Freezing Baby Brine Shrimp

[Lycramosa]

I've seen several people freezing their own baby brine shrimp that they have hatched and I have a few questions about the process. 

Is it best to rinse the shrimp and put them in some tankwater before freezing them to get rid of the salt? I ask, because how salt affects the freezing point of water. 

Do you even need more water if you strain the shrimp first before putting into a silicone mold? 

 

[Theplatymaster]

@KittenFishMomdid this maybe she can help.

[Guppysnail]

I rinse and strain. I do not add extra water. I use a pipette to suck them straight out of the strainer. Extra water just causes them to sink and then you get a chunk of ice on top. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I rinse and strain, and then put them in tank water. The difference between myself and @Guppysnailis I thaw mine (again using tank water) before feeding. 

[Guppysnail]

@AllFishNoBrakes I also thaw mine. I found when I refrigerate in water the water becomes polluted. I always restrain and rinse again. I actually use bottled water for this. 
Probably not enough to matter but I always guessed the water gets a touch polluted when freezing also but I’m not certain as I never tested that. 
I often feed to new hatched Cory and Aspidora fry that eat from the bottom in smaller amounts of water so I worry that any extra yuck may cause me issues. 

[KittenFishMom]

@Lycramosa  I have frozen them with and with out rinsing them. I haven't notice much difference, there isn't that much water in them. I use a tray that frozen bloodworms came in. When I want the shrimp to sink for corys, I put a few substrate pebbles in easy cube before adding the shrimp. That makes them sink like a rock. I recently got a nice deep strainer and use tap water rinse thethem into the center of the stainer. If the mixture gets too thick to pippette them I add a bit more wateraround the edge of the strainer to push them into the middle.

[Lycramosa]

@Guppysnail@AllFishNoBrakes@KittenFishMom Thank you all so much! I've ordered a strainer and I already have a couple of silicone mini ice cube trays I use for Rapashy sometimes. I have tried a few times to freeze them and like Guppysnail said, the shrimp sunk to the bottom and there was a layer of water/ice on the top. That was just harvesting them without straining or rinsing and putting them in the ice cube trays. I definitely got more water than brine shrimp with that method, which is why I was asking here! 

Thank you again for your responses! 

 

[Guppysnail]

On 3/6/2023 at 1:30 PM, KittenFishMom said:

When I want the shrimp to sink for corys, I put a few substrate pebbles in easy cube before adding the shrimp. That makes them sink like a rock.

This is brilliant!

[KittenFishMom]

@Guppysnail Well nothing sinks like a rock more than well, a rock.😉

I bet plecos would like this.

Edited March 6 by KittenFishMom

[Guppysnail]

On 3/6/2023 at 2:32 PM, KittenFishMom said:

@Guppysnail Well nothing sinks like a rock more than well, a rock.😉

I bet plecos would like this.

My Mom pleco loves BBS. She learned to eat from a coral feeder but it’s awkward for her. She is who I thought of right away. 

Edited March 6 by Guppysnail

[KittenFishMom]

@Guppysnail Sometime the shrimp do melt off the pebbles and float up for the higher fish. In that case, I just drop in another weighted cube. I have sand subsrtate, so I have to retrive the pebbles, but if you use what is in the tank there is not clean up. It is extremely free.

[CT_]

I used to do this.  I just strained and put in a tray with tap water.  They do stink when freezing but I'm not hurting for freezer space and don't really care about the extra water in my tank.  I just throw the cube in too.  Basically I did what was the least work.   After I stopped raising baby fish I gave up though as that was even easier ;)

[ccurtis]

I rinse mine, then use a pipette and suck the shrimp up and fill the molds I am putting them in. I do not add water, but I do a drop of vita-chem in each mold before filling it just for some added nutrition.