# Brine Shrimp Hatchery Guide - the easy way



## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

For a long time I messed around with plastic coca-cola bottles and intricate procedures to grow and harvest brine shrimp for my newborn fry. I finally came up with an easy DIY method of doing it that you can put together for about $15.

Start with a delicious jar of baby pickles, eat them and clean out the jar, use 91% Isopropyl rubbing alcohol (or acetone) to clean off the sticker glue on the bottle.










Use a screw driver to poke a hole in the cap near the edge of the cap.










Cut a piece of stiff air tubing and insert it into the hole, make sure the hole isn't too big - you want the cap to hold the tube tightly in place! Also be sure the tubing touches a bottom edge inside the jar - this will help circulate the eggs efficiently.










Use the screw driver to poke another hole in the center of the cap and use pliers or metal cutters to tear off small pieces of metal in a circular shape. You will want to sand the edges so they aren't quite as sharp!










Buy a small LED light from one of the big-brand stores like Lowes or Walmart. These are small desk lamps with a bendable arm, they cost about $10.










Set the lamp up so that the LED is directly over the hole you made in the lid. The light will encourage brine shrimp to hatch and help you attract them to the sides of the glass when its time to harvest them.










Test light.









I've found it is best to prop the bottle up about 1 inch on the side. This prevents the circulating brine shrimp eggs from settling out inside the bottle.










Now you are ready to add 2 lumped tablespoons of marine salt, half a flat tablespoon of brine shrimp eggs, and a few drops of dechlorinator. Fill the water up to the top ridge inside the jar just before the glass curves inwards to the lid.










To harvest the shrimp you'll need a fish net covered with the toe part of nylon stockings. Turn off the bubbler, move the light to the lowest part of the jar (near the tip of the air hose inside). Wait about 5 minutes for the shrimp to gather near the light, then use an eye dropper to suck up the shrimp and squirt them onto the nylon enhanced net. If your eye-dropper isn't long enough use a piece of stiff air-hose to lengthen it. I used ice-maker water line to extend my eye-dropper since it is made of very stiff material.










A batch of shrimp prepared in this way will hatch in 18-24 hours at room temperature and you can keep the bubbler going for one additional day without changing the water or adding more eggs. In this way you will have enough food for 2 days of feeding before you must wash out the jar and add fresh salt, dechlorinator, and eggs. You can feed your baby fish every day using only one jar instead of an entire shrimp hatchery with multiple bottles. I have kept pygmy sunfish - who eat nothing else but brine shrimp for the last year. Maintenance takes about 5 minutes every other day to wash out the jars and add fresh ingredients.

*Growing shrimp to adulthood*
If you want to grow the shrimp to adults you will need to transfer the newly hatched shrimp to a larger container or tank with the appropriate amount of salt and a bubbler (don't use a fine diffuser for the bubbler or it will clog up the shrimp's mouth parts and they'll die).

In this tank you want to add a few dog biscuits and a strong light. The biscuits will encourage bacteria to grow in the water column which the shrimp will eat, and the nutrients released by the food will trigger a green-water algae bloom which the shrimp will also eat. In 8 days the shrimp will become adults and you can feed them to your larger fish. You'll want to do water changes on the grow out tank every week or so, follow regular aquarium practices of about 20% water changes and your hatchery will stay fresh and productive.


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