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You are here: Home / Live foods / Mysis Shrimp / A Beginners Guide to Mysis Shrimp

A Beginners Guide to Mysis Shrimp

by greg.chernoff

Just like any other pet or animal you care for, it is important to be sure that the inhabitants of your saltwater aquarium are getting the best possible food so that they can live longer and healthier. The best way to do this is by feeding them live natural food, such as mysis or mysid shrimp. You can buy them online or in a store, or you can breed them yourself. These creatures are extremely nutritious and all your fish will eat them ferociously.

Background

Mysis shrimp (Mysida) are macroscopic crustaceans. Although they are called shrimp, they are not true shrimp. Females will carry their fry in a pouch at the base of their legs in a marsupial-like manner. This resulted in them also being referred to as Opossum shrimp. They have a wide range of sizes they can grow to, but will only get as big as an inch. Most shrimp you find, frozen or live, will most likely be on the smaller side. These creatures naturally live off the coast of the arctic, but are also found in northern freshwater lakes.  

Mysis Versus Brine Shrimp

Mysis up close!

The most common types of frozen food are mysis and brine. So, what is the difference between the two? To start Mysis shrimp, which can get to an inch in length, are usually larger than brine, which grow to 0.3 inches. Also, brine shrimp are scientifically identified as shrimp, while mysis are not. When it comes to frozen food mysis is a much more efficient as a food source for the inhabitants in your saltwater aquarium. It has more proteins and is enriched with nutrients. On the other hand, brine shrimp have little to no nutrients, but is about a dollar cheaper. This 

means that fish will appear to enjoy mysis more. In terms of live food, mysis shrimp are not as readily available and live brine are very healthy for your fish, unlike frozen brine. Both have their benefits and their downsides, but I recommend brine shrimp for live foods until mysis shrimp become more available, and mysis for frozen food.

How to Raise Mysis Shrimp

One issue with feeding live food is not being able to feed it whenever you want. The best way to fix this is by supplying your own mysis shrimp by cultivating it yourself. First, get a 20-30 gallon aquarium and fill it with saltwater to a salinity of about 1.023. You can use any salt you want, just mix it according to the directions. I recommend a cheap salt with no additives. Next you will 

[LiveFoods]

need  a mesh separator to separate the tank in half. You will also need a reasonably sized powerhead to place at one end of the tank and point it at the other side. After that, get live rock with algae on it and let it sit for three to four weeks to establish biological filter. Then add about 200 adult mysis shrimp to the side of the tank where the powerhead is. As babies are born the powerhead will push them to the other side of the tank through the mesh separator, filtering out the adults. Mysis shrimp are cannibalistic and will eat each other; so you need to feed them twice day by feeding them babies from your hatchery. As the babies from the hatchery become adult size, move them to the adult side of the tank.

As your adult population grows you will need a better food source, such as brine shrimp. To hatch the brine shrimp you will be making a separate brine shrimp hatchery. Cut the bottoms off the soda bottle and place them upside down in the carton or holder with the caps on. Then fill them with salt water. Next, run airline tubing half way down the bottles and connect the other ends to your air pump. Put six to eight grams of brine shrimp eggs in one of the bottles and turn on the air pump. You should see bubbles coming out of the tubing. After 28 hours remove the airline tubing. Then let the shrimp settle to the bottom. Lift the bottle with the shrimp in it over the other and remove the cap to let the settles shrimp into the other bottle. Quickly put the cap back on and begin the process over again. Use a net to collect the brine shrimp out of the second bottle and feed them to your mysis shrimp. You will no longer have to feed the adult mysis shrimp the babies because you are feeding them brine. When you want to feed your fish mysis, simply net out some of the shrimp and put them in your tank for your fish to eat. Remember, you can be creative in trying your own way to breed mysis shrimp.

Here is a list of  the equipment you will need

an illustration of mysis

  • 20-30 gallon aquarium
  • Mesh separator
  • Powerhead
  • Salt
  • 200 adult mysis shrimp
  • Brine shrimp eggs
  • Algae on rocks
  • Two air pumps
  • Air line tubing
  • Brine shrimp net
  • Two 2-liter Soda Bottles (Rinsed out)
  • Carton the soda bottles came in

When you add mysis shrimp to your tank you may want to consider putting some in your refugium, as it is possible for them to live and reproduce in your refugium. If you want to do this, be sure to turn off your main pump before adding them and let them settle for some time. You don’t have to wait too long, just long enough so they don’t all immediately get pumped into your tank. Unlike copepods or amipods, they will not reproduce and live this way in the display part of your tank. This is because they will quickly be completely eaten by your fish.

