Brine Shrimp cultivation

[CrewePD210]

Any tips and trick to getting a brine shrimp colony up and running? I want to raise them for my basslet and wrasse and a couple of other fish that need to be active and chase stuff around. I've watched a ton of videos, and I seem to be having moderate success in that I have kept a FEW of my first hatching alive for a week, just curious to see if anyone does anything special or different that what seems to be best practices? I'm currently just using a tote with a sponge filter and heater and feeding spirulina powder. It keeps going away in about a day. I know phyto would probably be better, but maybe i can grow that later.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

It sounds like your goal is to raise them?
Usually we hatch them and feed them within 2 days, that is when they are they most 'nutritious'. And for the purpose of a hatchery no filter is needed. But again I'm not sure I'm understanding what your goal is.

 

[CrewePD210]

It sounds like your goal is to raise them?
Usually we hatch them and feed them within 2 days, that is when they are they most 'nutritious'. And for the purpose of a hatchery no filter is needed. But again I'm not sure I'm understanding what your goal is.

I want to grow to adult size to feed and occupy some larger fish like a wrasse, and basslet. I want to get them up to the size they are in the frozen cubes, to give them something extra and to hunt. I make my own frozen food as well, so if it worked well enough I could add a few to my mix.

 

[13rodo]

I want to grow to adult size to feed and occupy some larger fish like a wrasse, and basslet. I want to get them up to the size they are in the frozen cubes, to give them something extra and to hunt. I make my own frozen food as well, so if it worked well enough I could add a few to my mix.

For what it's worth I hatch and feed within 24 hours of hatching and my Chalk Basslet and Pink Streak Wrasse hunt them like crazy as they float around the tank. My goby even grabs them. They don't need to be full size. Just have a bit of flow to move the cloud around :)

 

[exnisstech]

I tried raising them a couple of time but must have done something wrong. If I need to feed them I run 2 hatcheries staggered so I have a continuous supply of BB to feed. As mentioned they're most nutritious as babies. I've read they have very little nutritional value as adults unless they are gut loaded with something.

 

[Freenow54]

It sounds like your goal is to raise them?
Usually we hatch them and feed them within 2 days, that is when they are they most 'nutritious'. And for the purpose of a hatchery no filter is needed. But again I'm not sure I'm understanding what your goal is.

Hi so where do you buy them in the Burlington Hamilton Toronto area ?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Hi so where do you buy them in the Burlington Hamilton Toronto area ?

I buy them from amazon. But they used to be like $8 a few years ago now its $25 so I haven't got it in a while, but they do work. Search for artemia eggs

 

[CrewePD210]

Thanks for the input. I feed some bbs but just sort of wanted to raise some adults for a little more activity fpr the fish

 

[Freenow54]

I buy them from amazon. But they used to be like $8 a few years ago now its $25 so I haven't got it in a while, but they do work. Search for artemia eggs

Thank You for some reason I did not get Notified by reef2reef regarding this.

 

[DaJMasta]

What sort of density? A culture should sort of be able to maintain itself when matured as they can eat biofilm, but the density will be very low. They also do somewhat better in higher than normal reef salinities - it's best to aim for something like 40ppt. You don't want too low a temperature, but also particularly high will make them active but not necessarily survive to adults better, keep the heater to be just above home temperature (mid 70s F, for example.) Also make sure the air isn't on too high and that shrimp can't get stuck in the filter with suction.

Live phyto is best, but other powdered foods should do.

 

[CrewePD210]

What sort of density? A culture should sort of be able to maintain itself when matured as they can eat biofilm, but the density will be very low. They also do somewhat better in higher than normal reef salinities - it's best to aim for something like 40ppt. You don't want too low a temperature, but also particularly high will make them active but not necessarily survive to adults better, keep the heater to be just above home temperature (mid 70s F, for example.) Also make sure the air isn't on too high and that shrimp can't get stuck in the filter with suction.

Live phyto is best, but other powdered foods should do.

Thanks. I have a few batches coming along pretty well at about a week and a half. I would like to just have some on hand for occasional feeding. I would probably add some BBS every once in a while just to keep numbers up.

 

[bristleworm]

I use to hatch BS a lot. Then got real tired of the mess and work and now I just buy frozen BBS.

 

[DmitryB]

I've done a few batches of BBS, but I'm always disappointed by the eggs/hatch ratio. Even the supposedly "high quality" eggs. Not sure what I may be doing wrong. I was using a Ziss hatchery, which is kind of fun, but again, very low hatching ratio. In which case that basic dish with no air pumpis a lot easier to deal with because the results would be pretty much the same.

 

[CrewePD210]

Yea, I got the dish version. I get a ton out of 2 scoops. i put a little puck light on top after hatching to draw them in.

 

[Freenow54]

What sort of density? A culture should sort of be able to maintain itself when matured as they can eat biofilm, but the density will be very low. They also do somewhat better in higher than normal reef salinities - it's best to aim for something like 40ppt. You don't want too low a temperature, but also particularly high will make them active but not necessarily survive to adults better, keep the heater to be just above home temperature (mid 70s F, for example.) Also make sure the air isn't on too high and that shrimp can't get stuck in the filter with suction.

Live phyto is best, but other powdered foods should do.

I read right or wrong The Adults do not have the nutrients

 

[bristleworm]

These work great and are about as easy as it gets for BBS.
Just take the little cup out and swish in the tank

 

[DmitryB]

These work great and are about as easy as it gets for BBS.
Just take the little cup out and swish in the tank

I was hoping the Ziss hatchery would give better yields, but alas. (The other thing is that the small Ziss hatchery is cheaper than that dish!!)

 

[Privateye]

Some notes and practices:

1. The artemia from the Great Salt Lake is considered the highest-quality.
2. As artemia hatch the pH can drop. It can be helpful to add bicarb with the cysts.
3. Nannochloropsis works well as a feed.
4. The water should be changed daily (or bacteria levels rise quickly).
5. BBS has the best nutritional properties. As they age they need to be gut-loaded to be nutritious for your fish. Often times this is when you'd add an "enrichment" diet instead of their normal feed. Without gut-loading they're kind of like a potato chip for fish: fun to eat but little nutrition.

 

[DmitryB]

Some notes and practices:

1. The artemia from the Great Salt Lake is considered the highest-quality.
2. As artemia hatch the pH can drop. It can be helpful to add bicarb with the cysts.
3. Nannochloropsis works well as a feed.
4. The water should be changed daily (or bacteria levels rise quickly).
5. BBS has the best nutritional properties. As they age they need to be gut-loaded to be nutritious for your fish. Often times this is when you'd add an "enrichment" diet instead of their normal feed. Without gut-loading they're kind of like a potato chip for fish: fun to eat but little nutrition.

How long after hatching are they still nutritious? I've seen numbers range from a few hours to almost a day.