How to Care for Mysis Shrimp

These shrimp may be tiny, but they serve as an important food source for many aquatic animals like seahorses, seadragons and pipefish, which only eat living creatures. Raising, caring for, and breeding your own mysis shrimp is often the cheapest and most efficient way to sustain a food source for your other sea creatures.

Things You'll Need

  • 30 gallon aquarium
  • Synthetic sea salt
  • Hydrometer
  • Air pumps
  • Airline tubing
  • Algae
  • Saltwater-safe powerhead
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Instructions

    • 1

      Fill a 30-gallon aquarium with clean water and synthetic sea salt. Use your hydrometer to check the ratio of salt to water. You'll want the water to reach a salinity of 20 to 22 ppt.

    • 2

      Install a saltwater safe powerhead to circulate the water in the tank. The powerhead should be pointing toward the opposite end of whichever side it is attached to.

    • 3

      Place a live rock or alternative algae source into the tank. Allow the algae to grow and develop for at least three weeks before shrimp can be added.

    • 4

      Monitor the temperature, pH, salinity, ammonia and nitrite levels of the water in the aquarium. The temperature should ideally be kept at 75 degrees Fahrenheit, and the pH at roughly 8.2. The ammonia should not exceed .1 mg/l, neither should the nitrite go higher than .01 mg/l. Add more salt or water if the salinity is not between 20 and 22 ppt.

    • 5

      Add up to 200 adult Mysis shrimp to the aquarium.

    • 6

      Feed the mysis shrimp baby brine shrimp twice a day.