how can i grow some brine shrimp

[DGlove904]

how can i grow some brine shrimp

[DGlove904]

bump

[suzimcmullen]

I just started this myself yesterday and today. My shrimp hatched this morning.

There are many methods out there. I've chosen to hatch them and grow them in a 2.5 gallon tank with a top that is meant for a small reptile cage. The light is keeping the tank at 76 degrees without a heater. I have a small airstone sunk in there. I'm feeding them with a mixture of babyfood sweet potatoes, peas and some marine snow food and a few drops of liquid vitamins. I mixed it all with water. I read about the recipe on about.com.

I bought a small suction light so that when I want to harvest them I will shut off the top light. Put the little light at the bottom of the tank. The hatched shells rise to the top in about 10 minutes. I use a filter to skim the hatched shells off the top and rinse that out. Then I use a turkey baster to suck up some of the fish moving enmass.

That's about it so far. I'll have to wait and see if they live and grow for me.

Suzi

[DGlove904]

ok thanks keep me posted on your progress

[DGlove904]

anyone else

[DGlove904]

bump

[seanb1]

unless your doing this for fun or are just planning on using the newly hatched babys for feeding fry, dont waste your time. they have no nutritional value after 48 hours. and they are too small for an adult fish to eat, they will foul water extremly fast.

its a giant pain in the butt to raise them to adult size.

the only good an adult brine shrimp can do for you is be a food delivery system from the food they have in their stomachs.

adult fish will eat the crap out of live adults though, they go nuts over them.


jmo

[suzimcmullen]

Do some research. There are very good reasons for fish to eat brine shrimp and yes they are nutritious. Just like fish or chicken for us. No, we shouldn't live on meat alone. But can you call protien not nutritious? It's just part of a healthy diet.

It's misinformation like this that will keep people from feeding a perfectly wonderful source of protien.

Suzi

[suzimcmullen]

I meant the live adults are healthy. I agree there are some sizes that aren't good for much. I'll let everyone know if it's really hard to grow them out. I'm on day two now.

Suzi

[Shmax]

Actually he was right. Brine shrimp have very little to no nutritional value., unless they're gorged on spirulina or something like it. It's not like fish or chicken for us... it's more like popcorn.

[suzimcmullen]

And what proof of that do you have? I bet I can find as many articles saying it's good as you can saying it's bad. This is one of the very frustrating things about this business. I read that the idea that it's not nutritious is a myth. The reasoning that it's a myth sounded logical to me. But obviously, I suppose it could go either way. If it's bad why do they sell them freeze dried? And who said popcorn is bad? God never created anything totally bad. Only man does that. Popcorn is a great snack if a person doesn't throw a bunch of butter and salt on it.

Suzi

[suzimcmullen]

Tyrosine and carotenoid play a part in producing orange coloration. Foods rich in pigments include brine shrimp, krill and zooplankton.

This is just one little snippet from an article about feeding saltwater fish well.

[rlm2005]

Typically the brine shrimp sold frozen is either spirulina enriched or is baby brine.

[rlm2005]

posted that too soon. I feed my tanks baby brine (hatched) as a treat mainly for my mandarin who goes crazy for them. I too hear that brine isn't nutritional for the fish but who knows. I feed a wide enough variety of foods that I don't worry about it.

[matt880305]

I mostly agree with suzi BUT I think the amount of nutrition coming from the brine shimp depends on what you feed them. Its just like rotifers and pods they are both good on nutrition because the eat phyro.
Matt

[jpitts101]

I've also heard that it was a misconception about them not being nutritous. I've heard from several people that they have no nutritional value to a fry after several days being that they are mostly fat right after being hatched which is what fry need. Brine turn into protein after several days and are indeed nutricious but not to fry. They are nutricious to corals and bigger fish. Again this is just what I have heard, it may or may not be true but it does make sence.

[suzimcmullen]

The formula that I heard about sounds pretty good. I'm using it. It's sweat potatoes, peas, marine snow or phyto plankton, and liquid vitamin. I bought a bottle of centrum liquid that has everything under the sun in it. I'm using an eye dropper and only getting a few drops into a 3 ounce solution. I'm mixing RO water and pureeing everything until smooth and liquid. Since brine eat all the time, literally constantly, they would always be gut loaded with whatever we are feeding them.

Suzi

[matt880305]

yes that means that you have to keep the water cloudy all the time and also i here that you are sappost to clean the tank once a week....

[suzimcmullen]

I cleaned the tank today. It's not that hard. I bought the greatest little suction light so that I can attract them to whatever part of the tank I need. I totally changed the water and probably will every few days.

Suzi