Here is what you are buying: 1000+ fairy shrimp eggs.
Fairy shrimps are FRESH WATER crustaceans. You hatch them very easily as no salt or aeration is required.
Scientific description:
The fairy shrimp is a beautiful, translucent crustacean, which lacks a carapace, and is considered to be rather primitive as it has a relatively large number of segments and the legs are not specialised . The body is elongated, and bears 11 pairs of legs fringed with bristles; the head curves downwards, and in males the second pair of antennae are modified 'claspers' for grabbing females during mating . Fairy shrimps swim around on their backs, propelled by the constantly moving legs.
Uses:
A novel pet to keep
Great live food for fish as it has a high protein content 70%
Dried cysts (eggs) can be stored for months and shrimps can be frozen for feeding fish later as well.
How to hatch:
VERY, VERY important: the eggs won't hatch if exposed to air, chlorine or high temperatures. I made the mistake of just throwing my eggs in a container of dechlorinated water. 3 days later nothing had hatched. So I tried again and here's what worked first time:
Take the eggs and empty them out of the paper towel into your plastic baggie, fill with water. ("Old water"- water that stood for 3 days so chlorine can evaporate will work, but I did an experiment and found that Bene bottled water works better, the reason is that it's softer so the cysts get hydrated better) Now push the air out of the baggie and seal it. This way there is no way the cysts won't be wet all round.
I did mine late during the day as eggs need temperature of about 15 degree Celsius to hatch, I'm floating my baggies in a bowl of water and as it gets warmish, I drop an ice cube in the water. That cools the water in the baggies.
All eggs won't hatch evenly, mine hatched fast, they are supposed to take 24-48 hours. You can dry any unhatched eggs after 48 hours and retry them a few days later.
I did mine 6 pm and 11 am checked to see that most in the Bene water had hatched, some in the dechlorinated water had hatched.
Feeding your shrimp:
Shrimp eat particles in the water. I found a recipe for making food for the:
To make yeast soup, dissolve one packet of dried yeast (either bakers or brewers yeast), one teaspoon of sugar, and a big pinch of crushed fish food flakes in 1/3 cup of hot water (around 100 degrees, microwave some of your spring water). Mix well, and let it sit for about an hour to activate the yeast. Be sure to use a container tall enough to allow the yeast to bubble up. (An old plastic frosting container works well.) Store your “soup” in the refrigerator or another cool place. This will be enough food to feed your shrimp for
weeks. To feed your shrimp, stir or shake the mixture thoroughly. (It settles out quickly.) Use an eyedropper or pipette to drip a few drops of the soup into the water. The baby shrimp are still extremely tiny and need very little food. You can determine how much food is enough by using this rule of thumb: The water should be slightly hazy, but not cloudy. You should be able to see through it. If it becomes cloudy, stop feeding for a day or two until it clears up. If it becomes extremely clear, feed a little bit more. Increase their food as they grow. At about 2 weeks, the shrimp will need approximately 1 ml per day. When they are fully grown, they will need up to 3 mls daily.
Guarantee:
Please understand I give no guarantee. Hatching is dependent on what you do, I only sell what I had success in hatching myself. I try to give all the information you would need to be successful.
