How to Hatch a Decapsulated Brine Shrimp Egg

Adult brine shrimp are becoming common aquarium inhabitants.

Decapsulated eggs, or eggs with their outer casing or shell removed, are available commercially for hatching, or may be decapsulated at home using standard brine shrimp eggs. Removal of this outer shell, which is indigestible and will harm small fish, is beneficial and simplifies the task of harvesting hatchling brine shrimp. Although hatching decapsulated eggs is similar in procedure to standard shrimp egg hatching, decapsulated eggs are less buoyant without their outer egg shell and tend to sink to the bottom of the hatching container. The shape of the container chosen and aeration method used becomes very important, because a hatching system that works well for standard eggs may not be optimal for hatching decapsulated eggs.

Things You'll Need

• Decapsulated brine shrimp eggs
• Brine shrimp hatchery (available at fish and pet supply stores)
• Air stone, plastic tubing, aquarium air pump
• Marine or Solar salt
• Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate)
• pH strips or aquarium pH test kit
• Dechlorinated water
• Desk lamp
• Aquarium thermometer
• Plastic measuring spoons
• Brine shrimp net

Instructions

1. Select an appropriate hatching container. (See Tips.) Avoid flat-bottomed containers--choosing or designing cylindrical or cone-shaped containers yields the best results.

2. 

   Simple pH test strips give adequate information.

   Measure an appropriate volume of water to fill your container. Check the pH of the water using test strips or by following directions of a test kit. For a water pH below 7, increase alkalinity by adding 1/2 teaspoon Epsom salt per quart (or liter) of water.

3. Adjust the water salinity by adding 5 teaspoons of salt per quart of water. This is equivalent to about a 25 parts per thousand (ppt) salt solution with a 1.018 specific gravity.

4. Pour the water solution into the hatching container. Connect the air stone to the pump with plastic tubing, place the air stone into bottom of container and plug the pump into electrical outlet.

5. Add no more that 1/2 teaspoon (approximately 1 gram) decapsulated eggs to your hatching container. Follow recommendations included with the purchased eggs; size of egg varies among regions and species of brine shrimp.

6. 

   Choose a light source that will provide both heat and light.

   Place light source above hatching container--illumination is critical to initiate hatching, and to maintaining an optimal water temperature of 80 to 82 degrees F throughout the 24-hour hatching period. The light source can be moved nearer or farther from the container as necessary to maintain temperature.

7. Remove the air stone fromthe container before attempting to remove hatched brine shrimp. Follow the instructions accompanyingthe hatchery for the removal process, or simply siphon shrimp from the bottom of the container with a section of airline tubing. Place collected shrimp in a fine mesh net and rinse them with clean fresh or salt water to remove any bacteria before placing them in your aquarium.

Tips & Warnings

• Visit the firs link under References (Figure 1 within article) for a picture of a hatching container that is well-suited for use with decapsulated brine shrimp eggs.

• Many purchased brine shrimp hatcheries are equipped with aeration, and additional air stones and pumps are unnecessary, unless the container is very large and aeration at the bottom is inadequate.

• Overloading your hatching container with eggs will decrease the percentage of eggs that hatch. Try using larger, or multiple hatcheries to increase your yield.

• Hatched brine shrimp are often attracted to light---move the light source close to the bottom of the container to attract the hatchlings, making them easier to collect.

• Under optimal conditions, hatching will occur within 24 hours.

• See Resources 1 and 2 for suggestions on constructing your own brine shrimp hatchery.

• Decapsulated Brine Shrimp Eggs sold as fish food are nonhatching, and are meant to be fed to fish "as is."

• Until eggs become well-hydrated (usually about 6 hours), they may become adhered above the water line of container or on airline tubing and must be carefully scraped back into the water.

References

• University of Florida IFAS Extension FA18/FA024: Decapsulating Brine Shrimp Eggs
• Brine Shrimp Direct: Online Resources:Hatching Brine Shrimp Cysts

Resources

• Wayne Schmidt's Brine Shrimp Hatching Page: Experiments With Baby Brine Shrimp
• Reeftime: DIY Brine Shrimp Hatchery
• FAO Corporate Document Repository: An Improved Technique for Decapsulation and Preservation...
• Brine Shrimp Direct: Frequently asked questions