brine shrimp

wannareef · 10-24-2006, 12:58 AM

does anyone here breed them was thinking it would be a cool thing to do. my fish love live brine and my mandarin and scooter would be extra happy. if you know how or currently do breed them please let me know how its done and what i need to do it. equipment, techniques, anything that would be useful in being successful. thanks matt

Gforce3s · 10-24-2006, 01:54 AM

Sea monkeys!

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...1&N=2004&Nty=1

right there is all youll need, my little cousin got that kit and hatched them for a science project at school, then gave me the shrimps for fish food! very very simple.

whatevva · 10-24-2006, 04:54 AM

http://www.sea-monkeys.com/

Rippey · 10-24-2006, 06:13 AM

I hatch in a seprate tank then release them in my tank. Most get sucked into the partion side of my tank. They breed perty good on their own after a about 4 months they get perty frisky!.
They are very active at night and can hold on in strong current.

icebear · 10-24-2006, 07:28 AM

how do they not get sucked into filters?

and how big will those shrimpery kits get them to grow?

Rippey · 10-24-2006, 07:29 AM

Myne get suck in the filter all the time. When i change them I have to let the filter set in the tank and wiggle it so they hop off. Ive have about 5 that are 6mm big!

Hardhead Cat · 10-24-2006, 07:55 AM

They are very easy and inexpensive to grow, you can use a 1-gallon fishbowl, airstone, salt mix and water - - and brine shrimp nets. The most expensive part is buying the eggs.

HHC

Rippey · 10-24-2006, 07:57 AM

I aggree, If you can e-bay it. i got 2 pounds of eggs once for 15 dollarers. They came from a home breeder. They had about a72% hatch rate.

rayjay · 10-25-2006, 08:00 AM

We need to straighten a few things out with respect to brine shrimp.
First, brine shrimp will only grow where there are no predators present, and, where there is appropriately sized of appropriate density food present for them.
The also cannot "hold their own" in high current flow, or, for that matter, low current flow.
With the comment about current flow coupled with the active at night time comment, I suggest that what you are seeing at this point is mysid shrimp which are a salt water version of the fresh water mysis shrimp. They actually look like a miniature cleaner shrimp for many of the types.
Hatching them out is very easy. Growing them out is easy for LOW DENSITY quantities, but is a lot of work for dense culturing.
The number one thing to look for is cysts that have been properly stored a refrigerator temperatures, not kept on a shelf or in a box, and preferably with at least a rated 90% hatch rate.
The cysts can harbour a lot of bad bacteria so hatching them out in a tank system leaves the possiblility of problems or wipe out for that system. It's not worth the risk in my opinion.
For starters you could peruse the Brine Shrimp Direct site that has a lot of useful information.
BRINE SHRIMP DIRECT
If you are interested in grow out to adult in meaningful numbers, (higher density culturing) then you can look at my page.
RAISING BRINE SHRIMP TO ADULT
For the MOST COMPLETE INFORMATION AVAILABLE on brine shrimp (artemia) see the United Nations article on live foods for aquaculture written by the Artemia Research Centre at the University of Ghent.
CLICK HERE AND SCROLL DOWN TO SECTION 4.0 ARTEMIA
This UN site sometimes is down for days at a time, but it has always come back up again.

Twitterbait · 10-25-2006, 12:07 PM

I have sworn them off because the are not very nutritous unless you take extra time to gut load or suppliment them with vitamins. you may want to look into culturing Rots instead... they are more involved but will sustain themselves better and are more healthy for your fish.

just my .02

rayjay · 10-25-2006, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twitterbait

I have sworn them off because the are not very nutritous unless you take extra time to gut load or suppliment them with vitamins. you may want to look into culturing Rots instead... they are more involved but will sustain themselves better and are more healthy for your fish.

just my .02

This nutrition thing is another myth that has been perpetuated so long that too many people believe it now.
When the United Nations site is back up running, there is a section on nutrition of artemia, and Great Salt Lake cysts produce tank grown adults with protein levels approx. 54% to 59%. I don't remember the exact numbers but that is VERY close.
Wild caught from the GSL can range upwards to about 61%
THAT IS BEFORE GUT LOADING

