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Raising Brine Shrimp (1 Viewer)

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RobertP

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I was in Oceanlife a couple weeks ago and saw their small tank full of brine shrimp or every size and was inspired to try them. I had some old brine eggs that were about 2-3 years old and I think 1 hatched out of about 30,000...give or take a few thousand. So I got some new eggs and these did much more like I expected. So I got some brine shrimp growing now. These are 6 days old and maybe 1mm in length and almost impossible to get a good cell phone picture. I am always amazed at how fast they grow. Last Friday they were just dots and now I can see their tails. I read they are adults at 8 days but I assume they will not be full grown at that time...since that is only 2 days away and they are not close yet.

Originally I wanted to see if I could grow them in my reef tank but I doubt that would work. They are not real strong swimmers and betting the powerheads and pumps would just turn them into easy meals. However, I still think it is pretty cool watching them and they will provide some food for the reef.

This is a 20 gallon tank about half full. I made a DIY hatchery out of a 20oz soda bottle to keep out most of the hatched eggs. I am going to try a 2 liter bottle next but not sure a 20 gallon tank can handle that many at once. Since I had most of the parts it worked well...yeah that foam filter is too big ut who cares as long as it works. Did a 50% water change last night and was able to clean up half the tank while the brine were in the other half. In a few days I will do the same for the other side. It sure is nice of them to be led by lights to the other side of the tank.

Feeding them spiralina powder but it does not mix real well even when you let it soak in a cup of water first. I am still looking for a cleaner easier way to feed them. I am thinking phytoplankton or something premixed in a bottle. I read yeast might be good as well so we will see. Brine are filter feeders so it has to be suspended in the water for it to work.
 

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frankc

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When I was in high school and college and breeding freshwater bettas and angels, I used to raise brine shrimp in 2 liter bottles pretty successfully. I never tried to grow them out though - I just needed the freshly hatched ones to feed the fry until they were big enough for flake food. The few times I've tried it since then have not gone well, and I'm not sure what I did wrong.

Are you using a reef salt mix, and what salinity are you mixing it to?
 
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RobertP

RobertP

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Just using normal reef mix of 1.026. I know they can take less or more so figure it is easier just to use the water that is already mixed up. One challenge is the filtration since you dont want to catch them. I never used these sponge filters before so we will see.

When I was a kid everyone had comic books with Sea Monkeys for sale on the back. I knew a couple people that tried it but never had the chance.
 
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