Is Baby Brine Shrimp good for adult fishes as well?

[yhbae]

I tried hatching 'em for the first time, and it worked like a charm...

I injected washed BBS into my community tank and by far, harlequin rasboras are the most aggressive at eating this stuff. Usually, platies dominate during the feed time, but it appears that BBS is little too small to attract their attention (they do it some, but no where as much as the rasboras do). I can't tell if panda cories are eating them since they are at the bottom.

I've heard that BBS contains little too much fat for adult fishes' diet. I also hear people using them to condition a breeding pair. So, is it good for them or am I harming them? If not, how often should I feed them? My main reason was to breed some of the species I have, so I didn't expect the adult fishes to go nuts over them!

 

[beviking]

Sure you can feed it to adult fish. A couple times a week won't hurt anything. I wouldn't feed them exclusively on BBS though.
I believe it's the high protien content of live food that "conditions" fish to spawn along with the abundance of it. If you are trying to condition the fish to spawn, you can feed BBS to them 2-3 times a day along with a little staple food. Better yet, spread the feed out over 5-6 feedings/day.

 

[yhbae]

Thanks for the feedback...

If I feed once a day, should I be concerned about the water quality? I remember someone mentioning that he does daily water change because he feeds BBS...

 

[a_free_bird73]

There is no need to feed daily and chances are it is not a complete diet (unless you are breeding in which case you may want to add more frozen variety). Yes BBS do contain too much fat for adult fish You will be much better off with dry food most of the time and the occasional feed on BBS.

If you wash the BBS in fresh water before adding then you only need normal maintanance. However if you add the BBS with the their salt water then you have to make significant water change as the concentration of salt will build up very quickly

 

[yhbae]

Basically, I used a syringe to suck out BBS, and pour them out on the coffee filter which sits on top of a cup. Once all salt water has been drained, I take another cup with 2 cm of water from the tank, and "wash" the filter into the cup - I hope this is enough to not introduce any significant salt.

Hmm, I fed some more today, and some Harlequins look real fat! I guess I overfed them... I put the rest in the freezer - I hope this is ok...

I hope to breed Harlequins and Panda cories in the future, so this was supposed to be my first practice - wow, 1/4 tea spoon produces lots of these little critters! (And I bought a big tin can full of those eggs - hope it lasts more than a year...)