Idea: Brine shrimp for auto-feeding?

[Schteeve]

Hey all!
I'm sure this has been asked before but I would like to raise it for discussion.
the way i see it, fish eat whenever they're hungry and will eat as much as they need right?
the only issue with "over-feeding" your tank is that uneaten food will decompose and upset the relatively small amount of water in our tanks compared to the ocean.

but what if the food is alive and therefore not decomposing?

buying bulk packets of cystic bring shrimp eggs and hatching them in the sump (i assume when they become motile they'll get washed up to the display tank) will give the fish a constant source of food that wont decompose if left eaten right?

 

[Paul Sands]

Brine shrimp eggs pollute the tank and decompose.

 

[SDK]

It’s a good thought but not practical. Besides the above mentioned pollution, the casings float up and get stuck all over everything they touch. Your tank would be a mess in short order.

Feed your fish well but don’t overthink it. Culture and/or buy some live foods to include in your feeding regimen and you will be in great shape.

I lightly feed a variety of pellets in the morning, then something live every night. Once a week I mix some frozen food with Reef Roids and broadcast feed it to everything. A similar regimen will keep everything in your tank in great condition.

With a few difficult to keep exceptions, fish don’t really need a constant food supply. The complications of trying to provide it in a closed aquarium environment will far outweigh the benefits for the average reef tank

 

[lapin]

Eggs are not the best in a tank as said above. When they hatch they are pinhead size. Without feeding them phyto or something they will die in a few days. You can raise them in a hatching cone. De-capped are less messy.
Pods are a much better option.
You will still need to supplement your fish with other food unless you have a few hundred gallons per small fish.
If you are into raising foods, search out the Paul B thread on white worms. Black worms can be done but it is a more work then white ones

 

[Schteeve]

Thanks for the responses guys i do have pleeeenty of pods growing in my DT and sump, some of them i think are getting too big to even be food! they look like... lice? small white things that dart of tiny holes in the rockwork to eat then quickly dart back inside again.

I feed my fish flakes/pellets and every now and again i defrost a cube of frozen brine/mysis shrimp and use a pipette to "hand" feed them. they're greedy little kids! all 11 of them come right up to the pipette and try to suck the food out

 

[bluprntguy]

Thanks for the responses guys i do have pleeeenty of pods growing in my DT and sump, some of them i think are getting too big to even be food! they look like... lice? small white things that dart of tiny holes in the rockwork to eat then quickly dart back inside again.

I feed my fish flakes/pellets and every now and again i defrost a cube of frozen brine/mysis shrimp and use a pipette to "hand" feed them. they're greedy little kids! all 11 of them come right up to the pipette and try to suck the food out

This hatchery dish is a simple way to hatch brine shrimp to feed your tank. It doesn't need an air pump and the brine shrimp just swim to the center leaving their shells on the outside. I dump the shells and water every other day. It takes about 24 hours for the brine shrimp to hatch, so for two days you have live food ready.

Hatchery Dish

This simple-to-use brine shrimp hatchery is ideal for the hobbyist, science fair student, teacher, or aquarist who treats their fish to the occasional live treat. No aeration required. Includes a three month supply of eggs!

www.brineshrimpdirect.com

There are also some hatcheries that hang on your tank and the brine shrimp swim into your tank while keeping the shells safely outside your tank: