Brine shrimp - solo aquarium owner

[Flumpweesel]

I hear great and positive things about feeding live brine shrimp however I feel its a lot of faff for my single community aquarium.  What does everyone think am I better using frozen or dry food alternative or does the reward make the effort worth while.  

I have kribs, apisto's, corys (pygmy and standard), siamese algae eaters and harlequin rasbora's.  

[RadMax8]

I would recommend going with frozen food. Hatching your own brine shrimp is great, however you either feed baby brine (which is tiny) or you have to grow them out, which takes time, space, and as you put it... lots of faff! The downside is I'm sure there's a small nutrition drop-off and you don't exactly get the natural predator vibes you would from live food, but it works really well for me. I put my frozen food in a feeder cone in my filter flow, and the stuff blows out in the current and the fish go nuts.

I feed brine shrimp, daphnia, and blood worms. Should be available at any decent pet/fish shop.

[Atitagain]

On 9/29/2021 at 9:42 AM, Flumpweesel said:

I hear great and positive things about feeding live brine shrimp however I feel its a lot of faff for my single community aquarium.  What does everyone think am I better using frozen or dry food alternative or does the reward make the effort worth while.  

I have kribs, apisto's, corys (pygmy and standard), siamese algae eaters and harlequin rasbora's.  

I think all of your fish worth benefit from live BBS. It’s absolutely worth the work, you wouldn’t need to it daily even as a treat once a week would go a long way with their diet. I’m not sure how much you would need to harvest, any left over if you rinse then add fresh water (without salt) you can freeze leftovers and feed later. Here’s some I did

if you need recipes for smaller batches just ask. Others and I would be glad to help.

[JaredL]

I use a simple method of hatching bbs. Brine Shrimp Direct I believe sells a black circular tray with a hole in the middle of the lid. You add your salt water to the fill line, add eggs, and wait 24 to 48 hrs. The hole in the lid allows a scoop with mesh on the bottom to scoop out shrimp. That hole is the only light source, so all the hatched shrimp swim right into the scoop after hatching. Used to use a heat lamp, but I have success just doing it at room temp(~72°). Very simple.

[Patrick_G]

It’s also a fun part of the hobby. I enjoy the process and the fish look great when they’re hunting the shrimp. 

[Guppysnail]

These work great for single tank treats.  

[Jeff]

Yeah; it's one of the healthiest foods we can feed. I think the Ziss Brine Shrimp Hatchery is worth it.

I only have to make a batch once every few months. I feed live once, and then freeze the rest. I work in frozen brine into my weekly feedings.

The hatchery isn't only for a situation where you have multiple tanks and/or a fish room. 

I only have a 10g tank, and think it's definitely worth it. 

[Beccs410]

Great topic to post about! I, myself, have been trying to figure out if hatching BBS would be worth it for me with three nano tanks, but this thread has really convinced me its totally worth it! I never thought about freezing whatever I didn't use up!! Brilliant idea!

[Hobbit]

There are some easy DIY hatcheries you can make yourself! One method uses water bottles, another just uses a jar.

Then your only expense is the air pump, tubing, and the eggs themselves. You can use sea salt from the grocery store if you get the kind with no additives—that way it doubles as your kitchen salt and doesn’t technically go into your fish budget 😇

I highly recommend it if you want a fun project that your fish will really appreciate!

[ccurtis]

I feed live baby brine to my community tank probably 2 to 3 times a week. I hatch it on my off days. I also feed many different frozen foods (blood worms, spirulina brine shrimp, daphnia, krill) here and there as well. Then I feed a few different dry foods on other days (xtreme krill flakes, xtreme spirulina flakes, xtreme pellets, vita bites, algae wafers). I have noticed with the variety, the fish are more colorful and active. I really think the overall activity and health improved when I started feeding the live BBS a couple times a week. I totally think its worth it. You can control the amount you are hatching. The unhatched eggs do not go to waste as long as you keep them in the fridge. I don't seem to have as many problems will illnesses either since I began feeding the live BBS. Could be a coincidence but it is working very well for me.

