decapsulating brine shrimp eggs?

[SciGuy2]

I've been missing COMAS and hope you folks are well. Unfortunately, I've been working most weekends and haven't been able to make meetings.

Anyway, I'm lucky to have had my A. ephippium pair breed and produce healthy larvae. They are 10 days old and I've been trying to decapsulate and hatch brine shrimp for them with no luck. I've been using household bleach. Has anyone had success decapsulating and hatching brine shrimp?

Also, I've seen reference to the use of bleaching powder and sodium hydroxide as the decapsulating chemicals. Does anyone know whre I can obtain those materials locally?

Thanks,
Lee

[M2Duncan]

I put 1 teaspoon of eggs in 1 cup of ro water. Let set for about 1 hour. (Soaking in freshwater keeps the bleach from adsorbing to quickly) Use air stone entire time. After 1 hour add 1 cup of bleach. You will need to wash down the sides of the container every so often because the air stone will push them out of the bleach. The eggs should be removed from the bleach when they are orange. If you leave them too long you will kill them. Make sure you rinse the eggs until you can no longer smell bleach. The decapsulated brine can be held in a super saturated salt solution in the ice box for a couple of months.

[SciGuy2]

I must be leaving the eggs in the bleach solution for too long.

Thanks,

[M2Duncan]

Here are a couple of good links for brine shrimp

Has pictures of the eggs decasulated (mirco vision)
http://www.seahorsesandmore.com/foods.html#decap

Has pictures of the procudure
http://www.attention-to-details.com/...lating-and.asp

Written data
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/BODY_FA023

Written data
http://www.floridacollector.com/Brineshrimp.htm

This is how I hatch my brine shrimp.


I do not know where this page came from to give the author credit. It may have came from one of my books.

[SciGuy2]

Thanks a bunch, M2Duncan! Those pics were exactly what I needed!

-Lee

[M2Duncan]

Glad I could be of help.