San Francisco Bay brand spirulina brine shrimp. Is it really gut loaded?

[Tripod1404]

I always assumed these kinds of products were brine shrimp packaged with spirulina containing water since thought gut loading them at commercial scale is not possible (do to not being able harvest them in time after gut loading). However, website description of SFBB spirulina brine shrimp suggests they are gut loaded with spirulina. Anyone knows if this is really true?

I know Hikari. Brine shrimp is not gut loaded since their discrimination say “bio-encapsulation similar to gut loading”. But SFBB clearly says and describes gut loading. Is this something new that flew under the radar?

“San Francisco Bay Brand Frozen Spirulina Brine Shrimp have been gut-loaded with Spirulina algae (used as an immune system booster in commercial aquaculture operations for years) in holding tanks prior to freezing.”

Frozen Spirulina Brine Shrimp

Share This Page: Fish Food - Frozen Brine Shrimp Spirulina Brine Shrimp Promotes Health For All Fresh & Saltwater Fish San Francisco Bay Brand Frozen Sp ...

sfbb.com

I tried to check them under a microscope and the guts seem to be greenish, so there may be some truth to the claim, but it still sounds to good to be true.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I would assume they're keeping the brine shrimp in tanks with the algae, then just pulling the brine shrimp out of those tanks directly to freeze, but I could be wrong. If I'm right, though, I don't see why that wouldn't work for gutloading them on a commercial scale.

 

[Spare time]

Seems simple enough for a company to do.

 

[Cthulukelele]

Theur guts are incredibly green and spirulina colored. I can't imagine it'd be much cheaper to fill their stomachs with something green other than spirulina considering how cheap it is.

 

[Tripod1404]

Good to know. My fish absolutely love SFBB brine shrimp, but I feel bad if I heed it too often since it feels like feeding a dog potato chips. I am glad it has some nutritional value.

 

[Cthulukelele]

Good to know. My fish absolutely love SFBB brine shrimp, but I feel bad if I heed it too often since it feels like feeding a dog potato chips. I am glad it has some nutritional value.

Also just so you're aware yes brine shrimp shouldn't be EVERY meal as they arent a complete food for most marine life, but they absolutely do have a good deal of nutritional value--especially gutloaded with spirulina. Varied diet and is important, and gutloaded brine is a great addition to the roladex of frozen foods you feed your fish.

 

[Cthulukelele]

They're also a great laxative food for constipated fish

 

[Tripod1404]

Yeah I rotate between frozen and dry foods. I stopped feeding them a mixture since they seem to go after their favorite (brine and pellets) if I feed a mix. So now it is frozen of some kind one day and dry food of some kind the other day.

Nice thing about brine shrimp is that I have never seen a fish to refuse to eat it. Which can then be used to transition them to other foods. I even trained an orange spotted file fish to eat brine shrimp years ago, and transitioned it to eat basically anything (flakes, mysis, pellets and even nori).

 

[LeftyReefer]

I have a 40B tank that has a bunch of small fish. I've tried feeding them a ton of different frozen foods over the years and they pretty much shun anything that isn't brine shrimp... I've got a freezer full of expensive frozen foods, Rods, Larrys/LRS , PE, Hikari, SFSB, Ocean Nutrition, Gamma, etc.. you name it, I've tried it and I just can't get this tank to eat anything other than brine shrimp consistently.

they literally turn up their noses at anything else I offer and ignore it.

clowns
anthias
damsels
royal gramma

They all seem to be doing fine on a diet of 95% brine shrimp except for one of the anthias that has slowly been getting skinnier and skinner.... all the other fish in the tank look great and are gaining weight on a diet of nothing but brine shrimp.

It's depressing spending $20 on a flat of Rods or LRS only for it to be totally ignored in favor of the cubes of brine that cost a nickel each.

Oh well, I just ordered another 20 packs of brine cubes.