The myth probably originated when hobbyists started comparing the protein levels stated on frozen brine shrimp packages, with other frozen foods and also flake and freeze dried foods, etc......
However, pretty well all other foods quote protein levels based on "dry" weights, (analysis done after completely drying out the samples) whereas the brine shrimp frozen foods for some reason, decided to quote protein levels based on "wet" weights, including, the packaging fluids as well.
Mysis and mysid shrimp have a little higher protein level, and, they can also be gut loaded, (i.e. with brine shrimp) to make them more nutritious, but they cannot be grown in the numbers or for the cost that brine shrimp can be produced.
The aquaculture industry make extensive use of brine shrimp (nauplii, juveniles, and adults) as a major part of the feeding program to raise food like shrimp and fish for our markets to sell to us for our tables.
They gut load the brine to make them even MORE nutritious thus producing their produce faster, not just to MAKE them nutritious.
By gut loading specific foods, you can target the intented recipients with something they might not otherwise eat but that would be beneficial for them.
(for instance,you could gut load the brine with spirulina and feed the butterfly fish and that makes the colors more impressive after a while.)
The information for the UN article came from this site:
LABORATORY OF AQUACULTURE AND ARTEMIA REFERENCE CENTER

gregb · 10-25-2006, 05:49 PM

There is alot of stuffing around with them. Its easier to buy frozen ones.

pyron88 · 10-25-2006, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayjay

This nutrition thing is another myth that has been perpetuated so long that too many people believe it now.
When the United Nations site is back up running, there is a section on nutrition of artemia, and Great Salt Lake cysts produce tank grown adults with protein levels approx. 54% to 59%. I don't remember the exact numbers but that is VERY close.
Wild caught from the GSL can range upwards to about 61%
THAT IS BEFORE GUT LOADING

The myth probably originated when hobbyists started comparing the protein levels stated on frozen brine shrimp packages, with other frozen foods and also flake and freeze dried foods, etc......
However, pretty well all other foods quote protein levels based on "dry" weights, (analysis done after completely drying out the samples) whereas the brine shrimp frozen foods for some reason, decided to quote protein levels based on "wet" weights, including, the packaging fluids as well.
Mysis and mysid shrimp have a little higher protein level, and, they can also be gut loaded, (i.e. with brine shrimp) to make them more nutritious, but they cannot be grown in the numbers or for the cost that brine shrimp can be produced.
The aquaculture industry make extensive use of brine shrimp (nauplii, juveniles, and adults) as a major part of the feeding program to raise food like shrimp and fish for our markets to sell to us for our tables.
They gut load the brine to make them even MORE nutritious thus producing their produce faster, not just to MAKE them nutritious.
By gut loading specific foods, you can target the intented recipients with something they might not otherwise eat but that would be beneficial for them.
(for instance,you could gut load the brine with spirulina and feed the butterfly fish and that makes the colors more impressive after a while.)
The information for the UN article came from this site:
LABORATORY OF AQUACULTURE AND ARTEMIA REFERENCE CENTER

I have heard about brine shrimp being low in protein at TWT before. I never said anything about it. Didn't want to go against that many people. I have read the same artical about their real nutrition value.

Twitterbait · 10-25-2006, 07:44 PM

I'll have to take a look at it. do you know who sponsored the study? My point was there are others with more nutrition even with this study taken into account so you may want to look at other options. there is also the concern with the cysts choking the fish if the swallow them.

Rippey · 10-26-2006, 06:42 AM

I use live brine all the time and I will swear by them. They do hang on in high current. They will survive with preditors. My tank has 2 fish that love them plus my ricordia loves them. They eat any food they find. and can be nutritious. They hide in live rock, gravel, sand, filters - ectra. They grow great and fast. Hatch them in a seprate tank and filter out the live ones. They will eat their own eggs that do not hatch. I have been using brine shirmp for aver a year now with execlent succes. I keep alot in the partion part of my tank for the skimmer. They eat any food that falls in and will eat green algea.

brine shrimp

what he said