# Other Aquarium Forums > Fish Care, Nutrition and Water Management >  Hatching Brine Shrimp in Freshwater?

## zyblack

_Brine shrimp hatching solutions

Would you believe fresh-water brine shrimp? This sounds like a contradiction in terms but it works. I tried hatching both decapsulated and regular brine shrimp eggs in water without salt and discovered that they hatch just fine in plain, unsalted water, as long as there is some baking soda added to incease the PH enough to help an enzyme they release to dissolve a hole in their cysts. The advantage of doing so is that when they are added to the fry tank, they don't experience a large osmotic shock from going form salt to fresh water. The brine shrimp hatched in fresh water tend to last longer in the fry tank, which seems to confirm the advantage.

I also tried hatching brine shrimp in water with no baking soda (used to bring the PH up into the 8-9 point range). It didn't work. The high alkalinity is needed to help them dissolve part of their egg case. Decapsulating does not help._

Taken from http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/brineshrimp.htm

Anyone care to try this out? I don't have any brine shrimp eggs with me on hand so can't test it. It would so much more convenient and healthier for your fish if this works.

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## celticfish

if it works... VERY COOL BEANS!!!  :Jump for joy:

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## zyblack

Anyone tried this yet?

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## Shadow

OK will try it out today, hopefuly got something tomorow

I'm using those hatchery disk, problem is how many spoon of baking soda needed? The article using 3/4 galon with 2 tablespoon baking soda. hatchery disk is about 1 liter, so I will add 0.7 baking soda.

Does fresh water with added baking soda (Sodium bicarbonat or NaHC03) still can bel considered as fresh water? It taste a bit salty and wikipedia said baking soda is salt

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## zyblack

Hmm...come to think of it...so there is some sodium in the water when you add baking soda. Well maybe less sodium content than the usual amount we use to hatch them? More like brackish water vs seawater?  :Grin: 

If you read the webpage you can get a lot of useful details too like how that hatchery disk actually works (inefficiency).

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## Shadow

ok it hatch

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## zyblack

Great! Now you are feeding "Diet Baby Brine Shrimp"! Less sodium, less risk of heart attack!

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