Hatching brine shrimp

Decapsulating Brine Shrimp

Okay everyone. I know I am going to mention some dodgy chemicals and what not but as long as you follow the instructions carefully it will be ok. I have never had a problem with this method or the product.

Materials Needed:
1) Sodium Hydroxide/Caustic Soda (NaOH)
2) Brine Shrimp Eggs
3) Bleach (not sure exactly what type and concentration but I will find out. I use a product we get here called Jik. Clothes bleach)
4) White Plastic Spoon
5) Sodium-thio-sulphate (available from chemical supply store, also used in cattle farming)
6) Salt (NaCL)
7) Bowl (plastic or glass)
8) 2litre Soda Bottle

Methods: :read:
  • Mix NaOH stock solution (140g NaOH in 2litres of water)
  • Rehydrate 50g of brine shrimp eggs (add to 2litres of water and aerate for 1-1.5 hours)
  • Collect hydrated eggs on a screen or mesh
  • Wash eggs from mesh using the bleach (750ml) into the bowl
  • Add 250ml of the NaOH stock solution
  • Stir gently with the plastic spoon for 4min. Scoop the eggs onto the back of the spoon and make sure that ALL the eggs are now orange with no brown shells anymore
  • Quickly neutralise the mixture with sodium-thio-sulphate solution (2g/litre). Use the whole litre
  • Collect the embryos on a screen again and gently dip them into a brine solution (350g NaCL/litre of water)
  • The embryos can be stored like this for about a week in the fridge
  • If you want to store for longer, make a super saturated salt solution (as much salt as can disolve in water and then add a bit more) and keep the eggs in this solution in the freezer

Once you have the embryos you can hatch as per usual and not have to worry about seperating out the cysts.

I know it sounds like a mission but once you have the chemicals it is definately worth it if you have lots of baby mouths to feed. This also allows you to do a big batch and freeze leftovers for later.

Just one thing on the freezing of bbs, I have read that you should feed live bbs for the first few days as they have enzymes and such, which help get the fry's digestive system on track but after this, frozen is kewl!

Hope this helps

Any Questions, Just ask

SynoSteff :cool2:
 
Last edited:
Well I'll try another bag of it and see if that one works. Not sure I'm really up to the decapulating of the eggs just yet :thud: that sounds rather complex for my simple little mind ;)

I'll get back to ya after 48-72 hours and let ya's know how it went with the second batch.

Thanks again!
 
Hi - This might be a dumb question, but after I decapsulated and hatched the eggs, I still got cysts floating on the top. They were white though. How do I get rid of them, or do I just have to separate them out with a baster? thanks, Laurel
 
Hi LaurelB,

I have never had that problem before. Those shouldn't be cysts as all the cysts get dissolved. They may be infertile embryos maybe but I am just guessing. They may not be bad for your fish but they may not be good either. I would try and seperate them as best I can.

With your next batch, try and use a different brand of eggs as it may have something to do with the particulaar brand you have? Maybe?

Sorry I couldn't be of much help. Hope it works out and good luck.

It's not as tough as it sounds is it?

SynoSteff
 
As far as I know, you cannot buy decapsulated brine shrimp eggs. It is not essential to decapsulate brine shrimp eggs and for smaller batches, it is probably easier not to. I just find, when doing large batches, that it saves time decapsulating first and not having to seperate out the hatched brine shrimp later :)
 
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