Brine Shrimp

Artemia Salina

Newly hatched brine shrimp (Artermia salina) are an ideal food for many young fry, commercially available hatcheries do not perform much better than the homemade equivalent and are much more expensive.

A DIY brine shrimp hatchery for baby brine shrimp can be easily made from two 2L soft drink/juice bottles. The bottles must be the same size and be a fairly tight fit (although the diagrammed shows otherwise).

Bottle (1) should have its based removed and will be inverted and filled with water containing ~35g of non-iodised cooking salt per litre. The lid should have a small hole drilled in it to tightly fit standard air line hosing. Once the hosing has been passed through the hole, silicon sealant should be used to ensure the lid does not leak.

The second bottle (2) should have its top removed and act as a lid to prevent spillage. The hatcheries (it is best to set up at least two) should be kept around 20-30 C and most fish rooms provide ideal temperatures.

It is also important that the current generated by the air stone is sufficient that no eggs settle in the "lid" of bottle (1).

The only drawback in feeding baby brine shrimp is their relatively high in salts, and should not be used solely. Microworms are an easy to culture alternative which may be fed congruently with baby brine to ensure a more balanced diet for young fry.