i've been thinking i would like to try to hatch out some baby brine's to give to my fish. anybody do this? and is it as hard as hatching out cory eggs? :laugh:
Raising Brine Shrimp? Anyone?
- Thread starter wildgator25
- Start date
Nope, pretty easy. And while it is a great thing to do periodically for your fish, raising them up to any size, or for a reliable food source is a huge pain, requiring several tanks and daily feedings.
For a simple batch to batch of little ones, I use a 5 gallon tank with a bright light on it and an airstone. You can get pre-packaged salt mix, or use a bit of marine mix or rock salt, though I'm not sure on how much you'll want (sorry!). Add the eggs, and then wait. When the shell starts floating, they've hatched--look very closely and you can see the tiny things in there. The shells will collect along the sides, and should be removed--use a chunk of airline hose to siphon them away, or just wipe them away. The warmer the water, the quicker they hatch. Give them 3-4 days to grow up a bit, and then feed to your fish. You want to rinse them before feeding them to your fish (a brine shrimp net makes this easier). If you want them a bit bigger, you can feed them some activated yeast (10 grains brewer's yeast, 1/2 cup warm water, 10-15 grains sugar, let sit for 2-3 minutes, then pour in the tank with the brine).
Keep in mind that baby brine are very tiny--if you're feeding adult angels, they won't even notice the baby brine, you'll need to raise the brine up to 2-3 weeks age. With good feeding, the brine will still be nutritional, but if not fed, they are little more than popcorn for the fish.
For a simple batch to batch of little ones, I use a 5 gallon tank with a bright light on it and an airstone. You can get pre-packaged salt mix, or use a bit of marine mix or rock salt, though I'm not sure on how much you'll want (sorry!). Add the eggs, and then wait. When the shell starts floating, they've hatched--look very closely and you can see the tiny things in there. The shells will collect along the sides, and should be removed--use a chunk of airline hose to siphon them away, or just wipe them away. The warmer the water, the quicker they hatch. Give them 3-4 days to grow up a bit, and then feed to your fish. You want to rinse them before feeding them to your fish (a brine shrimp net makes this easier). If you want them a bit bigger, you can feed them some activated yeast (10 grains brewer's yeast, 1/2 cup warm water, 10-15 grains sugar, let sit for 2-3 minutes, then pour in the tank with the brine).
Keep in mind that baby brine are very tiny--if you're feeding adult angels, they won't even notice the baby brine, you'll need to raise the brine up to 2-3 weeks age. With good feeding, the brine will still be nutritional, but if not fed, they are little more than popcorn for the fish.
thanks for replying. i dont have a extra tank and dont want to invest alot of money buying another tank. i see that online pet stores have brine shrimp hatchery's. do these work just as well?
No they don't, we tried some at the LFS I work at and didn't get a good hatchout at all. I would talk with the owner or manager of your LFS, they can usually get live adult brine in, I know we can and usually do to sell at the store. Raising the brine like Orion said is nothing but a huge pain in the rear end, its cheaper and deffinately less stressful just buying them as adults.