Brine Shrimp De-capsulation And Hatching Methods

yveterinarian

Super Active Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2012
Location
Innerkip, Ontario
Over the last few weeks I have been asked questions about de-capsulating and hatching Brine Shrimp so I thought I’d post a sticky in the library to explain my methods. I sifted through a lot of information and did a lot of “trial and error” batches before I came up with something that works well for me.


First of all, why do we even need to de-capsulate in the first place?

1) From everything I have been told and have read, brine shrimp cysts carry a lot of bacteria including Vibrio and other potentially pathogenic bacteria. They also harbour Hydroids which can potentially kill the fry (fish or seahorse alike) by stinging them.
Hydroid_zpsbdf36d35.jpg


2) The shells of the brine shrimp cannot be digested by most fry and can potentially cause intestinal blockage if ingested.

3) If de-capsulated, the brine shrimp nauplii have more nutrition when they hatch as they don’t have to use as much energy when hatching.

For all of the above reasons de-capsulation seemed to be a good idea to me. There are commercial preparations of de-capsulated brine shrimp cysts but many of them are Non-hatching so if you decide to buy them you must make sure they are the hatching kind if you wish to hatch out your own brine shrimp.

In order to de-capsulate I use the following supplies:

- Brine Shrimp cysts (always store in the freezer to preserve freshness)
- household bleach without additives (I use Chlorox or Javex 12 as the no-name brands are not as concentrated.)
- A chlorine neutralizer such as “Prime”
- A fine mesh net (150 or 250 mesh)
- Tap water
- Container to soak the cysts in
- Timer or watch


First of all I soak the cysts in regular tap water. I like to do enough for one week for myself so I use 14 tsp of brine shrimp cysts and add 1 cup of lukewarm water. If your water has chlorine in it you must de-chlorinate it first. Everything I have read says to soak them for one hour with an open-ended airline going to keep them mixed but I forgot them one day and went to work. When I came home I continued with the de-capsulation process and ended up with the best hatching ones so far. Because of this I always soak them for about 8 hours before I add the bleach. I usually don’t use an airline, I usually just stir them every now and then.

After they have re-hydrated, add bleach to the brine cyst mixture. I use a ratio of 2 parts water and 1 part bleach so for my example I use 1 cup water and 1/2 cup bleach. Use an open-ended airline to vigorously bubble or stir continuously until you start to see a color change. The cysts will change from dark brown to greyish to an orange/brown color. This can take anywhere from 3-9 minutes depending on the concentration of bleach. Using Javex 12 it usually takes me about 5 minutes.

Once the desired color has been reached pour the mixture into your fine mesh net and rinse well with tap water. Fill a small container with water and add some “Prime” or equivalent to it. Place the net into it with the brine shrimp cysts and swish it around a bit to neutralize any chlorine left on the cysts.

Store your de-capsulated cysts in a container in the fridge in a hypersaline solution. They can be stored up to 8 weeks safely but I usually only do one week at a time.
Brine-shrimp-1_zpsd90845f8.jpg

Newly hydrated cysts
Brine-shrimp-2_zpsa0a9b016.jpg

During the De-capsulation process
Brine-shrimp-3_zps1a94a352.jpg

Decapsulated cysts. You can clearly see the difference in color from the first picture.

Hatching:

Supplies Needed:

- Brine shrimp cysts
- Hatchery
- Salt water
- Open-ended airline
- Light
- Heater (optional)

For hatching Brine shrimp I usually use water that measures 1.019 ppt salinity. I made my own hatcheries using clear 2 litre pop bottles. I cut the bottom third off the bottle, screwed the cap on tightly and turned the top over and placed into the bottom. One bottle makes one hatchery. Some people like to use two clear pop bottles per hatchery. To make these ones you need to cut the bottom 1/3 off of one and the top 1/3 off of the other, screw the cap on tightly, turn it upside down and push it firmly into the other. These ones are a little more stable than ones made out of one pop bottle but I have never had one fall over.
Brine-shrimp-hatchery_zps4fd7a0ae.jpg


Place the amount of cysts you wish to hatch into your hatchery and add your salt water. Put an open-ended airline into it and bubble the cysts to keep them suspended in the water. Place under the light and wait 24 hours. I usually use a heater because I find more hatch out early. If not using heat it takes a bit longer to hatch them. (I only use a heater in the first hatching vessel)

It takes 18-24 hours for Artemia to hatch. The hatching process releases metabolites into the water and is a perfect breeding ground for many bacteria types therefore, after 24 hours I take down the hatching vessel and rinse all the cysts and Artemia for several minutes under tap water, sterilize the cone and restart the hatch. This reduces the amount of metabolites in the container and gives a clean environment again.

