Any Brine Shrimp Experts Out There?

[ScottR]

I buy bags of freshly hatched brine shrimp for my mixed reef tank. I used to be against brine shrimp feeding for some reason (frozen brine is innutritious?). Anyway, my fish love it! My LPS loves it more. I have lots of polyps to feed and nothing can get me this type of feeding response from all creatures.

Question is: I get a bag and it’s chock full of shrimps. So, how can I keep them long term? Air stone in a container? I hate to throw them away because the next day they’re not suitable for feeding. I’m hoping for a quick fix that’s not going to have me hooking up heaters, chillers, pumps, lights, and the whole 9 yards.

 

[Waterislife]

IMO, frozen brine has no nutrishal benifit, enless soaked in vitamins. Live brine, on the other, not sure. Then keeping it alive long term, sounds like a challenge.

 

[Peace River]

I buy bags of freshly hatched brine shrimp for my mixed reef tank. I used to be against brine shrimp feeding for some reason (frozen brine is innutritious?). Anyway, my fish love it! My LPS loves it more. I have lots of polyps to feed and nothing can get me this type of feeding response from all creatures.

Question is: I get a bag and it’s chock full of shrimps. So, how can I keep them long term? Air stone in a container? I hate to throw them away because the next day they’re not suitable for feeding. I’m hoping for a quick fix that’s not going to have me hooking up heaters, chillers, pumps, lights, and the whole 9 yards.

A brine shrimp hatchery setup should accomplish your goal to extend their life for a few days. This would also give you a chance to gut load the shrimp to increase the nutritional value.

 

[ScottR]

A brine shrimp hatchery setup should accomplish your goal to extend their life for a few days. This would also give you a chance to gut load the shrimp to increase the nutritional value.

I’m just hoping to keep them alive for an extra day or two. I get a bag for less than a dollar and it’s not a cost thing; I just hate wasting. I’m not looking to set up a new rig in my home because I don’t feed these that often. But I will say, the freshly hatched ones I get get a great feeding response and I can’t say they contribute to growth alone, but I’m sure they’re part of it.

 

[mygsris2slo4u]

I use one of these to hatch live brine. No air stones, heaters, etc. Just saltwater and a scoop of eggs.

 

[JMM744]

Just run an airline to a container and keep them at room temp. There is all sorts of stuff on utube. I raised fry for my anthias while trying to get them eating. It’s really pretty easy. Keeping them a day should be no big deal. I used 2 liter pop bottles cut off to make the container.

 

[Peace River]

I’m just hoping to keep them alive for an extra day or two. I get a bag for less than a dollar and it’s not a cost thing; I just hate wasting. I’m not looking to set up a new rig in my home because I don’t feed these that often. But I will say, the freshly hatched ones I get get a great feeding response and I can’t say they contribute to growth alone, but I’m sure they’re part of it.

I wasn’t thinking about an elaborate hatching system - just something like the San Francisco Brine Shrimp Hatchery. You could also do something similar (like mentioned in another post) by cutting the bottom off a 2 liter bottle, flipping over so the cap is pointing down, rig up a simple stand to hold the bottle in place, and then drop an air hose into the now upside down bottle. This gives you an effective temporary system to keep your brine shrimp alive for a few more days.

 

[Jay Crane]

Be extremely careful when adding the live brine to your tank. The water is far from clean and there are a lot of pests, Ich being one of them. I've learned the hard way. I hatch my own and fresh water rinse and dip before adding them to the tank. Baby brine shrimp when just hatched is when they are at their peak of nutritional value. Brine shrimp direct has plenty of products. You can soak the frozen in supplements. A great food product is HPD from American reef. I've been using the product for years. He has great videos to educate on how to make and use it. Its the best food I've found. Hey if what your doing is working for you, stay with it. Good luck.

 

[Wolf89]

No need for any complications. They will live in just a bowl in the fridge for 2-3 days in my experience.

 

[Reef Nutrition]

I buy bags of freshly hatched brine shrimp for my mixed reef tank. I used to be against brine shrimp feeding for some reason (frozen brine is innutritious?). Anyway, my fish love it! My LPS loves it more. I have lots of polyps to feed and nothing can get me this type of feeding response from all creatures.

Question is: I get a bag and it’s chock full of shrimps. So, how can I keep them long term? Air stone in a container? I hate to throw them away because the next day they’re not suitable for feeding. I’m hoping for a quick fix that’s not going to have me hooking up heaters, chillers, pumps, lights, and the whole 9 yards.

If you want to keep them for a few days and maintain their nutritional value, simply feed them a phytoplankton blend, like our SDaquarist. This is the same blend that our public aquarium customers use to grow out brine shrimp. Just keep in mind that these animals can get very dirty depending on density. Aeration is very wise since they consume a lot of oxygen. A simple, cheap sponge filter is a great way to take up the waste.

 

[TvanB1]

I’ve had them reproduce in a bucket with nothing but an air stone and a small piece of live rock. Fed phytoplankton (RGcomplete) daily and topped off as needed.
I used to collect the females with eggs and feed them to a copperband I had.