How to Hatch a Decapsulated Brine Shrimp Egg

Decapsulated eggs, or eggs with their outer casing or shell removed, are available commercially for hatching, or may be decapsulated at home using standard brine shrimp eggs. Removal of this outer shell, which is indigestible and will harm small fish, is beneficial and simplifies the task of harvesting hatchling brine shrimp. Although hatching decapsulated eggs is similar in procedure to standard shrimp egg hatching, decapsulated eggs are less buoyant without their outer egg shell and tend to sink to the bottom of the hatching container. The shape of the container chosen and aeration method used becomes very important, because a hatching system that works well for standard eggs may not be optimal for hatching decapsulated eggs.

Things You'll Need

  • Decapsulated brine shrimp eggs
  • Brine shrimp hatchery (available at fish and pet supply stores)
  • Air stone, plastic tubing, aquarium air pump
  • Marine or Solar salt
  • Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate)
  • pH strips or aquarium pH test kit
  • Dechlorinated water
  • Desk lamp
  • Aquarium thermometer
  • Plastic measuring spoons
  • Brine shrimp net
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Instructions

    • 1

      Select an appropriate hatching container. (See Tips.) Avoid flat-bottomed containers--choosing or designing cylindrical or cone-shaped containers yields the best results.

    • 2
      Simple pH test strips give adequate information.

      Measure an appropriate volume of water to fill your container. Check the pH of the water using test strips or by following directions of a test kit. For a water pH below 7, increase alkalinity by adding 1/2 teaspoon Epsom salt per quart (or liter) of water.

    • 3

      Adjust the water salinity by adding 5 teaspoons of salt per quart of water. This is equivalent to about a 25 parts per thousand (ppt) salt solution with a 1.018 specific gravity.

    • 4

      Pour the water solution into the hatching container. Connect the air stone to the pump with plastic tubing, place the air stone into bottom of container and plug the pump into electrical outlet.

    • 5

      Add no more that 1/2 teaspoon (approximately 1 gram) decapsulated eggs to your hatching container. Follow recommendations included with the purchased eggs; size of egg varies among regions and species of brine shrimp.

    • 6
      Choose a light source that will provide both heat and light.

      Place light source above hatching container--illumination is critical to initiate hatching, and to maintaining an optimal water temperature of 80 to 82 degrees F throughout the 24-hour hatching period. The light source can be moved nearer or farther from the container as necessary to maintain temperature.

    • 7

      Remove the air stone fromthe container before attempting to remove hatched brine shrimp. Follow the instructions accompanyingthe hatchery for the removal process, or simply siphon shrimp from the bottom of the container with a section of airline tubing. Place collected shrimp in a fine mesh net and rinse them with clean fresh or salt water to remove any bacteria before placing them in your aquarium.