Baby Brine Shrimp - I think I scared my roommate when she saw this contraption sitting on the kitchen counter. (As if the dozens and dozens of fish hadn't phased her...) It's a large pickle jar filled with treated water, aquarium salt, brine shrimp eggs, and an air stone. If it's still a little chilly in your house, you can add an small submersible heater. I just moved the contraption next to a heating vent. (The eggs will hatch sooner, the warmer it is - about 2 or 3 days).

I'm no longer using the two part brine shrimp hatchery. I just hatch the brine shrimp in the big pickle jar and then filter them through a coffee filter in a plastic cup (held in place by a rubber hand). I rinse them a few times then feed to the fry.

A few days ago, I bought a Brine Shrimp Corral . I've heard a lot of great stuff about this thing, so I'm going to give it a try with my next spawn. The way it works is that it sits inside of the aquarium.that hatches and feeds brine shrimp to your fish continuously. The saltwater and eggs in this hatchery do not mix with the tank water, yet the newly hatched shrimp can freely swim into the aquarium for your fish to eat.

Sounds a heck of a lot better than filter them through coffee filters 4 times a day!

Spawning Set up - I use a small (2 gallon) 'Critter Carrier' as a spawning tank, with a 50W submersible heater, and a half a plastic cup. I keep the water temperature between 78-80 degrees Fahrenheit. The turkey baster comes in handy for cleaning up the bottom of the tank and I use the magnifying glass to look for eggs and fry! I also keep a small jar of treated water handy.

At around 2 weeks I move the fry into a bigger tank, usually a 10 gallon. Then at 5 weeks they move to the 20 gallon until they're ready to be jarred.