Experienced aquarists know that tiny brine shrimp Artemia for fry is an excellent live food. The nutritional qualities of Artemia provide a high degree of survival of fry and their rapid growth.
This crustacean easily adapts to artificial conditions and, therefore, breeding brine shrimp is even for beginner breeders of aquarium fish. Artemia eggs can be transported over long distances, and maintaining the artemia population is not difficult. Many aquarists buy brine shrimp eggs in stores and from people specializing in their production. Eggs go on sale both ordinary and decapsulated. If you purchased the second option, do not think that such eggs contain dead embryos, quite the opposite - a full-fledged crustacean may hatch from them. But there is one caveat - such decapsulated eggs, due to the deprivation of the natural protective shell, are more demanding on storage conditions. Therefore, incubating eggs from a sachet that has lain on a shelf in a pet store for a long time is an unpromising and unnecessary task. But here there are pluses - such eggs can be fed to fry, you just need to soak them in fresh water for a short while, and nutritious, rich in trace elements and protein, forage for fish young animals is ready.
The development of brine shrimp begins when the temperature of the water in which it lives reaches +10 degrees and above. Although the ideal temperature conditions for the development of culture is the water temperature from +25 to +32 degrees. Moreover, the minimum salinity of the aquatic environment should be 25-30% about, and the maximum - 280%. It is in such an environment that Artemia should live. The breeding of these crustaceans has its own peculiarities - in natural conditions they live in salt bodies of water in the south of Russia, therefore, when cultivated, it is advisable to bring as close as possible the artificial living conditions to the environment in which artemia is most comfortable.
Cultivation of brine shrimp is a simple matter, if you know some rules. The embryos of these crustaceans have a fairly high immunity to external factors, such as pressure, moisture, high or low temperature, mechanical damage, and long storage time. Artemia embryos are able to remain at rest for a rather long period of time - “hibernation”. As soon as you put them in the water, the brine shrimp whose breeding you started, will begin to develop. The water in the tank where you plan to grow crustaceans must meet certain parameters: 50 g of Na2SO4 should be per liter of water. It is desirable for cysts (brine shrimp eggs) to provide poor lighting and light aeration of the water so that they do not settle to the bottom of the aquarium. After 25 hours, the embryos will begin to actively hatch. Further, under normal conditions, within eighteen days the crustaceans will go through several stages of their development and reach maturity. Now Artemia crustaceans themselves can lay cysts under favorable conditions for them. Here is such an interesting creature - Artemia, the breeding of which is quite grateful, since this crustacean is an excellent food for fish.
Artemia feeds on microalgae, small protozoa, freshwater and marine chlorella, yeast and bacteria. Do not disdain these gill-footed crustaceans and manure.
The brine shrimp grows up to 20 mm in length and weighs an adult individual about 12 mg. The color of brine shrimp can be different, from reddish to milky, the body color of brine shrimp directly depends on the conditions of detention and the type of feed.
Artemia dioecious, that is, they can lay eggs only at puberty. Artemia often does not live up to this age, the breeding of which is due, first of all, to its nutritional value for aquarium fish.