How to Raise or Grow Adult Brine Shrimp

If you have an aquarium stocked with tropical fish, raising your own brine fish can help you save lots of money on fish food. The brine shrimp, so named for its ability to live in water with high salinity, is rich in lipids and unsaturated fatty acids -- nutrients your fish need to live healthy and thrive. Fish will eat them by the truckload, so be sure to raise plenty.

Things You'll Need

Thin acrylic sheet
10-gallon glass aquarium
Silicone sealant
Airstones
60- to 100-watt
Aquarium salt
Aquarium pH kit
Packet of dehydrated brine shrimp cysts
Shrimp fish meal, egg yolk or wheat flour

Instructions

- 1
  Take a thin acrylic sheet and stuff it into the bottom of a 10-gallon glass aquarium to form a concave surface, and use silicone sealant to seal it in place.
- 2
  Put airstones that cause large bubbles in the tank, which will provide the aeration necessary to keep the shrimp alive. Make sure water is circulating in all parts of the tank.
- 3
  Use a 60- to 100-watt lamp to light the tank.
- 4
  Keep the tank at a temperature between 77 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Move the tank to warmer or cooler locations if necessary to maintain this temperature range.
- 5
  Go to a pet store and buy aquarium salt and a pH kit. Add it to the water to bring its pH to about 8 and its salinity to between 30 and 35 parts per thousand.
- 6
  Get some dehydrated brine shrimp cysts at a pet shop. Add them to the water. They should hatch within 20 hours.
- 7
  Add a small amount of shrimp fish meal, egg yolk or wheat flour several times a day to the tank to feed the shrimp. Don't put too much food in the tank at one time.
- 8
  Change 20 percent of the water weekly and clean the bottom of the tank twice a week. Let the tank settle first by turning off the airstones, and shine a flashlight on the water to draw the shrimp while you clean the bottom. Use this method to harvest them as well.