frozen brine?

I say that the method in which you feed them should be determined by the type of fish you own and by the fish themselves. For instance, I have a tank with a Jack Dempsey, a Blackbelt Cichlid, a Sailfin Pleco, and a Blue Crawfish. I don't like to thaw the frozen stuff out for the same reason I don't feed flakes more than once a week. It's way too messy and I have a lot of waste. I notice that when I drop in cubes, my two cichlids both take turns tearing it up and most of it is eaten by them, but the small bit that does get torn free gets picked up by the pleco and crawfish. It's much better this way for me. I had a real messy tank putting in thawed food:( If you have a lot of smaller fish try putting in thawed stuff, if bigger cichlids are the main feature in your tank, feed 'em cubes. They seem to love tearing it apart anyways!:cool: There is still some scattered to feed the poor pups at the bottom.
 
I use a small dixie-cup to dip out a bit of tank water, put a chunk of frozen brine shrimp in there, let it sit to thaw (about two minutes), swish it around, then pour it into the tank in two or three "doses." I trail the dixie cup a bit over the water as I pour, which disburses it nicely. As it floats down, everybody chows, and everybody gets some! (I reuse the dixie cup lots of times before I need a new one, too.)

By the way, JamesB, if that stuff smells bad I would not use it. Could be that's why it was ... er ... "mismarked."

-- Pat
 
I use the same method as Cichlid Woman with 1 exception. I use a dropper from an old test kit to feed with (only had water in it). That way I can get some of the food down to the bottom feeders and others that stay in caves or rockpiles. It's also good way to feed fry in caves.
 
First off, $10.99 is the price I have been paying for a few years now but I have seen the same 2# piece at lot higher prices. Secondly, I would NEVER recommend putting the frozen piece in a tank before thawing it out and RINSING it off!!!! If any of you do and own a testing device for TDS, I suggest you test the water from the thawed shrimp. It is loaded with SALT! If you have 'soft water' fish like I do, the TDS ppm (Total Dissolved Solids - parts per million) will double in a week. That is not good for any fish. Most times I just put the frozen piece in a small 'custard' cup and let it thaw out at room temperature. Then take it to a faucet and rinse it off in a very fine mesh net, not necessarily a brine shrimp net as the mesh may be to fine. Just look at the color of the water that runs out. You don't want that stuff in your tank. Another thing, that ice cold food is not good for your fish swallow.
 
thawed..

Thaw the shrimp first.. I'd pour off the excess juice/water then feed the fish. I have heard that brine shrimp is good for young fish, not adult fish since it's very fatty.. I'm not sure if this is fact, but sounds right....
 
My technique is simiar to Cichlid Woman's also..using a dixie cup... I pour some in the middle of the tank for the more aggressive fish, and pour some near the filter outflow for the bottom feeders. The filter current carries some of the brine shrimp downward, conveniently near where my Zebra plec hides near a cave. Once the b/s has been poured, I usually turn off the HOB filter for a couple of minutes so the b/s doesn't get sucked in...

I will try wetmanNY's brine shrimp net method... the dixie cup method is less messy, but better safe/clean than sorry...

With regards to live vs frozen brine shrimp: I still feed my fish live b/s about twice a month. They really get a kick out of chasing some live food for a change...
 
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When freezing the brine shrimp, it does not lose alot of the nutrients. Might as well stick to the frozen brand. Do you guys notice any consistency in some companies brine shrimp? I notice one package can contain large brine shrimp and another small ones. I use the San fransisco Brand. Though, my dad said there is another brand that is better. I forgot which though? I will find out.
 
Originally posted by Z Man
First off, $10.99 is the price I have been paying for a few years now but I have seen the same 2# piece at lot higher prices.
Click to expand...

Hmmm.. you can get 32 oz of frozen bine shrimp for 10.99? I got it at that price because it was a mistake. normally it goes for 18.95.
 
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