I do this with each hatchery every day so I have a few made up that are not in use that have been sterilized to make my process quicker every day.

If you wish to enrich the Artemia you must wait until they are 8-12 hours old because newly hatched Artemia cannot eat. I enrich mine twice for 24 hours each to get the most nutrition into them that I can. To enrich I use Dan’s Feed from Seahorsesource.com but many use other products such as Selco or Algamac.

Therefore, I always have several hatcheries going at once with each hatchery being 24 hours older than the other. Each hatchery must be rinsed and sterilized daily to reduce the bacteria that grows every day. In the above picture the bottle on the far left is for fresh cysts just started. The next bottle contains the newly hatched artemia. Bottle 3 contains Artemia that are 24 hours old and is the first bottle I enrich. Bottle 4 contains Artemia that are 48 hours old and is for my second enrichment stage.

I hope this helps simplify things a little for anyone who wishes to try hatching their own brine shrimp for food. I, myself do not grow them out any further than 4-5 days so cannot discuss further grow out of Artemia.

References:

Aquaculture, 12 (1977) 311—315 311

© Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam — Printed in The Netherlands

DECAPSULATION OF ARTEMIA CYSTS: A SIMPLE TECHNIQUE FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE USE OF BRINE SHRIMP IN AQUACULTURE

Dan Underwood – SeahorseSource.com

The Complete Guide to Artemia (Brine Shrimp) By Mike Gilbert and Bethany Watson

Seahorse.Org
 

reefgeek

Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2014
Location
Barrie, Ontario
Thanks for the summary, I tried this years ago but couldn't seem to get the timing correct and ended up with really bad hatch rates. I think my problem was that I was not rehydrating for anywhere near as long as you have. Might have to give this another try...
 

yveterinarian

Super Active Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2012
Location
Innerkip, Ontario
Thanks for the summary, I tried this years ago but couldn't seem to get the timing correct and ended up with really bad hatch rates. I think my problem was that I was not rehydrating for anywhere near as long as you have. Might have to give this another try...

One of the main problems with hatching brine shrimp eggs is that often times the cysts aren't fresh enough. Stores often don't store them in the freezer but store them at room temperature on their shelves. These ones have notoriously low hatch rates and people often give up. When buying brine shrimp eggs make sure you are buying from somewhere that stores them correctly.
 

reefgeek

Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2014
Location
Barrie, Ontario
One of the main problems with hatching brine shrimp eggs is that often times the cysts aren't fresh enough. Stores often don't store them in the freezer but store them at room temperature on their shelves. These ones have notoriously low hatch rates and people often give up. When buying brine shrimp eggs make sure you are buying from somewhere that stores them correctly.

I usually purchase from Brine Shrimp Direct, any other suggestions about where to go for quality eggs?
 

yveterinarian

Super Active Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2012
Location
Innerkip, Ontario
Not really, I purchase from Pets and Ponds because they are in Canada and if I spend enough the shipping is free but the brine shrimp from Brine Shrimp Direct is supposed to be the best I am told.
 

yveterinarian

Super Active Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2012
Location
Innerkip, Ontario
One thing I have noticed in the last couple of weeks that I thought I would share is that the volume of fluid used when de-capsulating is important. I tried to use 2/3 cup water to 1/3 cup bleach ( trying to save money on bleach) and found I had a terrible hatch rate. When I investigated further I came to the conclusion that there is too much heat produced when I lower the volume of fluid. The heat renders the cysts non-hatching. Last week, after making a terrible batch the week before, I went back to 1 cup water and 1/2 cup bleach and now have very few cysts left over after the hatch. My hatch looks good and healthy again - thank goodness! :)
 

saltyfish

New Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2015
Location
Richmond Hill, Ontario
One thing I have noticed in the last couple of weeks that I thought I would share is that the volume of fluid used when de-capsulating is important. I tried to use 2/3 cup water to 1/3 cup bleach ( trying to save money on bleach) and found I had a terrible hatch rate. When I investigated further I came to the conclusion that there is too much heat produced when I lower the volume of fluid. The heat renders the cysts non-hatching. Last week, after making a terrible batch the week before, I went back to 1 cup water and 1/2 cup bleach and now have very few cysts left over after the hatch. My hatch looks good and healthy again - thank goodness! :)
I have tried everything to hatch my old can of brine shrimp around 3 years old, but I am getting not even 5% hatch rate after 24 hours. Have you ever bought shrimp from any places in the USA. Pets and ponds are out and so is angelfins.ca.
 

