How to breed brine shrimp?

Hey everybody! I've really been wanting to breed some live brine shrimp. I've heard that it's very easy and non-costly to do. Could you please tell what this involves and the steps I will take to successfully breed brine shrimp.

Thanks!

6linewrasser
 

BigAl07

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I snagged this from E-How
How to Breed Brine Shrimp | eHow.com
1

Set up a full aquarium. Some companies sell kits that include small plastic enclosures for brine shrimp, but to keep a breeding population healthy, you will need an aquarium of at least 5 gallons, a pump and a filter.
2

Keep the tank at about 80 degrees F. Use an aquarium tank thermometer and monitor the temperature once a day. It’s important with brine shrimp not to give them too much light or they will hover near the light and will be less inclined to breed. Keep enough light to warm the tank, but if a low light is not enough, install a heater rather than getting a brighter bulb.


3

Maintain a clean tank in order to keep the brine shrimp healthy. With brine shrimp, cleaning the tank every 2 weeks will not be enough for optimal health. Each week, replace about 25 percent of the tank’s water.

4

Start off a brine shrimp population with a package of dried embryos. These are readily available in pet shops and hobby shops and will develop into brine shrimp after you place them in your aquarium. If a local pet store doesn’t carry brine shrimp packets, check a toy store for sea monkey kits.

5

Wait until the brine shrimp have matured before they begin to breed. After about a week, thy will be old enough to start breeding with each other. They do not need any assistance and will readily breed as long as there are males and females together. If you have used a packet of dried embryos, there will be both males and females that result.

6

Watch the tank for baby brine shrimp. The babies will hatch within a couple of days and the females will then lay more eggs. A female can breed every 4 days, so get ready for plenty of baby brine shrimp once you have an adult breeding population.

7

Feed the babies a commercial brine shrimp food. These can be found in most pet stores and contain the type of very small algae that brine shrimp can ingest.


It's really pretty simple once you get the hang of it. I once had a colony going for over 4 years back in school.
 

ddelozier

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as a person who has done it, breeding brine shrimp is almost as interesting as watching paint dry, with 10x the work. Setup a couple 2L bottles with holes drilled through the caps for air hose. Drop in a .35c air stone. Add a tablespoon of dry cists and you will have all you need in 12-24 hours. If you need em as food, they are really only good till about day 3, then the neutritional value is gone unless you feed them heavily with algae to give em more.

the only real reason i see to setting up a breeding rig is if you need alot and need em often. if you are setting up a fish breeding rig, sure go for it. If not. the dry cysts are cheap, 2L bottles are easy to get.
 

BigAl07

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Ditto! But sometimes we have to try it just to make sure we aren't thrilled watching paint dry :)
 

ddelozier

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Oh well.. burned finger teaches best, after that lessons about fire are taken to heart.
 
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