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["Steve Geerts" <stevege at hotmail_com>]

Re: Decapsulating Artemia cysts

Frank,
It occurred to me that you might administer too much chlorine. In 
Europe, commercially available bleach typically has an activity of 
around 7%, whilst bleach for industrial use has an activity of around 
31%. As activity of readily available NaOCl can vary a lot in different 
countries (it is higher in the USA and as its activity is dependent on 
temperature and light conditions during storing), it would be wise to 
double check the label on the bottle and take this percentage as the 
maximum. A maximum of 0.5 g active chlorine per g of cysts to be 
decapsulated is considered to be optimal. Though in the industry we use 
NaOH (soda) to increase pH which increases the dissociation of NaOCl).
You should also not wait too long for stopping the reaction. As other 
people have pointed out before me here, collecting the decapsulated eggs 
in a fine mesh sieve (Bsnet) (preferred above a handkerchief) upon a 
colour change of the last eggs not fully decapsulated yet, followed by a 
thorough flushing with tapwater and final submersing in vinegar (and 
flushing again to get rid of the vinegar! Otherwise you might decrease 
the pH of the hatching medium) should be sufficient to get rid of the 
chlorine. I would not use a coffee filter … it does not simplify things 
.

If you need more detailed information then feel free to contact me.

Steve Geerts
Biologist
San Francisco Bay Brand
8239, Enterprise Drive
Newark
CA 94560
Email: stevege at hotmail_com

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