1. A tall container that can hold at least 4 cups of water
2. Small airstone
3. Airline tubing
4. Air pump (one air access point)
5. Aquatic Heater (10 gallon, small)
6. Marine Salt
7. 3ml Syringe
8. Flashlight
9. Measuring Cup (1 cup)
10. Tablespoon
11. Teaspoon
12. Brine shrimp net
13. Brine shrimp eggs
To begin, assemble the airstone/pump and have your aquatic heater nearby, DO NOT PLUG EITHER IN YET. Fill your container with 4 cups of lukewarm (80 degree Fahrenheit) untreated (non-dechlorinated) water. Add 1 tablespoon of marine salt to the container. Add 1 teaspoon of brine shrimp to the container. Quickly, place the airstone and heater in the container and turn them on. Wait 24 hours to harvest the fresh baby brine shrimp (BBS).
To harvest the BBS, unplug and remove the airstone and heater. In a dark area, place a flashlight next to the BBS container (this attracts the BBS to the side of the container, making it easier to suck them up). After a few minutes of letting the egg shells (brown and opaque) float to the top of the water, the BBS (bright orange) will sink to the bottom, or gather at the light of the flashlight.
Using the 3ml syringe, suck up and fill the syringe with orange BBS (you can shine the flashlight on the syringe to see the BBS swimming quickly). Over the container or over a sink, strain the BBS through the brine shrimp net. This allows polluted water to wash away, keeping only the BBS for the baby axolotl.
For one 1 inch baby axolotl, in a half-filled 10 gallon tank (or completely filled 5 gallon tank), ¾ of the 3ml syringe of BBS is perfect (twice daily). NOTE: Increase the amount of BBS for the amount of babies in the tank, and as the baby grows.
Brine shrimp are most nutritious for babies in the first 24 hour period, so cycling two hatcheries is a good idea. But if that is not possible, one container of brine shrimp can be used for 48 hours. Repeat these steps for every new container of BBS.