 

[Spare time]

I have a 40B tank that has a bunch of small fish. I've tried feeding them a ton of different frozen foods over the years and they pretty much shun anything that isn't brine shrimp... I've got a freezer full of expensive frozen foods, Rods, Larrys/LRS , PE, Hikari, SFSB, Ocean Nutrition, Gamma, etc.. you name it, I've tried it and I just can't get this tank to eat anything other than brine shrimp consistently.

they literally turn up their noses at anything else I offer and ignore it.

clowns
anthias
damsels
royal gramma

They all seem to be doing fine on a diet of 95% brine shrimp except for one of the anthias that has slowly been getting skinnier and skinner.... all the other fish in the tank look great and are gaining weight on a diet of nothing but brine shrimp.

It's depressing spending $20 on a flat of Rods or LRS only for it to be totally ignored in favor of the cubes of brine that cost a nickel each.

Oh well, I just ordered another 20 packs of brine cubes.

Have you tried any dried foods? Mine always like ocean nutrition prime reef flakes.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Have you tried any dried foods? Mine always like ocean nutrition prime reef flakes.

This. I have a harem of 6 lyretail anthias that loves ocean nutrition flakes. Just added 2 more to females to replace a male and female that aged out and they took right to it as well

 

[Cthulukelele]

This. I have a harem of 6 lyretail anthias that loves ocean nutrition flakes. Just added 2 more to females to replace a male and female that aged out and they took right to it as well

How long do they live typically?

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

How long do they live typically?

The two I recently lost with a few months of each other were about 3.5 years old. One terminal male and the head female. They were around since my 120g was started in may or June 2020. They were the last of the original harem of 5. 4 females and one that turned male.

 

[Cthulukelele]

The two I recently lost with a few months of each other were about 3.5 years old. One terminal male and the head female. They were around since my 120g was started in may or June 2020. They were the last of the original harem of 5. 4 females and one that turned male.

Had my male and female for about a year and a half good to know I still have a bit of time!

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Had my male and female for about a year and a half good to know I still have a bit of time!

They are awesome fish once they either beat QT or start eating in the 1st week. I've learned to just add them back as they age out since the lifespan is a bit short. They tend to be great conspecifics (learn from other fish).

 

[LeftyReefer]

Have you tried any dried foods? Mine always like ocean nutrition prime reef flakes.

This. I have a harem of 6 lyretail anthias that loves ocean nutrition flakes.

Good to know.

Truthfully, I've never really tried flakes in this tank other than a little bit of flake food mixed into the auto pellet feeder that I only use when I go on vacation. I'll pick up some of the ON prime reef flakes and give them a try.

 

[dthom]

Also, let them get nice a hungry before trying new foods. Miss a couple meals.

 

[Seansea]

Its crazy to hear this since my fish literally eat anything i put in the tank. I mix between mysis, brine ,pellets, squid, raw shrimp from grocery store, plankton and as soon as any of hits water they mackin. Squid i have always found sets even the finnikiest fish off. All fish love it. Great for puttin on a hook and deep sea fishin too.

 

[jmanrow]

I have a 40B tank that has a bunch of small fish. I've tried feeding them a ton of different frozen foods over the years and they pretty much shun anything that isn't brine shrimp... I've got a freezer full of expensive frozen foods, Rods, Larrys/LRS , PE, Hikari, SFSB, Ocean Nutrition, Gamma, etc.. you name it, I've tried it and I just can't get this tank to eat anything other than brine shrimp consistently.

they literally turn up their noses at anything else I offer and ignore it.

clowns
anthias
damsels
royal gramma

They all seem to be doing fine on a diet of 95% brine shrimp except for one of the anthias that has slowly been getting skinnier and skinner.... all the other fish in the tank look great and are gaining weight on a diet of nothing but brine shrimp.

It's depressing spending $20 on a flat of Rods or LRS only for it to be totally ignored in favor of the cubes of brine that cost a nickel each.

Oh well, I just ordered another 20 packs of brine cubes.

 

[jmanrow]

While your brine shrimp is thawing, possibly adding some Selcon concentrate to the food. This will add highly unsaturated fatty acids, and boost the nutritional quality of the food. Have you tried mixing the frozen brine with other foods, or do they just pick out the brine shrimp?