Artemia (Brine Shrimp) Breeding & Growing (Pics)

In approximately December 2010, I mixed some (artificial) seawater in this beaker (1.5L) to mix with brine shrimp eggs for hatching….. After mixing, I only used about 1 Liter of the mixture in my aerator to hatch the eggs the next day and feed the fry. The beaker was then put on the top shelf (with some 500ml of salt water & BS eggs) and forgotten about...
Yesterday, My wife called me to come observe….. there are some 100 BS (artemia) various sizes swimming around in the (yet) un-evaporated water…… Here is my attempt at photographing them…..

I really want to know……
1. How to I keep them alive…. (do I feed yeast)?
2. How big do they get
3. Will they breed??...
4. The water has evaporated to about 2” deep…. Do I just top up with sea water??.... (I have some very old bottled sea water)I’d like to establish a culture of these if at all possible, (although never heard of it), but would appreciate some help….

Most of them are currently about ¼” long, but there are bigger ones as well…..

 

Feed them yeat as well as egg yellow.(You know the oldtimer's way?)
They will lay eggs.The eggs will hatch if the parameters are correct,but some of them will need to be harvested and dried .
You just need to top up with fresh water,as the salts do not evaporate.
You can use a 10 litre tank but once you start feeding you need to do daily water changes.
I also use a sponge filter.

P.S. Use a drip to feed constantly.

 

Thanks Jacques...... and how big do the adults get??

 

They grow to about one centimetre on average,although you might get one or two larger individuals.
Quite cool creatures,especially if you take into account that they have not changed since the triassic period.
Imagine the fish that used feed off them...................................

 

By accident, I managed to raise some Brine shrimp to about (just over) 1cm, which I believe is their adult size....
Tonight, I notice that several pairs are swimming around "piggy backing" with the top one being all white, whilst the one at the bottom has a full length reddish spinal streak from the head to the tip of the tail...... (so I assume these to be males and females (with eggs).....
Do shrimp have this sort of mating ritual??.... there are many tiny newly hatched shrimp also swimming in the container.

 

This is awesome. Tagging along.

 

Some updated pics taken tonight....

 

That's fascinating, have they been in that beaker for 8 months?!

 

I have to assume so Whip..... I only discovered them now, & the beakers' been up there since Dec.....I am now progressively increasing their water (adding a little every day) until there is enough water to move them to a bigger container....

 

In Pretoria, I had a 1000L drum, outside, full of brine shrimp. There were two 300W heaters in and an air ball. The BS were fed yeast and some fine flake powder.I used 2 nets on top of each other, to catch the larger BS for the big fish, and the smaller ones for the small fish.It is possible to keep plenty of BS this way!

 

wow - that is kinda cool. think im gonna try it next time i make some BS

 

And then just another (two) questions (maybe @Slojo ) - (or anyone else who knows) do you know how long they live and are they cannabalistic??

 

I dont think they live long, and I also don't think they are cannibalistic, I am busy hatching a couple for when my angel wrigglers become free swimming, my old man and I have spoken about setting up a hatchery for a while now maybe it is worth it.

What the preferred temp for these guys?

 

They are not cannibalistic,so i i magine that some algae managed to grow in the beaker,otherwise they would have starved .
They have a lifcycle of about 12 months.