yveterinarian

Super Active Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2012
Location
Innerkip, Ontario
I have tried everything to hatch my old can of brine shrimp around 3 years old, but I am getting not even 5% hatch rate after 24 hours. Have you ever bought shrimp from any places in the USA. Pets and ponds are out and so is angelfins.ca.
I personally haven't ordered from anywhere other than Pets and Ponds but my friend in London always orders from Brine Shrimp Direct. My cans are also from Brine Shrimp Direct. It is a shame they are out at present because they can usually get them to me very quickly. If your can is 3 years old and it hasn't been kept in the freezer they will not hatch well. I would try ordering from Brine Shrimp Direct as they always have good service as far as I have heard.
 

yveterinarian

Super Active Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2012
Location
Innerkip, Ontario
I have tried everything to hatch my old can of brine shrimp around 3 years old, but I am getting not even 5% hatch rate after 24 hours. Have you ever bought shrimp from any places in the USA. Pets and ponds are out and so is angelfins.ca.

Just wondering if you rinse your hatch after 24 hours and put the hatched brine and eggs into new water again? I often don't see a large amount hatched until 48 hours. I always rinse the hatch every day as well to cut down on bacteria. You may not get much more out of the current can you have but it is worth a try. Sterilize your hatch vessels in between each rinse as well.
 

saltyfish

New Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2015
Location
Richmond Hill, Ontario
Thanks for the info and help, I had my brine in a freezer bag but it was stored at room temperature for a very long time, when the can was new I had at least %70 yield, so I guess my lack of experience in storing brine for extended periods of time was most likely why it takes so long to see any hatched brine. I also tried to order from BSD but after filling out the info for shipping it was almost the same price as their premium grade can of brine, $49 US dollars for shipping. I will try and buy locally if that truly is the shipping rates.
 

reeflover

New Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2015
Location
London, ON
Over the last few weeks I have been asked questions about de-capsulating and hatching Brine Shrimp so I thought I’d post a sticky in the library to explain my methods. I sifted through a lot of information and did a lot of “trial and error” batches before I came up with something that works well for me.


First of all, why do we even need to de-capsulate in the first place?

1) From everything I have been told and have read, brine shrimp cysts carry a lot of bacteria including Vibrio and other potentially pathogenic bacteria. They also harbour Hydroids which can potentially kill the fry (fish or seahorse alike) by stinging them.
Hydroid_zpsbdf36d35.jpg


2) The shells of the brine shrimp cannot be digested by most fry and can potentially cause intestinal blockage if ingested.

3) If de-capsulated, the brine shrimp nauplii have more nutrition when they hatch as they don’t have to use as much energy when hatching.

For all of the above reasons de-capsulation seemed to be a good idea to me. There are commercial preparations of de-capsulated brine shrimp cysts but many of them are Non-hatching so if you decide to buy them you must make sure they are the hatching kind if you wish to hatch out your own brine shrimp.

In order to de-capsulate I use the following supplies:

- Brine Shrimp cysts (always store in the freezer to preserve freshness)
- household bleach without additives (I use Chlorox or Javex 12 as the no-name brands are not as concentrated.)
- A chlorine neutralizer such as “Prime”
- A fine mesh net (150 or 250 mesh)
- Tap water
- Container to soak the cysts in
- Timer or watch


First of all I soak the cysts in regular tap water. I like to do enough for one week for myself so I use 14 tsp of brine shrimp cysts and add 1 cup of lukewarm water. If your water has chlorine in it you must de-chlorinate it first. Everything I have read says to soak them for one hour with an open-ended airline going to keep them mixed but I forgot them one day and went to work. When I came home I continued with the de-capsulation process and ended up with the best hatching ones so far. Because of this I always soak them for about 8 hours before I add the bleach. I usually don’t use an airline, I usually just stir them every now and then.