Sludge-eating bacteria are highly recommended here. Of these, purple non-sulfur bacteria (e.g. PNS Probio™) are an excellent choice, as they are especially rich in important carotenoids such as astaxanthin. By nutritionally enriching the detritus, these bacteria make tiny detritivores such your mysis more nutritious to pod-eaters like mandarins!

Mysis shrimp are false shrimp, which are bigger than brine shrimp and are healthier when it comes to frozen food. They are not too difficult to breed and can also live in your refugium. Overall, they are a superb food source for your fish and corals.

[LiveFoods]

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gary says

    May 6, 2019 at 3:24 pm

    Who loves pods

    Reply
  2. Julia Burr says

    May 6, 2019 at 3:31 pm

    I plan to cultivate this feeder so thank you

    Reply
  3. Rolando Llamas says

    May 6, 2019 at 3:45 pm

    Mysis shrimp are good for picky eaters

    Reply
    • Edwin Boston Jr. says

      May 6, 2019 at 5:37 pm

      Only thing my wrasse will eat.

      Reply
  4. Joseph Post says

    May 6, 2019 at 3:51 pm

    I’ve never considered raising mysis shrimp, might try it!

    Reply
  5. seitzjh says

    May 6, 2019 at 3:54 pm

    I wish i had the time to do this.

    Reply
  6. Kenta Asazu says

    May 6, 2019 at 3:55 pm

    Amazing!!!

    Reply
  7. ponygirl112 says

    May 6, 2019 at 4:25 pm

    Lost all my mysid shrimp

    Reply
  8. brennanlottes says

    May 6, 2019 at 5:28 pm

    I want to try raising these!

    Reply
  9. Marco says

    May 6, 2019 at 5:31 pm

    Great post very informative.

    Reply
  10. Rhonda L Swetnam says

    May 6, 2019 at 5:47 pm

    Another educational article! Thank you!

    Reply
  11. Manuel A Ferro says

    May 6, 2019 at 6:02 pm

    Another Great article! Thank you!

    Reply
  12. Charles Wheeler says

    May 6, 2019 at 6:09 pm

    I always thought myasis shrimp were adult brine shrimp. Who knew…

    Reply
    • Noah Buckwalter says

      July 28, 2020 at 4:29 pm

      Me

      Reply
  13. Tracy Schultz says

    May 6, 2019 at 6:26 pm

    This is a great idea on raising mysis shrimp.

    Reply
  14. Chad Sosby says

    May 6, 2019 at 7:44 pm

    I wouldn’t buy fish from anyone else!

    Reply
  15. Tanya BAZALDUA says

    May 7, 2019 at 4:48 am

    Good read

    Reply
  16. Jon Andrianos says

    May 7, 2019 at 4:57 am

    This is great!

    Reply
  17. Leslie Pustilnik says

    May 7, 2019 at 5:48 am

    I would love to add some mysis shrimp to my fuge

    Reply
  18. Richard Quickley says

    May 7, 2019 at 6:31 am

    Not looking to add that to my tank

    Reply
  19. Rudy Brambier says

    May 7, 2019 at 8:46 am

    I tried it once and it worked for awhile then I lost the entire batch. Having pods in a refugium is a lot easier.

    Reply
  20. Christopher Burns says

    May 7, 2019 at 10:33 am

    this actually sounds quite fun

    Reply
  21. Chris G. says

    May 7, 2019 at 11:44 am

    great info

    Reply
  22. jordan16leblanc says

    May 7, 2019 at 7:48 pm

    Guess I should be switching over to mysis, here’s hoping everyone eats it

    Reply
  23. jamesdylanmccraw says

    May 7, 2019 at 9:21 pm

    My fish love Mysis shrimp

    Reply
  24. Robert says

    May 8, 2019 at 12:07 am

    I tried it with just the soda bottles hard to keep the temp right

    Reply
  25. Robert says

    May 8, 2019 at 12:08 am

    nice

    Reply
  26. Menerd The Menace says

    May 8, 2019 at 3:24 pm

    Great info!

    Reply
  27. Ricky J Gronwall says

    May 9, 2019 at 7:21 am

    My fish go nuts for frozen mysis and live brine. I may have to start a tank just to keep love brine.

    Reply
  28. Jack Goldstein says

    May 12, 2019 at 6:15 pm

    I feed it to my anemones.

    Reply
  29. Jordan Preston says

    May 12, 2019 at 11:27 pm

    Wish I had the time and space!

