Hatching baby brine shrimp to feed your fry/fish.
To hatch your very own brine shrimp, you will need,
A 2litre soda bottle or a glass jar. I personally use a glass jar.
Salt/Rock or table salt, does not matter in the hatching stage.
A tea spoon.
Airline tubing.
An air pump.
Brine shrimp eggs.
A light source/Lamp which doubles as a heat source too.
If you are using a soda bottle, roughly cut it in half and invert the top half into the bottom half, the bottom half acting as a stand for the top half. Next you will want to drill a small hole into the bottle cap, just big enough for you to force the airline tubing through the hole. Make sure the hole is not too big, otherwise water will leak out. To make sure no water leaks out, you can always plug the other end with a suction cup.
Next make a small hole in the bottom half of your bottle (the stand) so the airline tubing can pass through both bottles.
Next assemble the airline tubing through the bottles and set it upright. Plug the other end of the airline tubing to the pump. Switch the pump on and add water from the tap into the top bottle, about three quarters full. You should see bubbles, check the cap for leaks. if it leaks then empty the bottle and fill the leak if required.
If all is well, again, switch the pump on, add water, add about two spoonsful of salt, your choice of which salt. I use regular table salt. Let the salt disolve, lastly add roughly about one spoonful of brine shrimp egg and give it a good stir, eggs will sit at the top of the water if not stirred. Switch your light/lamp on and leave for 16hrs-24hrs. If you dont have a lamp or light source, don't worry because the eggs will hatch, but will take longer, roughly about 48hrs.
Additional information, some people may use baking soda or epsom salts to buffer the PH of the water. You dont need this to hatch the brine shrimp, it is just a preference.
If you have alot of fry to feed then you will probably need more than a spoonful, or vice versa if you have a few fry to feed. Its upto you to experiment. Its easy and inexpensive.
You can have a bit of fun with the brine shrimps as the are Phototrophic, you can shine a flash light at them and the all converge in hordes towards the light and have them follow it around.
If you are using a glass jar, you will need to drill a few holes in the lid, one for the airline tubing and the rest for the air to flow through. Close the lid and switch the pump on. Very simple and easy to clean up.
Update: My new batch are one week and two days old now. Going strong.