After they have re-hydrated, add bleach to the brine cyst mixture. I use a ratio of 2 parts water and 1 part bleach so for my example I use 1 cup water and 1/2 cup bleach. Use an open-ended airline to vigorously bubble or stir continuously until you start to see a color change. The cysts will change from dark brown to greyish to an orange/brown color. This can take anywhere from 3-9 minutes depending on the concentration of bleach. Using Javex 12 it usually takes me about 5 minutes.

Once the desired color has been reached pour the mixture into your fine mesh net and rinse well with tap water. Fill a small container with water and add some “Prime” or equivalent to it. Place the net into it with the brine shrimp cysts and swish it around a bit to neutralize any chlorine left on the cysts.

Store your de-capsulated cysts in a container in the fridge in a hypersaline solution. They can be stored up to 8 weeks safely but I usually only do one week at a time.
Brine-shrimp-1_zpsd90845f8.jpg

Newly hydrated cysts
Brine-shrimp-2_zpsa0a9b016.jpg

During the De-capsulation process
Brine-shrimp-3_zps1a94a352.jpg

Decapsulated cysts. You can clearly see the difference in color from the first picture.

Hatching:

Supplies Needed:

- Brine shrimp cysts
- Hatchery
- Salt water
- Open-ended airline
- Light
- Heater (optional)

For hatching Brine shrimp I usually use water that measures 1.019 ppt salinity. I made my own hatcheries using clear 2 litre pop bottles. I cut the bottom third off the bottle, screwed the cap on tightly and turned the top over and placed into the bottom. One bottle makes one hatchery. Some people like to use two clear pop bottles per hatchery. To make these ones you need to cut the bottom 1/3 off of one and the top 1/3 off of the other, screw the cap on tightly, turn it upside down and push it firmly into the other. These ones are a little more stable than ones made out of one pop bottle but I have never had one fall over.
Brine-shrimp-hatchery_zps4fd7a0ae.jpg


Place the amount of cysts you wish to hatch into your hatchery and add your salt water. Put an open-ended airline into it and bubble the cysts to keep them suspended in the water. Place under the light and wait 24 hours. I usually use a heater because I find more hatch out early. If not using heat it takes a bit longer to hatch them. (I only use a heater in the first hatching vessel)

It takes 18-24 hours for Artemia to hatch. The hatching process releases metabolites into the water and is a perfect breeding ground for many bacteria types therefore, after 24 hours I take down the hatching vessel and rinse all the cysts and Artemia for several minutes under tap water, sterilize the cone and restart the hatch. This reduces the amount of metabolites in the container and gives a clean environment again.

I do this with each hatchery every day so I have a few made up that are not in use that have been sterilized to make my process quicker every day.

If you wish to enrich the Artemia you must wait until they are 8-12 hours old because newly hatched Artemia cannot eat. I enrich mine twice for 24 hours each to get the most nutrition into them that I can. To enrich I use Dan’s Feed from Seahorsesource.com but many use other products such as Selco or Algamac.

Therefore, I always have several hatcheries going at once with each hatchery being 24 hours older than the other. Each hatchery must be rinsed and sterilized daily to reduce the bacteria that grows every day. In the above picture the bottle on the far left is for fresh cysts just started. The next bottle contains the newly hatched artemia. Bottle 3 contains Artemia that are 24 hours old and is the first bottle I enrich. Bottle 4 contains Artemia that are 48 hours old and is for my second enrichment stage.

I hope this helps simplify things a little for anyone who wishes to try hatching their own brine shrimp for food. I, myself do not grow them out any further than 4-5 days so cannot discuss further grow out of Artemia.

References:

Aquaculture, 12 (1977) 311—315 311

© Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam — Printed in The Netherlands

DECAPSULATION OF ARTEMIA CYSTS: A SIMPLE TECHNIQUE FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE USE OF BRINE SHRIMP IN AQUACULTURE

Dan Underwood – SeahorseSource.com

The Complete Guide to Artemia (Brine Shrimp) By Mike Gilbert and Bethany Watson

Seahorse.Org
This is wonderful! I will print this and add it to my hobby binder.
 
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