Live Brine Shrimp?
- Thread starter lbannie
- Start date
S
smartorl
Guest
I hatch two batches a day every day. It takes just minutes a day with a little planning. I use empty one water bottles, cut off the tops, I have three in rotation, at all times. I dip some water out of a tank, add a good shake of eggs (San Francisco brand produce the best hatches in my opinion and experience), and put it on the shelf and run an air line to it. I have a valve that has room for four lines, that runs to a cheapo air pump, I keep one turned off but have one running to each of my active bottles. I do put a clothes pin on the top of each bottle to keep the air line all the way to the bottom of the bottle. Each time I pull a bottle, I put a new one in it's place. The eggs hatch faster the warmer the temperatures. Once you pull it off the air line, I have a desk lamp that I sit it under. The shells will float to the top and the brine will be right under in a pink cloud. You simply take a baster and suck up the shrimp and feed. If you end up with overage, you can keep it in the bottle and add a little marine snow to enrich them and put them back on the airline. It's a super easy process.
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smartorl
Guest
I usually dip my water out of the same tank and then add saltwater back, presto, water change!
Once you get a routine, it's super easy.
Once you get a routine, it's super easy.
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smartorl
Guest
Yep, that's why I hatch two batches a day!
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smartorl
Guest
I use them to feed my pipes and dwarf seahorse tanks and to spot feed some of my corals. I use my overages to treat my other fish and to entice fish in the quaruntine tanks to eat occasionally. I do grow out if I have alot of surplus and trade to my lfs for credit although that turns out to be more of a pain that is worthwhile.
cranberry
Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///forum/thread/381871/live-brine-shrimp#post_3330139
http://theaquariumwiki.com/Brine_shrimp
They have nutrional value, but after 8hrs they don't and unless they are fed enriched food, junk food basically.
So you use them before 8 hours. They all don't hatch at the same time, so you could also use an 80 micron filter to get the youngest (smallest) nutritious ones out of the population of older, less nutritious ones. After 24 hours they can also ingest food. So at that time you can enrich them with whatever you want (within reason, of course).
It's not a complete food, no single food item is, but it's a great supplemental food item.
When breeding seahorses, BBS got me through the first month.
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///forum/thread/381871/live-brine-shrimp#post_3330139
http://theaquariumwiki.com/Brine_shrimp
They have nutrional value, but after 8hrs they don't and unless they are fed enriched food, junk food basically.
So you use them before 8 hours. They all don't hatch at the same time, so you could also use an 80 micron filter to get the youngest (smallest) nutritious ones out of the population of older, less nutritious ones. After 24 hours they can also ingest food. So at that time you can enrich them with whatever you want (within reason, of course).
It's not a complete food, no single food item is, but it's a great supplemental food item.
When breeding seahorses, BBS got me through the first month.
lbannie
Member
cool, so What should I feed to them so they are more "enriched"? The eggs should be arriving in the mail today. Will I be able to see the babies? I was assuming they would look like the frozen ones! Also, if they don't get eaten in my tank, will they breed in there and create a population?
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smartorl
Guest
The babies will be pink, if you use a light to attract them, you will see the pink cloud. Essentially, you will suck from the bottom so that you will pull out pretty much everything except the empty shells which will be floating on top of the water.
You can buy decapsulated eggs but I have just never had the same hatch quality. I also decapsulated my own for a short time with a blender and bleach and what a total pain in the butt that was. I would rather have the hulls and have the more consistant hatches.
I use marine snow. Keep in mind, I only very rarely keep any long enough to enrich as the animals I am feeding need newly hatched brine and to me, there seems to be little point as even with enrichment, they will not be as nutrition as they are when newly hatched.
You can buy decapsulated eggs but I have just never had the same hatch quality. I also decapsulated my own for a short time with a blender and bleach and what a total pain in the butt that was. I would rather have the hulls and have the more consistant hatches.
I use marine snow. Keep in mind, I only very rarely keep any long enough to enrich as the animals I am feeding need newly hatched brine and to me, there seems to be little point as even with enrichment, they will not be as nutrition as they are when newly hatched.