Live brine shrimp...

[JamisonBWolsh]

Hey..


I am going to be buying some LIVE brine shrimp. However, they sell the brineshrimp in SALTWATER. Would this effect my scaleless fish if I add a small amount of saltwater? Or should I just NEt the brineshrimp and then add them to a freshwater tank? Thanks...

 

[slipknottin]

you could use an eye dropper.

stick it in with the brineshrimp, suck them up, and shoot it out into your tank.

the salt added to your tank is negligable.

 

[gcvt]

You can net them, rinse them in fresh water, suck them up in an eyedropper...all those should work fine. I use a large bore syringe with a little piece of airhose stuck on the end; I suck 'em up and shoot them into the tank. I also have a longer rigid piece of airhose that I sometimes use to target-feed certain fish. The small amount of saltwater you'd get in there won't really make any difference.

 

[Darkangel]

I think that the question of whether or not there will be a lot of salt added depends greatly on the size of the tank you will be feeding. If you are dumping the average amount of saltwater that brine shrimp come packed in 3 or 4 times a week into a 10 gallon tank you may have a problem. This may not be immediatly evident but in time the salt could build up and bother some fish and plants. An example, while I know the numbers are way to big they give you an idea. Say after the first week you have raised the salt to 4% of the tank volume. You do your normal 25% water change and bring that down to about 2.5%. You would get this by first removing 25% then further diluting the remaining salt. After the second week the salt is at 6.5%. You do your water change and drop it to 4.5%. As you can see more and more salt will be added weekly even with regular water changes. Now I know these numbers are very high but you can see the progression. I only see it being a problem in a small tank with lets say a cup of saltwater every time 3 or 4 times a week being added. Myself I would take it that one extra step and net them out and rinse them. It takes only a second or two extra.

 

[TonyMuffTana]

Is there less chance for spreading disease because they live in salt water? I've always hesitated with live foods but I've wondered if these could be safer.

 

[eywses]

I tried live brine shrimp, but won't be doing it again any time soon (too expensive). This is what I did- I sucked some of them out of the bag with a small turkey baster, squirted them in a net, and rinsed them with dechlorinated water. Then I turned the net inside out and flushed them into a little cup. Then I squirted a few at a time into the tank so the fish didn't miss any. I like the baster because you can squirt a few to a fish that maybe is missing out because the others are being pigs.
Anyway, I've moved on to frozen food, it's easier to get for me, cheaper, and lasts longer. And the nutritional value is almost as good as live.

As far as disease, I don't think the fact they live in salt water matters. Live foods is the most likely to be a problem disease wise I believe. Frozen is second, and freeze-dried is next to none. Someone correct me if I'm wrong please.

 

[slipknottin]

yes diseases are limited because they are in SW. the change of osmotic pressure will likely kill any pathogens or diseases. Furthermore, there arent many SW diseases that can transfer to FW.