Live Mysid shrimp

[Bryce E]

I found a tiny little shrimp in my 15 gallon... I've never noticed one like this before in any tank I've ever had. It was small and clear and looked like a tiny little ghost shrimp. As I was looking around in the same area I noticed several of them. After looking online I believe they are Mysid shrimp. Wish I could post pics but they are small and very elusive.

Anyone else ever have these show up in their tank? I was very excited to find them.

 

[bang guy]

Yes, they are awesome. They zoom around like a woman driver don't they?

 

[Bryce E]

Haha!

 

[seecrabrun]

Yes! I found 3 last week when cleaning my refugium and I was very confused! It is pretty cool. Haven't seen them since, hope they survived.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Isn't it possible to hatch mysis and brine and inoculate the tank/fuge?

 

[bang guy]

Isn't it possible to hatch mysis and brine and inoculate the tank/fuge?

Probably not. Brine Shrimp can be propagated but not in a high flow environment.

Mysis... what do you mean? Mysid Shrimp are common hitchhikers so yeah, a piece of live rock can "inoculate" a tank. If you bring so over from another tank then YES if that's what you mean.

 

[silverado61]

So if I wanted to introduce brine shrimp to my tank I should put them in the fuge?

 

[bang guy]

So if I wanted to introduce brine shrimp to my tank I should put them in the fuge?

Still not calm enough.

I've raised them in the summer in a brute container sitting in the sun with highly saline water. That seems to work. They need Phyto, warmth and stagnant saltwater.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Weird- but very cool!!! Bang, do you have a link to your method? I'd like to read up on it.

 

[bang guy]

I pretty much detailed my method. Put old tank water in a 32 gallon Brute container that's sitting in the Sun. Wait until the water turns green and salinity is 50ppt or above and add some brine shrimp or some eggs.

If the salinity is kept below 100ppt (topoff) the Artemia will give live birth to replenish the colony. If Salinity is above 100 they will lay eggs that can be harvested for next year.

They will live in lower salinity but 50ppt seems to be where bacteria and mosquitoes give up leaving just the Artemia.

 

[snakeblitz33]

50 parts per thousand?

I know 32ppt is about 1.026 salinity,...

What temperature? In Louisiana it stays in the 100s for 30-40 days every year. Your talking 70s-80s springtime for us?

 

[snakeblitz33]

Range is 1.038 up to 1.077 before laying dormant eggs,...

That's some really salty seawater!

 

[bang guy]

Range is 1.038 up to 1.077 before laying dormant eggs,...

That's some really salty seawater!

Yeah, that's been my experience. Where did you find the research showing actual numbers vs my guessed numbers?

For temp, probably above 70F. I don't know if there's a high temp. If it's staying in the 100's there you may want to bury the container. Otherwise the water would probably get much higher than 100 sitting out in the sun. I'm sure 120's would probably kill them quickly. It might stay under 100 if you buried the container. It needs to be out in the sun though to feed the phyto.

 

[bang guy]

I know 32ppt is about 1.026 salinity,...

Snake... you're thinking backwards.

A specific gravity of 1.026 @80F is about 35ppt salinity. Don't try to work things by specific gravity when there are large temperature fluctuations because as the water warms the specific gravity goes down while the salinity remains constant. Read the ppt side of your refractometer and completely ignore the s.g. side.

 

[snakeblitz33]

I plugged in 50ppt and 100ppt into a reef calculator and came up with it. But like you said, it's off because of the temperature differences. Ill go by salinity instead of specific gravity from now on.

So a reef tank at 1.026 specific gravity at 80*F is about 35ppt salinity? So let's say I mix the saltwater up in really cold water- say 50*F and measure the salinity at 35ppt and then heat up the water to 78*F, the salinity (ppt) would stay the same but the specific gravity would decrease? Then adding salt to it at the new temp would....?

I'm just trying to wrap my mind around it so I don't give bad advice.

 

[bang guy]

If you mix it to 35ppt @ 50F it will be 35ppt when you warm it up to 78F. Yes, the Specific gravity will go down. If you add salt to it at that point both Sg and salinity will rise.

 

[snakeblitz33]

So I guess you should heat the water up to the temp your going to keep it and then mix in the salt. Cool.

 

[bang guy]

So I guess you should heat the water up to the temp your going to keep it and then mix in the salt. Cool.

I disagree. I'd say keep it cool so it mixes better but measure the salinity and not the specific gravity. Don't warm it up until you're about to use it. The salinity isn't going to change when you warm it up.