Freshly hatched brine shrimp is one of the finest foods that one can feed fry and an excellent source of nutrition for smaller fish. Brine shrimp can also be grown on to feed larger fish.

To make a brine shrimp hatchery take an empty drinks bottle or large jar that has a screw on lid and drill two holes, slightly narrower than the the diameter of a piece of air line in the lid. Insert a long length of airline into one of the holes so that it will run from your airpump to the bottom of the bottle when the lid is secured and the bottle is in position in the aquarium. Attach an airstone to the exposed end inside the bottle. (Placing the airline in hot water will make insertion through the holes easier).

The other hole can either be used with a short piece of airline as a breather pipe or with a longer piece of airline to daisy chain together a subsequent hatchery. In either case it is important that there are no gaps in the holes of the hatchery lid. If there are any holes, salt water from the hatchery may escape into the aquarium. A bead of silicone sealer is ideal to plug gaps and guard against leaks.

Fill the bottle with 2 pints of water and add one heaped teaspoon of iodine free salt. Allow to dissolve and then add half of one teaspoon of brine shrimp eggs. Connect up an air pump to the hatchery and place the bottle in the aquarium so that is is kept warm.

The eggs will hatch in 24-36 hours at a temperature of 75°F.

After this time, the baby shrimp can either be grown to adulthood in a 3% salt solution or harvested by straining the contents of the hatchery through a very fine net, (special sieves are available for this purpose). The shrimp can then be rinsed and fed directly to the fish.

When rearing fry is is a good idea to daisy chain hatcheries together and stagger the start of the hatching process so that a continual supply of baby brine shrimp is readily available.