Hydra/Brine Shrimp Question

[Hollygirl]

I read in this forum and in a link provided by someone in AC that Hydra can become a problem if you feed newly hatched brine shrimp to your fish. For that reason I have not been giving it to my White Cloud fry. However, there is a new product on the market called Instant Baby Brine Shrimp by Ocean Nutrition. They are basically newly hatched brine shrimp kept in some sort of preservative. They are not freeze dried, and the little jar has to be refrigerated after opening. Does anyone think that feeding this to my fry would bring about a "Hydra explosion"? I have read that hydra are actually always in water and that certain live foods causes them to flourish. Any suggestions? Has anyone had a problem with this product?

 

[jm1212]

hydra will only become a problem if you do not change the water frequently enough, the water quality starts to deteriorate, and you are overfeeding.

brine shrimp that you hatch yourself would probably be better for the fish.

 

[Hollygirl]

Thanks! I do partial water changes in the fry tank regularly. It is a 3 gallon Eclipse system. I change about 1/2 gallon every three days. I originally had 5 White Cloud fry in that tank, but I rescued a few more from my 20 gallon long. I now have about 12 fry of various ages, ranging from 3 weeks to about 4 days in age. The larger fry are able to eat the finely ground fish flakes but the youngest fry are still eating that Liquid fry food. I was thinking of trying those "shell-less" brine shrimp. Apparently you hatch them the same way you do the ones with the shells.