Brine Shrimp Water Food Egg Tank Refill Kits

Build and maintain your brine shrimp environment with our refill kits!

For fans of these tiny pets, we offer a range of items that will help establish and maintain your environment.

Our sachet products work similarly to 'Sea Monkey' and 'Sea Dragon' products on the market,  but we use our own tried and tested mix, for the tank volumes we supply. We cannot guarantee compatibility with their products.

Water Preparation Pack

Brine shrimp require a specific environment to hatch and thrive. Our water preparation packs contain a mix of API aquarium salt and soda for a PH-safe environment full of minerals.

Our standard pack can be mixed with 500ml of purified water, to create a suitable hatching environment. Dissolve the mix in distilled or mineral water (we advise against tap water  due to the risk of remaining chemicals, such as chlorine, that can pose a risk to shrimp) and aim for a pH of 7.5-8.5, which is an olive-green appearance on the provided testing strips. More water can be added if the solution is too acidic.

Allow 24 hours for your environment to settle before adding eggs. Be aware that brine shrimp become accustomed to the environment they hatch in and attempting to change the water or move them to a new environment can be harmful. 

Egg Sachets

Each sachet contains 1g of eggs, rated at a 90% hatch rate. Just 0.1g is would provide plenty of eggs for a 500-700ml habitat, so one sachet provides enough eggs for multiple batches. Too many brine shrimp can over-crowd a tank and strain oxygen and food resources.

We suggest adding a smaller amount at the start to build up your habitat gradually to a naturally sustainable level.

The typical growth timelines:

• Hatching: Eggs (cysts) hatch into tiny larvae called nauplii within 15 to 36 hours
• Juvenile Stage: The shrimp moult about 15 times as they grow, turning into juveniles by around day 12
• Adulthood: They reach full size (about 8 mm) and begin reproducing between 2 and 3 weeks (or up to 6 weeks in natural, fluctuating environments like the Great Salt Lake)
  

Organic Food Mix

Our food sachets contain 5g of organic Arthrospira Platensis, a natural, nutrient-dense blue-green microalga that serves as a dietary supplement and superfood for brine shrimp. One sachet is plenty for maintaining your brine shrimp batch, as you should aim to feed just 0.03g a week or when the water is clear. This is the equivalent to using the end of a toothpick to food a 500ml tank.

As your batch size can differ, reduce your feeding routine to counter excessive algae build-up that  grown in the tank, as over feeding will result in water quality issues

Our food mix does not contain salt, as this will gradually increase the sanity of the environment. Once opened, store your sachet in the fridge.

Building Block Tanks

We provide small, stackable tanks, which are ideal for storing multiple batches of brine shrimp, as they can be stacked on top of each other and are available in a variety of colours.

A 500ml tank provides a suitable tank size for new-born brine shrimp, who may struggle in larger tanks. Larger, 2 litre tanks, provide a substantially larger environment, but you should consider our range of decorations for this, as shrimp can get 'lost' in sparse aquatic environments.

Aquarium Sand

Sand is an ideal as a natural tank surface. Do not use gravel as this can act as a trap. A 100g pack of colourful aquarium sand provides a suitable surface to create a natural environment and a base for decorations. This is more than enough for standard tanks and the perfect amount for our 500ml building block tanks (adjust for larger tanks)

Decorations

Decorations provide a surface for algae growth and act as a guide for brine shrimp, who would otherwise become lost in an open section of water. You can find our range of tank decorations in our store. It is best to place all your decorations at the start as adding these later can disrupt your habitat.

Air Pump Kit

Tank water needs to be oxygenated for your shrimp to survive. You can use a pipette, or automate the process with one of our USB-powered oxygen-pumps from our store. 

Our kits include

• Pump unit with USB power cable
• Clear air hose
• Air stone for protective oxygenation
• Flow control valves, 1x straight, 1x elbow. Set these to minimum flow and ideally inside/behind an ornament for a safe environment

The stone should be placed in a corner and ideally, shielded with decorations, to limit disruption. This should set up with your environment but wait until the shrimp have grown before using, as the air bubbles can be a danger to new-born shrimp. 

Directions

These tanks were put together by our team with successful batches. From our experience:

1. Prepare your water with our water preparation kit and bottled water, ensuring the contents are fully dissolved in the appropriate amount of water. Use a testing strip to test the PH, where 7.5-8.5 (olive green) is ideal
2. Add the sand first and add just enough water to cover it, so it settles
3. Add any decorations, where the sand acts like cement to hold them in place
4. Install the air pump (if purchased) wedging into the sand or under an ornament. It is best to block direct air-flow from the many areas of the tank as this can be disruptive to the environment
5. Add a small portion of food at this stage, as doing so later has a tendency to leave it floating at the surface
6. Fill your water slowly and gradually, so as not to disrupt your layout. We recommend pouring slowly at first and only just above the sand, so it settles. Adding too much, to fast, will disrupt the sand floor and any decorations
7. Allow this to settle and clear for 24-48 hours under sunlight
8. Use another PH strip to check the acidity again, before adding the eggs
9. Monitor the habitat for hatching, this can take between 1-5 days
10. Use the oxygen pump or pipette every 1-2 days to keep the water oxygenated
11. Keep your tank at room temperature and avoid extreme changes (do not place on a window sill)
12. Monitor the water and algae levels and add more food when necessary. Add more water when necessary but there is no need to add more of the salt solution

Please follow these instructions carefully. Having tested this setup successfully and confirmed a 90% hatch rate, any failure is likely to be due to user error.