Artemia Incubator

A time-tested and efficient means to produce large numbers of nauplii. The Artemia Incubator is affordable and easy to use. The components are simple, yet ingenious. The main advantages of the Artemia Incubator:

1. Conical design keeps cysts in suspension for maximum hatch-out;


2. Harvest port is ideally positioned to minimize the transfer of unwanted shell and unhatched egg;


3. Complete kit - all you provide is the aerator and saltwater. No unwieldy soda bottles required.

Contents of kit:

Incubator bottle;

threaded cap with air hose and adapter;

stopper for air outlet;

cup (base);

rubber band;

six gram vial of Grade A Brine Shrimp Eggs (ours, of course!).

Instructions:

1. Place bottle in the upright position. Make sure that stopper is attached to the side drain outlet. Measure out 1 gram (approx. 1?2 teaspoon) of brine shrimp eggs and place in bottle. A piece of weighing paper or plain paper is helpful to funnel eggs into the bottle and not onto the floor!


2. Add saltwater to the indicator line - about 1 liter. To make saltwater, mix tap water with salt to 25 Parts per thousand (ppt) or 1.018 specific gravity. Use marine salt, solar salt or baker's salt. For those of you without a hydrometer, 1 2/3 tablespoons of salt makes one liter of 25 ppt solution.


3. Attach the threaded cap with attached airline to the bottle and thread the airline through the hole in the cup. Place cup over the neck of the bottle and turn the bottle over using the cup as a base. Hold the airline aloft to prevent water from escaping.


4. Open the side drain outlet stopper to vent air. Attach the airline to an aerator positioned above the water line in the bottle in order to prevent escape of water when the aerator is shut off.


5. For best results, Incubator should be placed in a warm (78 - 82 degrees F) and well-lit area. After 18 - 36 hours, the majority of eggs will have hatched. Turn off aerator. Attach a length of air tubing to the drain outlet. Invert bottle and place the air tubing attached to drain outlet under rubber band to prevent water from escaping. Remove screw cap.


6. Let the bottle stand for about five minutes to allow any un-hatched eggs to sink to the bottom. After several minutes, remove air tubing from under rubber band and direct most - not all - of the contents of bottle into shallow dish. The hatched nauplii (baby brine shrimp) separate from un-hatched eggs and the shell is left on the inside walls of the bottle or left floating on the surface of the water. The nauplii are ready to feed to your fish!

A small amount of chlorine should be used in solution to disinfect all components of the kit between use. Rinse well. As always, BSD recommends that you buy eggs that have been recently tested for quality and that are always guaranteed.