Is it worth decapsulating baby brine shrimp eggs before hatching?

[Allan B.]

I’ve read that baby brine shrimp (BBS) hatched from decapsulated eggs are more nutritious because they use up less of their yolk since they don’t need to break through a shell.

This logically makes sense, but are the nutritional gains worth the time and effort it takes a fishkeeper to decapsulate the eggs?

[Fish Folk]

No. Just hatch the BBS in the following proportions:

- 1 liter of tap water

- 3 tablespoons of aquarium salt

- 1 rounded tablespoon of Artemia eggs

Use a strong air flow that reaches all the way to the bottom of your hatching space. Rigid airline is easiest. You can use an ayirstone -- I do. After 36-48 hours, turn your air off and rest the hatcher for 5-10 minutes near a bright light that shines down to the bottom. Artemia are photosensitive, and will fall to the bottom, rendering the bottom orange. Egg casings will float up to the top. Harvest by siphoning from bottom. You can feed them with their saline solution, or you can "rinse" them in a brine shrimp net. I like to dilute the saline water and feed from a separate specimen container (just because I'm obsessive). A light on the shrimp is not necessary, but I keep a cheap LED lamp light on them anyway.

Here is a how to DIY Brine Shrimp thread from this past summer...

And here are a couple videos of me rambling about brine shrimp...