakes and lagoons in the Western United States. These waters change water levels seasonally and the cysts from the brine shrimp dry up and wait for high water to come back. These dried up cysts are what you buy when you buy brine shrimp eggs. Then you hatch them at home, separate the shells from the brine shrimp and feed the tiny brine shrimp to your fish....

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

a tall narrow clear glass or plastic container.
synthetic sea salt for aquariums
distilled water
brine shrimp eggs
a small low powered air pump with tubing.
an airstone
a tank heater (optional)
a tank thermometer (optional)
A turkey baster
a few feet of air tubing for aquariums
dark paper to wrap around your container
tape to hold the paper in place
a flashlight
a fine mesh brine shrimp net

Step 1

Mix the salt water for your container according to the directions that came with your salt.
Step 2

plug in your air pump
Step 3

attach tubing to the outlet valve
Step 4

attach the airstone to the end of the tubing
Step 5

submerge the airstone at the bottom of the water in your container
Step 6

you should see lots of little bubbles coming up through the water
Step 7

measure the amount of brine shrimp eggs according to the directions that came with your eggs for the volume of water in your container
Step 8

the eggs should bounce around in the water as the water is agitated by the bubbles from the airstone
Step 9

install your tank heater if you are using one. set it for 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit for optimum hatch rate.
Step 10

install your tank thermometer.
Step 11

monitor temperature for a couple of hours
Step 12

wrap the dark paper around the container
Step 13

tape the paper in place
Step 14

your shrimp will hatch in 24 to 48 hrs.
Step 15

now it is time to separate the inedible shells and to harvest the brine shrimp. To do this will we take advantage of the natural behavior of the shrimp... they swim to the light, and of the shells which float.
Step 16

remove the airstone and tubing from the tank and turn off the air pump.
Step 17

wait 15 minutes for the water to quiet and the shells to float.
Step 18

slip the dark paper sleeve up the container until about 2 inches are exposed to the light at the bottom of the container.
Step 19

shade the top of the tank from the lights in the room or turn the lights down very low
Step 20

turn on the flashlight and lay it down so it shines into the exposed area at the bottom of the container
Step 21

wait 15 minutes
Step 22

the live brine shrimp will have gathered in the light from the flashlight. They will look pink.
Step 23

squeeze the air from the turkey baster and lower the tip of it into the mass of brine shrimp.
Step 24

release the bulb of the turkey baster and suck the brine shrimp up into the baster
Step 25

remove the loaded turkey baster from the water.... carefully
Step 26

squeeze the turkey baster of brine shrimp into the brine shrimp net.
Step 27

Rinse the brine shrimp with fresh water before introducing them into your tank. This will assure that no parasites that might have hatched out with them will contaminate your tank of fish and invertebrates.
Step 28

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