shop for brine shrimp cysts

The brine shrimp life cycle presents an interesting story. Under normal conditions, when there is water in the lake brine shrimp live in, they will breed and lay eggs that go on to hatch, mature in around 5 weeks and then breed more shrimp via live birth. This cycle continues with fish and other predators eating the small crustaceans to keep the population under control.

However when drought and lack of rain cause the brine shrimps habitat to dry up or conditions not be correct, the female lays eggs, or cysts, that are inert. These eggs can last for a long time out of water - under human intervention, without moisture, they have been known to last unhatched for up to 25 years!

These cysts are what you purchase when you buy brine shrimp eggs, the dormant eggs can be awakened using an aerated salt water solution. Upon hatching the baby brine shrimp (napulli stage) are free swimming with an attached egg yolk sack. Newly hatched brine shrimp are more nutritious than their adult counterparts (non-fed) due to the attached yolk. Adult brine shrimp are still good for your fish, and even better if you fatten them with yolk, dried yeast or egg yolk.

Growing brine shrimp from eggs each time you need them is the easiest way to raise brine shrimp. The alternative is to setup a breeding colony in a small aquarium. This involves looking after adult brine shrimp and making sure the environment is conducive to breeding. This involves raising special algae that the brine shrimp use during the mating ritual for the fluorescent penis waving display the male shrimp put on for the females. This algae can be difficult to grow in some countries due to tap water conditions not containing enough phosphates.

Overall it is easier and probably cheaper to simply grow your brine shrimp from eggs each time.