Brine shrimp eggs

Performance & sizing

Core numbers for matching this unit to your tank and electrical plan.

Power

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Flow rate

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Noise

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Dimensions

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Price range

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Tank fit (L)

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Consumables & maintenance

Follow the manufacturer schedule for seals, impellers, media, and other consumables.

Description

These are dormant Artemia cysts rather than eggs in the everyday sense. Each one holds an embryo that stopped developing and can sit dry for years. The FAO's Artemia manual is the reference worth reading, and it sets out the conditions that decide whether you get a heavy hatch or a jar of dead cysts. Temperature comes first. FAO puts the working range at 25 to 28 C. Below 25 the hatch is simply slower; above 33 the cyst's metabolism stops for good, which is the classic way to ruin a batch left in the sun. Salinity is more forgiving than most instructions suggest. Hatching works from roughly 5 to 35 g/L, and the low end hatches faster because the embryo has less osmotic work to do before the shell breaks. Above about 85 to 90 g/L the cysts cannot take up enough water to start at all. pH has to stay above 8 for the hatching enzyme to work properly. If you hatch in low-salinity water instead of seawater, FAO suggests adding up to 1 g of sodium bicarbonate per litre to hold the buffer. Light is the step hobbyists skip: about 2000 lux at the water surface during the first hours after the cysts hydrate is what triggers development. Aerate hard enough to keep oxygen above 2 mg/L, and use a vessel with a conical bottom, because square and flat-bottomed containers leave dead spots where cysts and nauplii pile up and suffocate. Keep density under 5 g/L in small volumes below 20 litres, and under 2 g/L in anything larger. Storage follows from the biology. Cysts are hygroscopic and stay ametabolic below about 10 percent water content; above that, and in the presence of oxygen, viability falls. Buy tins you will finish, and keep them sealed, dry and cold.

Source

• fao.org — https://www.fao.org/4/w3732e/w3732e0n.htm

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