Brine Shrimp/Artemia Hatching and Raising to Adulthhood

**mrwes008** · 09-21-2011, 09:50 AM

I have been experimenting with raising brine shrimp. The hatching part is really quite simple and although a part of the process i am more interested in feeding fish rather than fry so looking to raise them to adulthood. Raising them to adulthood, for me, is proving to be difficult to say the least. But due to my nature i will not stop until I've managed to successfully raise them to adulthood in worthwhile numbers.

I'm posting my efforts in a video diary on you tube. I would be more than grateful for any advice and comments.

Some valued information i've recieved '' Why don't you build a properly suited phytoplankton setup and culture only one species of alga? Nannocloropsis sp. seems to do the best for culturing and feeding livestock '', '' Take a cardboard box with some kind of lid and cut everything to fit and tape it all back together. Use a paste glue to stick aluminum foil all inside the box and even the top of the lid. Buy two lamp socket kits and two 10w or 23 watt CFL bulbs and lower them half way into the box. Buy some soda pop and drink/empty the bottles, wash them out and place them in the box to see where they will fit. You must have an air pump, and a 3 gang valve split so you can adjust the amount of air flow in each bottle... Drill a hole slightly smaller than the air line tubing in the top of the cap of the bottle, and drill a smaller hole for air to escape beside it. Thread your air line tube down through the cap and all the way to the bottom of the bottle. Make sure your air pump is either above your bottles, or if below your bottles - inside the box, put a check valve on the main line. This keeps your pump from siphoning water into the air pump when turned off. Mix up your six liters of saltwater with a salinity of 1.019 or a little less and add it to your bottles. Keep your lights on 16hrs a day and off 8 hours a day. Add your starter culture (from Florida Aqua Farms) of nannocloropsis to each bottle. Add 3ml of miracle grow 10-10-10 fertilizer and 3ml of Kents Essential Elements. Stir it all together/lightly shake. It takes about 2 weeks for your starter culture to get dark enough to feed. Take out only half of the bottle at a time and top off with saltwater each time. After each parting, add 3ml of miracle grow and 3ml of kents essentials. It should only take about one week to get all the bottles dark enough to part again. Experience goes a long way - and your methods will change a bit over time, but that is the basics of it ''