    Reply
  30. Wesley Paulson says

    May 13, 2019 at 4:32 pm

    Good info

    Reply
  31. Ken Ishiki says

    May 13, 2019 at 4:37 pm

    my fish love mysis shrimp

    Reply
  32. Elmer says

    May 14, 2019 at 5:47 am

    Mysis the best

    Reply
  33. Douglas Campbell says

    May 14, 2019 at 6:49 am

    I feed frozen mysis to my tank about 2 times a week

    Reply
  34. Adrien says

    May 14, 2019 at 2:44 pm

    What great knowledge

    Reply
  35. Hardguyy says

    May 20, 2019 at 3:41 pm

    cool

    Reply
  36. Savoury Kem says

    May 20, 2019 at 6:33 pm

    Wow

    Reply
  37. Mike !! says

    May 20, 2019 at 7:09 pm

    Great Info , thanks !!

    Reply
  38. Diana Aliprandi says

    May 20, 2019 at 7:14 pm

    I have always wanted to do this. Thanks for the list of items needed. I will try to tackle this after I have my 70 gallon system set up and I can do a new task

    Reply
  39. Compy Ginorio says

    May 20, 2019 at 7:28 pm

    I didn’t know that mysis could be cultivated at home. And it seam to be easy too.

    Reply
  40. Carol Mauch says

    May 20, 2019 at 11:29 pm

    Had never thought to raise the shrimp for SW.

    Reply
  41. Jonathon Berry says

    May 21, 2019 at 9:21 am

    Great info

    Reply
  42. Dwayne Newell says

    May 21, 2019 at 1:45 pm

    Mysis shrimp are a must for certain corals and fish healthy diet

    Reply
  43. Krish says

    May 21, 2019 at 10:03 pm

    Great stuff

    Reply
  44. Jose Ponciano says

    May 27, 2019 at 11:43 am

    I tried but give up let you guys the experts do it for me

    Reply
  45. Robert Vice says

    May 27, 2019 at 5:08 pm

    my fish deff like your nano brine shrimp better than big dead ones

    Reply
  46. mcc says

    May 28, 2019 at 9:59 pm

    Good information which I will use. Cultivating Mysis is interesting, but looks like it takes a lot of attention. I’ve hatched the brine shrimp before which is easy … but need to think about the tempting idea of raising Mysis before I try it.

    Reply
  47. Jorge says

    May 29, 2019 at 10:16 pm

    wow this is helpful

    Reply
  48. Alyssa says

    June 3, 2019 at 2:06 pm

    I have a wrass who is a very finicky water… maybe this would be an option

    Reply
  49. Andrew B says

    June 3, 2019 at 4:26 pm

    Brine shrimp FTW!

    Reply
  50. chris head says

    June 3, 2019 at 4:37 pm

    Mysis shrimp power my tank!

    Reply
  51. Tricia B says

    June 3, 2019 at 4:46 pm

    Great page!

    Reply
  52. Kris Kasarda says

    June 3, 2019 at 5:04 pm

    Great post!

    Reply
  53. cgault99 says

    June 3, 2019 at 5:23 pm

    Have to give this a try.

    Reply
  54. Andrew says

    June 3, 2019 at 6:14 pm

    Interesting

    Reply
  55. Nick says

    June 3, 2019 at 6:35 pm

    Always feed mysis

    Reply
  56. Carrie Harvey says

    June 3, 2019 at 7:32 pm

    May have to try this one

    Reply
  57. Kenneth Showman says

    June 3, 2019 at 10:12 pm

    Awesome articles. This sounds like it would be something really cool to try. Might have to give it a shot. Love Algae Barn and the great knowledge they give to the reefing community.

    Reply
  58. Jeremy McDermott says

    August 8, 2019 at 9:31 pm

    What size of mesh do I use and where can I get its..

    Reply
  59. Jacqueline says

    October 24, 2019 at 8:05 am

    What diameter are the holes in the mesh? I am a high schoool teacher and we are part of the Sturgeon for Tomorrow program and have a lake sturgeon in our room, I would love to spend less money on food and breed these guys.

    Reply
    • greg.chernoff says

      October 24, 2019 at 4:19 pm

      I believe I will have to reach out to one of our experts for you, please send a quick email to [email protected] and we will get your answer right away!

      Reply
    • Ron says

      October 11, 2021 at 7:22 am

      This is what I’m wondering too. I’m setting up a tank for these now but I’m not sure how big the babies will be so I don’t know what sort of mesh or separator to use.

      Reply
  60. Hannah says

    September 9, 2020 at 1:34 pm

    Will mysis shrimp survive in ocean water? Directly pumped water from the ocean?

    Reply
  61. Jeremy Hamilton says

    February 11, 2021 at 10:33 pm

    Will mysis shrimp eat the pods in a refugium?

    Reply

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