How to Cultivate Shrimps

There are more uses for shrimp than just for our dinner plates. Raising and cultivating shrimp on your own serves as an excellent and economically savvy food source for larger fish. Aquarium owners often purchase brine shrimp, which are readily available and small in size. You can ensure that the shrimp are disease-free, thereby avoiding outbreaks in larger aquariums. Growing shrimp can also be an exciting, interactive tool for parent-child experiments or within academic settings.

Things You'll Need

  • Small glass tank
  • Large glass tank
  • Rigid plastic sheet
  • Flimsy plastic sheet
  • 1/2 pound sea salt
  • Shrimp eggs
  • Air stones
  • Stainless steel self-tapping screw
  • Drill
  • Flash light
  • Black paint
  • Ruler
  • Handsaw
  • Bemax
  • Flake food
  • Liquid fry food
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Instructions

  1. Build the Fishtank

    • 1

      Purchase a glass tank that is larger than 18 inches by 12 inches by 12 inches along with a smaller tank approximately 16 inches by 8 inches by 8 inches.

    • 2

      Divide the smaller tank into two parts, one that makes up one-third of the tank and another that makes up two-thirds of the tank.

    • 3

      Cover the exterior of the two-thirds section with black paint, including the top of the fish tank. Allow the paint to dry completely.

    • 4

      Measure the tank's interior dimensions. Transfer the dimensions onto the plastic sheet and cut out a divider using the material.

    • 5

      Locate the sheet's approximate center. Cut a 1 1/2-inch hole through the sheet's center for the fish to swim through.

    • 6

      Cut a disc of flimsy plastic large enough to cover the divider's hole. Drill a small hole in the disk, which will act as an eye hole to prevent any light from entering the shaded area. Adhere the disc to the divider, then place the divider into the tank.

    • 7

      Calculate the amount in gallons that your tank holds and insert the accurate amount of salts into your tank. Refer to the salinity measurement on the bag.

    • 8

      Install an air stone to promote water flow. Fill the tank with water and mix the contents thoroughly.

    • 9

      Place the eggs into the tank, then open the eye hole.

    • 10

      Place a flashlight near the light side of the tank and wait for the shrimps to swim through the eye hole.

    Cultivate the Shrimp

    • 11

      Feed the shrimp one to two drops of liquid fry food per day during the first three days.

    • 12

      Mix yellow egg yolk with 1 tbsp. of Bemax, pinch of flake food, and liquid fry food until a white past forms. Form small biscuits from the paste.

    • 13

      Bake the biscuits on low heat for approximately 20 minutes.

    • 14

      Remove them from the oven and crush the biscuits into fine powder.

    • 15

      Feed the shrimp two to three pinches of the powder a day. Store the rest in an airtight jar.

    • 16

      Transfer the shrimp to the larger glass tank once they are large enough. Repeat the steps in the first section.