Low tech brine shrimp outside in Minnesota

[Okayestaquarist]

My outside brine shrimp is actually working. I am using a twenty gallon barely structurally sound tote with no air. I mixed salt water using the instructions for an aquarium on a box of marine salt. I threw some spirulina flakes in and waited a bit for green water. 

It got super nasty smelling but I started putting eggs on top like you see in the photo anyway. I did this during a heat wave. The super nasty water took about a week and half to turn into green water. I am topping it off with rain water but am running out because we are in a bit of a drought.

I harvest just enough for snacks everyday and because I want the shrimp to grow and maybe start live bearing. Our heat wave may abate soon, it will be interesting to see if hatching and growth slow down. It gets direct sun and is out of the wind. I can now see when the shrimp start to consume the algae and will have to balance fouling the water and feeding the colony.

So far it is a super cheap low maintenance way to get some live food. I am even using eggs that might be two years old. Thanks @Cory for the inspiration on this project. 

[lefty o]

hopefully this heat quits soon. 

[Okayestaquarist]

@lefty o I agree, it's getting old. We might get water restrictions if it does not rain.