Feeding Brine Shrimp to Your Fish: An Introduction

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What are brine shrimp?

Brine shrimp (Artemia salina), found in Utah’s Salt Lakes and the San Francisco Bay, are a popular live food used by fish hobbyists. While pet stores sell live and freeze-dried brine shrimp, brine eggs that can be cultivated at home by aquarists comprise the largest market segment. Most cultivated brine shrimp eggs used by hobbyists are from Utah, since they are larger than those found in San Francisco’s waters. Hobbyists and breeders feed brine shrimp to their baby fish, or fry, as they are also called. If produced on a regular basis for a home aquarium, hobbyists can have a plentiful food source for their fish without constant trips to the pet store.

What types of fish eat brine shrimp?

Most popular breeds kept as pets can eat brine shrimp. Livebearer fish like guppies and swordtails, cichlids (angelfish, oscars, etc.), betas (wine red betas, Siamese fighting fish) and even goldfish can eat brine shrimp. Plecostomus Catfish won’t eat brines, but otherwise, any common hobby fish will gobble them up at feeding time.


Can I buy live brine shrimp from a dealer?

Retail pet stores and online dealers sell brine shrimp eggs, freeze-dried brine shrimp and live brine shrimp Live brine shrimp have a life span of about three months.   While there’s nothing wrong feeding your baby fish freeze dried or store-bought shrimp,  if you have lots of new fish, a homemade hatchery provide the best choice to provide a steady shrimp diet for your fish. If you have one small aquarium and don’t plan on adding new fish (or babies), a hatchery might not be worth your time. If you are a serious hobbyist or if you breed fish, a small hatchery is a good investment.


Making a Small Home Hatchery


You can cultivate your own brine shrimp using shrimp eggs from any store or online supplier and a few items you already have at home. Here’s a basic outline for a small, DIY home hatchery. Set aside a space in your aquarium room and assemble a hatchery using the following tools:

Two one-liter soda bottles
Flexible airline
Aquarium Air pump
Rigid tubing
Drinking straw
Prepared brine solution or salt and baking soda
Desk lamp

Brine eggs ( 90% is best)

Clean the empty soda bottles. Then cut the bottom off the first bottle, throwing away the “indented part” and leaving at least three-quarters of the bottle, leaving the bottle cap securely fastened. Cut the second bottle one-third of the way up from the bottom, so that you have the indented, bottom of the bottle. Fit the first piece into the second piece. The open piece at the top is the hatching container. The small bottom piece helps it balance on the tabletop.


Attach the rigid air tube to flexible airline. Put the flexible air tubing into the air pump. Place the rigid end of the tubing into the soda bottle/hatching container.

Fill hatching container with slightly more than three-quarters of warm water. Put in a tablespoon of table salt and a pinch of baking soda OR pre-packaged brine shrimp solution according to directions. Then measure a half-teaspoon of brine shrimp eggs and pour them in the bottle . Now drop in the brine shrimp eggs. Stir it slightly with the drinking straw to hydrate eggs floating on the top.

Place the light over the open bottle. The water in the bottle should be between 75 and 80 degrees. If the water temp is lower, it will take the brine shrimp longer to hatch.   At optimum temperature, it will take 24 hours for the eggs to develop. When you come back the next day, the water should be orange. That means the brine shrimp have hatched. Turn off the air pump and remove the air tube. Wait ten minutes for the brine shrimp and the shells to separate. The brine shrimp will be at the bottom of the container; the shells at the top. Take the drinking straw and put your finger over the top. Put the straw all the way into the bottom of the container where the shrimp have gathered. Then lift your finger off the top of the straw and pull the straw out of the water. The straw should be orange-colored and filled with brine shrimp. Unused baby brine shrimp can be stored in the refrigerator for three or four days in Petri dishes filled with brine solution.


*If you need to produce a large batch of brine shrimp, use the above method substituting an aquarium tank for the soda bottles. 

This article originally appeared on Yeepet.com (as Jade07)
Copyright 2011 by Jade Blackmore