Hatching Brine Shrimp

[Spongebobsquarepants]

Hello all, i am new to the forms and finding them very interesting and helpful.I find really cool new ways to do thing and different ways to look at things .I was wandering if any one has tryed to hatch brine shrimp.I been in reef tanks now for about 2 years and never tryed hatching brine shrimp.I am wanting to hatch them not only for my fish but help with new tank i have set up with mostly base rock with about 3 lbs of live rock. Tanks been up running for about 2 months and cycle is been done for about months and 20 gal.I was hoping that it would help in with the seeding of the rock.

[skeety]

First off, WELCOME!! Glad to have you with us!

now..on to your question.

I actually did (and still do ocassionally) hatch my own brine.

They're more of a treat for the tank, and they have no real nutritional value.

And the hard part, is getting the baby brine in the tank, but none of the water they grew up in (as it's LOADED with bad stuff).

you should check out this product for easy hatching:

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

[gwen_o_lyn]

interesting... I have hatched brine shrimp in a 2 liter bottle and added them to the tank as food... (same thing like sea monkeys) I remember Jenn at IO (<--- means very reputable source) told me they won't survive in a tank for very long. So I guess once they die, u are kinda adding a cycle to the tank. Kinda like the people who buy the dead shrimp and add to their tank to speed up the cycle. Not my method of choice, but many people do it. I wouldn't really call this seeding the rock, but maybe it is indirectly?


they make a speciall net just for baby brine to get them outta the water...

[VWD]

Welcome!

[tabwyo]

freshly hatched brineies ,aka artemia, are great as a food source for your system. They are still loaded with all the goodies from thier yolk sacs.

[skeety]

Originally Posted by tabwyo

freshly hatched brineies ,aka artemia, are great as a food source for your system. They are still loaded with all the goodies from thier yolk sacs.

emphasis on the "freshly" part. After about 48 hours, they loose all their nutrition.

[VWD]

Its good to feed to them every so often.

[DSB]

Brine shrimp are easy to start breeding. I started a couple of months ago, (do a search for live brine) the shrimp has a value throught it's life cycle. (50 day's) Baby's are good for the fat and amino acid's. I was looking at my tank last night (3:00am) and saw a bunch of juniors in it (20-30days old), great food for the inmates of the tank, I also see molting going on, at this point, I would not be affraid to leave my tank alone for a week, I know there is food in it and all will be well. I do get a big kick out of it when I put the babies in, The fish go nuts.

[Loverotties]

Welcome!Like people have said hard to keep alive long,dirty water= alot of work!But you mite have something that can only eat newly hatch shrimp(like baby seahorse) but it's still a pain!

[DSB]

Originally Posted by Loverotties

Welcome!Like people have said hard to keep alive long,dirty water= alot of work!But you mite have something that can only eat newly hatch shrimp(like baby seahorse) but it's still a pain!

and it smells BAD!

[rayjay]

First of all, it's too bad that the myth of brine shrimp lacking nutrition is still being perpetuated today, especially with so much information available on the internet.
So much information though is merely regurgitated uninformed garbage.
Unless the original author of such information is qualified to comment by virtue of studying the subject thoroughly, the comment should be viewed as suspect until proven one way or the other.
Unfortunately, most sources quoted in the hobby, are by experienced hobbyists or professionals of the hobby. THEY DO NOT HAVE EXPERTISE IN THE AREA OF BRINE SHRIMP.
The real facts are, that brine shrimp, both nauplii and adults, are used extensively as a major part of the feeding regieme in the marine mariculture industry. Would not these people be more qualified to comment on nutrition of brine shrimp?
Additionally, there is also the Laboratory of Aquaculture and Artemia Reference Center consisting of scientists researching anything to do with brine shrimp, but stressing information required by the mariculture industry.
Personally, I would trust information from this source probably most of all.
From my searching I have learned that both nauplii and adults have nutrition, but each has a different type of nutrition.
The nauplii are an exellent source of huffa's due to the egg sack they hatch with, while the adults are an excellent source of high protein levels.
As adults, the brine shrimp can be made an excellent source of both protein and huffa's by gut loading with products similar to Selco, or Selcon.
For those wishing to read extensively about the reference center's published findings for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, you can go to this link and scroll down to 4.Artemia:
MANUAL ON THE PRODUCTION AND USE OF LIVE FOOD FOR AQUACULTURE

For those who wish to read just a little:
NUTRITIONAL PROPERTIES OF ONGROWN ARTEMIA

My take on hatching brine shrimp is that the cheapest way is using a two litre pop bottle with the bottom cut out, the top screwed on, and inverted upside down in the bottom piece cut out of another bottle. Aeration is provided by an air pump and delivered to the container via air line tubing connected to a piece of rigid air line tubing the length being just longer than the depth of the container. No airstones please as small bubbles can kill the shrimp.
S.G. of around 1.020 to 1.025 at temperatures of around 80F and using a quality cyst, properly stored in a refrigerator, produce excellent results in about 18 hours at which time they are netted with a brine shrimp net, and rinsed in freshwater before either feeding them to the tanks, or, putting them in a container for growing them to adults.
Hatching water can sometimes introduce harmful bacteria to any water it comes in contact with, and for me, it's not worth risking all my investment.
As for growing brine shrimp to adult, it's not worth the work when you can buy them cheap at an LFS, or order them online from places like livebrineshrimp.com.
If you really must, then my page may be of interest to you.
RAISING BRINE SHRIMP

