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Post by parker002 on Apr 11, 2011 12:48:27 GMT -5
My daughter has decided she wants to feed live brine shrimp to her fish.
So far, we've been unable to find anything locally.
The only thing we HAVE found is Sea Monkeys. Of course, I have no idea if they're actually safe to use as fish food.
Are they safe or should we mail order an actual hatchery kit?
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Post by goldenpuon on Apr 11, 2011 16:19:38 GMT -5
Brine shrimp are sea monkeys. I have no idea why they are called sea monkeys to be honest. They are safe for fish to eat. However, I have found them quite difficult to raise past a few days.
Brine shrimp (sea monkeys) should be fed VERY little and only a couple days after hatching. They like a very high salt content and a they should have aeration. Good foods for them are brewser's yeast, spirulina (the kind Carl sells, and a couple more though I forgot what they are.
Brine shrimp are very very tiny when they hatch and ridiculously easy to overfeed. Fish love them though. I had guppy fry and fed them some baby brine shimp. They loved it and went crazy.
Hope that helps.
Renee
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Post by parker002 on Apr 11, 2011 16:48:23 GMT -5
She's raised Sea Monkeys before. I was just concerned that maybe they add chemicals to the cysts to keep them viable longer, making them unsuitable for use as fish food...
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Post by goldenpuon on Apr 11, 2011 17:56:32 GMT -5
I am unsure if they add anything but I can guess almost positively that they don't.
Brine shrimp eggs stay good for years. Shrimp shrimp are a species that naturally live in salty area of water that dry up. Hence, their eggs have the ability to survive for years because otherwise, when the adultys died, there would be none left.
I have brine shrimp eggs from years ago as well that can still hatch without a problem.
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Post by Carl on Apr 11, 2011 18:19:32 GMT -5
She's raised Sea Monkeys before. I was just concerned that maybe they add chemicals to the cysts to keep them viable longer, making them unsuitable for use as fish food... I do not know of any chemicals used and otherwise agree with what Goldenpuon said. I could be wrong as to chemicals being added, but I have never heard or read of this and I have had clients feed their "Sea Monkeys" to their fish without s problem (although I never have fed "Sea Monkeys" intentionally other than those labeled as Brine Shrimp) Carl |
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Post by piscean on Apr 12, 2011 19:35:43 GMT -5
I buy mine (brine shrimp eggs) on ebay. I just got some for $8 and free shipping. 90% hatch rate. I don't remember the amount, but it's a fraction of the cost from the lfs and the quality is much higher. Fry and small adult fish do indeed love them.
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Post by Suzie Q (Lori) on Apr 18, 2011 11:42:40 GMT -5
I feed bbs (baby brine shrimp) to my betta fry. the only thing I have to worry about is the egg shells....they cause all kinds of problems...lol You can purchase adult brine shrimp from some pet stores. There are several places online that you can purchase BS eggs from with a 90-100% hatch rate. Keep the container of "not in use" eggs in the refrigerator though..hatch rate goes down if you don't. Fish go crazy over those things  !!! |
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Post by parker002 on Apr 20, 2011 13:51:29 GMT -5
We've got a couple hundred now but they're not big enough to feed yet!
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Post by goldenpuon on Apr 20, 2011 21:24:49 GMT -5
It may take a while for them to grow to a good size. With brine shrimp, I mainly fed them to guppy fry every so often when I bred guppies. Unfortunately, young brine shrimp are too small for larger fish.
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Post by ozymandias on Jul 15, 2020 12:49:19 GMT -5
We've got a couple hundred now but they're not big enough to feed yet! Hi,thank you for your post! Did you find success in keeping a culture of sea monkeys? I've just started to keep brine shrimp and Daphnia for the same purpose, so I would be interested to know how it went for you. Thanks! |
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