[Flumpweesel]

Thanks all, looks like I'll be trying brine shrimp. I like the idea of getting the outflow to waft the frozen ones around.  Kits seem a bit thin on the ground in the UK (aside from some strange and impractical looking things on amazon) so maybe its time to DIY.  This really is hobby that expands a skill base isn't it. 

I had seen the tray thingy Jaredl described so nice to know that it actually works 😊

[Maggie]

I have this little "single serve" brine shrimp hatchery. It comes with a small jar of eggs - enough for several months for a single tank. 

[Guppysnail]

My first was this. Shine a light near the spout and pour or use airline tube to suck out. Put airstone with a weight t the bottom.  I already had this I just purchased to make ice tea so I reappropriated it until I bought a ziss. 

[Andy's Fish Den]

The good thing about hatching brine shrimp, besides the nutrition aspect, is that you can hatch as much or as little as you want and can use. Back when I only had a couple of tanks, I used a 20oz pop bottle to hatch brine, I'd use maybe a cup and half of water, a few pinches of salt, and a small pinch of brine shrimp eggs, and would have plenty. As others have mentioned, if you have extra, you can freeze it to use later, which I still do now, 

[RadMax8]

On 9/29/2021 at 2:01 PM, Patrick_G said:

It’s also a fun part of the hobby. I enjoy the process and the fish look great when they’re hunting the shrimp. 

How long do the brine shrimp last in the aquarium? Wouldn't they die immediately of osmotic shock? Or do they swim around until the fish eat them?

Never done this before, so I don't mean to ask dumb questions.

[Patrick_G]

On 9/30/2021 at 7:17 AM, RadMax8 said:

How long do the brine shrimp last in the aquarium? Wouldn't they die immediately of osmotic shock? Or do they swim around until the fish eat them?

Never done this before, so I don't mean to ask dumb questions.

My fish eat them right away. I don’t think any last more that five min.

[Hobbit]

I’ve seen brine shrimp last an hour or two in fresh water. They don’t last forever, but they don’t kick the bucket immediately.

[Guppy Guy]

On 9/30/2021 at 12:35 AM, Hobbit said:

There are some easy DIY hatcheries you can make yourself! One method uses water bottles, another just uses a jar.

I highly recommend it if you want a fun project that your fish will really appreciate!

 I agree. Just be sure to put it in a place that you don’t mind if it gets a little messy. If you spill brine shrimp water, you will be smelling it for MONTHS! That’s why I have an old cookie trey under it to minimize spills.

[Flumpweesel]

Well after a lucky find on eBay and making sure I'll be around for the hatching period. (Life feels hectic after lockdown). Let's see how this works out.

[Guppysnail]

On 10/13/2021 at 7:33 PM, Flumpweesel said:

Well after a lucky find on eBay and making sure I'll be around for the hatching period. (Life feels hectic after lockdown). Let's see how this works out.

Fingers crossed for you(or should I say your hungry fishes)…good luck

[Eric W-Farmhouse Fish Room]

Just came up from feeding bbs after not hatching for a while. It brings me extra enjoyment and the fish go nuts for it. Start small. I used 20oz soda bottles for a long time and it worked fine. I have the Ziss hatchery now. It's okay, but not a game changer in my opinion. Totally your call, but you can get into it with minimal investment and I think it's a good addition to the hobby. I do have 9 tanks, but it's just a matter of scale.

[Flumpweesel]

Thanks again to all who contributed to this in the nature of providing true closure the tank got its first BBS feed today and yes indeed they when nuts. It was fun to watch.

48hr hatch rate so they'll be disappointed tomorrow, but sometimes is better than never.

[Hobbit]

Yay! So glad your fishies (and you) enjoyed the treat!

[Lebowski]

BBS are staple in my 5 tanks. I refuse to do perpetual batches though lol. What works really well for me sounds like it might work for you too. I make a large heaping 1TBS batch in the Ziss (the co-op eggs are far superior)...when it's ready, I sieve them into some tank water in a cup (disposing of the dirty salt water). Then I use a drip free turkey baster to fill several silicone ice cube trays (I use the little ball shaped ones). Then feed the rest live, which drives them nuts of course. This lasts me about 2 weeks...I just drop one or two balls in each tank daily with whatever else I'm feeding.