# Other Aquarium Forums > Fish Care, Nutrition and Water Management >  Hatching Brine Shrimp: How much salt to add?

## PLee

Hi guys,

How much salt do we have to add when hatching brine shrimps ourselves?

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## Milk

> Hi guys,
> 
> How much salt do we have to add when hatching brine shrimps ourselves?


Well..as what i have read and learn,it is supposed to be a teaspoon of salts to 1 litre of *aged* water..But based on what i have experienced and found out,the best will be 2 teaspoon to 1 litre of *AGED* water..When i'm hatching Baby Brineshrimps in my setup(which you have seen before),i add 2 spoons of aquarium salts(those with measurement of 2.5ml & 5ml which can be found inside the aquarium salt packaging ),dissolve them and bubble them for 24 hours before i add the shrimps eggs in.By using these method,i have managed to hatch BBS to feed my fries daily..

Hope this answer your question...

Regards
Milk

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## PLee

have you tried using salt measuring pen to test the salinity?

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## Cacatuoides

no need to test for salinity, for us who are using the hatchery, we use 1-2 tablespoon of marine salt for best results.....high bbs yield 24hrs

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## Milk

> have you tried using salt measuring pen to test the salinity?


I never did that before...But i'm trying with different kind of solution to get the best amount of yield of BBS as i'm getting sick of getting un-hatched eggs with the live BBS and the also the shells floating in my Apistogramma Tank..
Now i'm trying to use marine salts instead of the normal aquarium salts...It might be a good idea to get the measuring device(don't know the device name..) to measure the density and salinity of the water...(ps:I have heard that marine salts will yield a good results :Roll Eyes:   :Roll Eyes:  )

Regards
Milk

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## Cacatuoides

are you referring to a hydrometer?

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## Milk

Thanks Eman...

That's the device that i'm mentioning about...Sorry for being so ignorant in marine setup..

Regards
Milk

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## Cacatuoides

No problem at all, we're all here to learn from each other  :Razz:  cheers!

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## PLee

good idea... I will buy some marine salt tomorrow and try... will try to make the salt content same as that of a marine tank to try out  :Grin:

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## PLee

by the way, once the bbs hatch . How many days will it stay alive?

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## illumnae

i think the bbs will only be nutritious for the first 24 hours, after which the egg sac is depleted and it's just empty carbs like adult bs

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## PLee

i See.. thanx for the info. Now that I Know will not make too many at one go  :Smile:

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## Milk

Hey Plee;

For the first time getting the right amount salt,you might wanna use the hydrometer the salinilty of the water...You might wanna take note of the amount to add to get the correct mix..Than for the next time,just use that amount will do.(As i believe that you will need to mix a large amount of marine salt so that you can use the hydrometer to measure correctly.)

Just to share with you my Hatching Mix:
1:Age/Bubble tap-water overnight or more than 24hrs.
2:Add 2 spoons of normal aquarium salt-->those that measure 5ml
3:Add 1 spoons of Baby Brine-shrimps eggs.(I add 2.5ml of eggs-->the other end of the measuring spoon.)
4:Let the mixture bubble over-night.(Bubble for min 12hrs,but hatch rate will be more ideal if it's left bubbling more than 12hrs.)
5: Fresh Baby Brine shrimp for feeding!!!

I have observed that the fresh Baby Brine-shrimps will only stay alive for 24hrs..And as you store the mix longer,the amount of live BBS will also decrease..So it will be wise to hatch just enough to feed so as not to waste them.

Hope that the above information are useful to you.
You will find hatching bbs very troublesome as times goes by..And it will be worst if your pair starts spawning and you need BBS to feed the fries for the very first few weeks..That explain why there's not much of home breeder in singapore..

Regards
Milk

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## valice

> You will find hatching bbs very troublesome as times goes by..And it will be worst if your pair starts spawning and you need BBS to feed the fries for the very first few weeks..That explain why there's not much of home breeder in singapore..


Milk, go for decapsulated eggs!
Saves all the trouble.  :Laughing:

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## illumnae

i was thinking of getting decapsulated eggs, but i was told they're not suitable for apistos because they tend to float on the surface and apistos don't really like to get food from the surface or will lose out to surface dwelling fast swimming dithers...is this sound advice or should i go ahead and get myself some decapsulated eggs? =)

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## Milk

> Milk, go for decapsulated eggs!
> Saves all the trouble.


Hey vincent,I will like to try them out as well...You know that i have order a bottle of decapsulated egg aready.... :Grin:   :Grin:  

Regards
Milk

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## PLee

how to use decapsulated egg ??

Just feed them to the apistos?

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## Milk

> how to use decapsulated egg ??
> 
> Just feed them to the apistos?


Yup...Decapsulated eggs are actually Brineshrimps eggs which have their shell removed(From what i know...Don't know if it's correct.. :Razz: ) so to feed it to your fishes,just feed directly to the fishes...

Regards
Milk

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## PLee

where can I buy these??? Any Idea?  :Roll Eyes:

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## Milk

> where can I buy these??? Any Idea?


Can't buy them locally as yet(From what i know)...I'm actually trying them out to see if they are`really good..I got my friend to get them for me from oversea

Regards
Milk

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## fisherw

> where can I buy these??? Any Idea?


If you are prepared to diy, this site teaches how to:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FA023

Found another, a local site, with photos:

http://www.killies.com/Decapsulating.htm

I have not done it so at your own risk, please.

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## Interestor

Decap BBS can get from some breeders locally.

CHeers..

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