Cultivating Adult Brine Shrimp

Artemia, or Brine shrimps, are a creature utilized mainly as fry food, but they can also be grown to almost 20 mm in length and be a precious food source or adult fishes also.

The quality that makes Brine Shrimp such a perfect fry food is their high nutritional value, their ability to live for 5 hours in the fresh water before dying, and the fact that the eggs can be stored for years as long as they are kept away from oxygen and water. Once the dried eggs are restored into oxygenated water, they resume their hatch and development. This is an adaptation to living in the desert lakes that gets dried up.

The time it takes to hatch depends on the temperature. It takes 15 to 20 hours at a temperature of 25 degree Celsius. A higher temperature shortens the hatching time. He ideal hatching temperature depends on the origin of the brine shrimps, nonetheless temperature between 25 and 30 degree Celsius is suggested.

After hatching, they enter the umbrella stage, during which the larvae don’t feed as they haven’t yet developed an anus or a mouth. They survive in the yolk sac during this time.

After 12 hours, they enter the second stage of development and start feeding by filtering the microalgae from the water. The nauplii grow fast, and may reach adulthood in 8 days. Brine Shrimp may live up to 3 months.

Taking good care of your Brine Shrimp

There are various factors that contribute to the successful raising of brine shrimps to adult size. The two most vital ones, apart from giving the brine shrimps the above mentioned water parameters are:

Maintenance of the Aquarium: Brine shrimps are generally kept in small tanks, and hence water quality might deteriorate fast. Changing water is quite vital. I suggest changing at least two times a week. This is to prevent low oxygen levels which may be caused by poor water quality. It is also vital to clean the bottom of the tank as brine shrimps shed very frequently on their way to adulthood, leaving a lot of residues on the bottom on the tank which might lessen the water quality. Clearing should be done at night utilizing a flash light to draw the brine shrimps on the surface. Brine shrimps are drawn to light, and the light from the flashlight will entice them to the source of light, keeping them safe while you clear the bottom of the tank.

Feeding: Brine shrimps are not difficult to feed. They accept most type of food they can filter out of the water as long as it is not that big and doesn’t dissolve in water. There are brine shrimps offered by the food dealers and the chlorella powder manufacturers, having micro-algae for the nauplii to eat.