[DSB]

Originally Posted by rayjay

First of all, it's too bad that the myth of brine shrimp lacking nutrition is still being perpetuated today, especially with so much information available on the internet.
So much information though is merely regurgitated uninformed garbage.
Unless the original author of such information is qualified to comment by virtue of studying the subject thoroughly, the comment should be viewed as suspect until proven one way or the other.
Unfortunately, most sources quoted in the hobby, are by experienced hobbyists or professionals of the hobby. THEY DO NOT HAVE EXPERTISE IN THE AREA OF BRINE SHRIMP.
The real facts are, that brine shrimp, both nauplii and adults, are used extensively as a major part of the feeding regieme in the marine mariculture industry. Would not these people be more qualified to comment on nutrition of brine shrimp?
Additionally, there is also the Laboratory of Aquaculture and Artemia Reference Center consisting of scientists researching anything to do with brine shrimp, but stressing information required by the mariculture industry.
Personally, I would trust information from this source probably most of all.
From my searching I have learned that both nauplii and adults have nutrition, but each has a different type of nutrition.
The nauplii are an exellent source of huffa's due to the egg sack they hatch with, while the adults are an excellent source of high protein levels.
As adults, the brine shrimp can be made an excellent source of both protein and huffa's by gut loading with products similar to Selco, or Selcon.
For those wishing to read extensively about the reference center's published findings for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, you can go to this link and scroll down to 4.Artemia:
MANUAL ON THE PRODUCTION AND USE OF LIVE FOOD FOR AQUACULTURE

For those who wish to read just a little:
NUTRITIONAL PROPERTIES OF ONGROWN ARTEMIA

My take on hatching brine shrimp is that the cheapest way is using a two litre pop bottle with the bottom cut out, the top screwed on, and inverted upside down in the bottom piece cut out of another bottle. Aeration is provided by an air pump and delivered to the container via air line tubing connected to a piece of rigid air line tubing the length being just longer than the depth of the container. No airstones please as small bubbles can kill the shrimp.
S.G. of around 1.020 to 1.025 at temperatures of around 80F and using a quality cyst, properly stored in a refrigerator, produce excellent results in about 18 hours at which time they are netted with a brine shrimp net, and rinsed in freshwater before either feeding them to the tanks, or, putting them in a container for growing them to adults.
Hatching water can sometimes introduce harmful bacteria to any water it comes in contact with, and for me, it's not worth risking all my investment.
As for growing brine shrimp to adult, it's not worth the work when you can buy them cheap at an LFS, or order them online from places like livebrineshrimp.com.
If you really must, then my page may be of interest to you.
RAISING BRINE SHRIMP

That's what I said. KINDA

[rayjay]

Originally Posted by DSB

I was looking at my tank last night (3:00am) and saw a bunch of juniors in it (20-30days old), great food for the inmates of the tank, I also see molting going on, at this point, I would not be affraid to leave my tank alone for a week, I know there is food in it and all will be well.

I forgot to mention, that you will not see brine shrimp 20 days old in your tank unless there are no predators of any kind in the tank, and, it would need dense enough plankton appropriately sized to feed them for that time.
Brine shrimp are very slow and easily hunted down by fish and even inverts.
What you see are most likely mysid shrimp (saltwater version of freshwater mysis shrimp) that are common in almost all hobbyist healthy tanks.
Mysids are very quick, and much harder (not impossible) for any predators to catch, so that enough will remain to perpetuate the culture.
I feed brine shrimp nauplii to my mysid rearing tanks as it's a great food for them.
An unfed tank for the long term might possibly suit some inhabitants that are able to hunt down sufficient quantities of mysids, but not all fish are capable of doing this.
Also, some fish are strictly herbivorious and don't pursue "meat" foods.

[DSB]

Originally Posted by rayjay

I forgot to mention, that you will not see brine shrimp 20 days old in your tank unless there are no predators of any kind in the tank, and, it would need dense enough plankton appropriately sized to feed them for that time.
Brine shrimp are very slow and easily hunted down by fish and even inverts.
What you see are most likely mysid shrimp (saltwater version of freshwater mysis shrimp) that are common in almost all hobbyist healthy tanks.
Mysids are very quick, and much harder (not impossible) for any predators to catch, so that enough will remain to perpetuate the culture.
I feed brine shrimp nauplii to my mysid rearing tanks as it's a great food for them.
An unfed tank for the long term might possibly suit some inhabitants that are able to hunt down sufficient quantities of mysids, but not all fish are capable of doing this.
Also, some fish are strictly herbivorious and don't pursue "meat" foods.

Yea, thats them (brine) slow moving shrimp in my tank. Lot's of preditors in my tank too. Out of the THOUSANDS of naupli many have made it.

[rayjay]

Try to catch some of them and then take a close up picture of them lying on a different colored backgrounds to get the best pics possible.