Freezing Brine Shrimp

[theotheragentm]

@Cory mentioned freezing brine shrimp in his last live stream. Was that freezing eggs to keep them fresh for later hatching or freezing hatched brine shrimp to keep them as a cubed food that retains most of the nutrition? I would assume the latter, but I was not sure.

[Cory]

Freezing them after they’ve hatched so it’s just dropping em into a tank to feed out of the freezer.

[Dancing Matt]

I haven't seen the live stream but I can say that I have been freezing my baby brine shrimp then later feeding them to my white clouds and betta and am having no problem. I dispense the shrimp into a container and throw it into the freezer. Later when I need it I run it under cold water in a net to de-thaw the shrimp. I haven't yet just chucked the ice puck in the tank but I am tempted to.

[Hobbit]

I actually do both! I have a bunch of eggs in the freezer because I only use a little at a time, and I’m trying to get them to last. I also put baby brine shrimp in ice cube trays and freeze them. I put a whole cube in my larger tanks, and to feed smaller or more fragile babies I’ll melt the cube in a cup of warm water, let the shrimp settle to the bottom, and pipette the shrimp into the babies’ tank.

[Andy's Fish Den]

I found at the dollar store one of those silicone ice cube trays that makes small cubes, about a half inch cube. When I do hatch brine shrimp I will hatch so I have extra, and I will put a squirt in each cube then add some clean water and freeze. The next day, after i freezes, I will pop out and put the cubes in a zip lock bag and keep in freezer, then can feed when I want. 

[Mastifflvr28]

Baby Brine Shrimp frozen bears!

 

 

[Jeremy_fishguy]

Do you rinse the BBS and freeze in freshwater or the salty water??

[Hobbit]

I personally freeze them unrinsed in salty water. The shrimp will sink down to the bottom of the tray as they freeze. Before I serve the cube, I rinse the back of the cube (the part with no shrimp) in a stream of warm water to melt it away. There’s a bit of a trick to melting half an ice cube, but it works for me. 😄 

[tonyjuliano]

These things work great for feeding frozen stuff (live stuff too).

https://www.amazon.com/Lee`s-Aquarium-Cone-Worm-Feeder/dp/B002DZE9T8
 

 

[Ben_RF]

My water is hard, so I do freshwater as to avoid adding additional hardness to the water.

[Jcdli]

Do I freeze them in the water from the hatchery or regular water 

[CT_]

Assuming the brine will freeze I'm sure either is fine, but I rinse my bbs in tap water and then freeze them in a mini ice tray.  I put what I think is one meal per cube. 

[Jeff]

On 5/28/2021 at 11:24 AM, Jeremy_fishguy said:

Do you rinse the BBS and freeze in freshwater or the salty water??

I first feed my tank once my batch hatches. I freeze the leftover as is - no rinsing. The salt helps the plants, like Cory has stated. 

No rinsing for me.

[CT_]

On 8/1/2021 at 7:58 PM, Jeff said:

I first feed my tank once my batch hatches. I freeze the leftover as is - no rinsing. The salt helps the plants, like Cory has stated. 

No rinsing for me.

I think that's only maybe true if you use sea salt/reef salt.  I've never heard of anyone adding sodium chloride to a tank to help plants.

 

 

[Jeff]

@CT_ Nope; community aquarium salt. The Co-op sells it. 
 

[CT_]

Edit: I forgot to mention that at least API "aquarium salt" is pure NaCl.  I assume its the same for fritz.  And even sea salt is 90-99% NaCl.

 

Setting brackish tanks/plants/fish aside for the moment, I've never heard of Na+ or Cl- being an essential mineral for freshwater aquariums.  Of course fish and plants need some sodium, but sodium is so ubiquitous there's enough already in your food and water.  Also it says on the bag that some plants may be sensitive to aquarium salt (presumably in the doses they suggest).

 

That said, the 25mg of salt form 1ml of bbs you'd put into a fish tank is probably trivial assuming you do water changes occasionally.

Edited August 2, 2021 by CT_