Brine Shrimp Eggs

[Emerson]

Is anybody out there familiar with this product?
www.petdiscounters.com/aquarium/foods/brine/sf_eggs.html

I have zero experience with live foods, and was wondering what's involved in hatching the eggs and whether or not they're safe to use (can they carry parasites?).

Thanks!

[Betta MVP]

sef,
Brine shrimp are pretty easy to hatch but the baby brine shrimp are so tiny that a lot of adult bettas won't chase them down and eat them. Getting them to grow to adulthood so they are big enough to be of interest to your bettas isn't quite so easy, at least I've never had much luck, LOL. You would have to get some food for them, it would be labeled as Artemia food.

Here's a good link on how to hatch them:
www.bettatalk.com/hatching_brine_shrimp.htm

As with any live foods, there is always a chance of parasites. Pepso food once a week is a good preventative if you feed live or frozen foods.

[Emerson]

Betta said:

sef,
Brine shrimp are pretty easy to hatch but the baby brine shrimp are so tiny that a lot of adult bettas won't chase them down and eat them. Getting them to grow to adulthood so they are big enough to be of interest to your bettas isn't quite so easy, at least I've never had much luck, LOL. You would have to get some food for them, it would be labeled as Artemia food.

Here's a good link on how to hatch them:
www.bettatalk.com/hatching_brine_shrimp.htm

As with any live foods, there is always a chance of parasites. Pepso food once a week is a good preventative if you feed live or frozen foods.

Ack! Doesn't sound worth the effort.

Thanks!!
sef

[jedicat]

My LFS sells live adult brine shrimp in bags. It's pretty simple to feed...I just pour or scoop out a little bit of the brine from the bag with a disposable cup (I use these things called "condiment cups"...they're thimble-sized, and my housemate got them at a party supply store) and strain the contents of the cup through a brine shrimp net, rinse the little artemia off, and feed one at a time.

My biggest problem with this this system is that these small bags contain hundreds of shrimp, and well, a single betta doesn't need more than 3 or 4 per feeding, so there's lots of excess. And I really don't have the space or ability (university housing, and they have limits on water content) to keep a tank of them alive for a prolonged period of time. (Although I do change their brine and put them in a larger container, it's still unaerated, and I haven't really figured out good things to feed them or the amount to feed them.) Basically I just offer the extras to other people who have bettas.

[shadow]

Thats the bbs i use to feed my baby fry. You will need to hatch them then feed them to the baby fry but i think bbs are too small too feed to your adult bettas.

They do not carry any parasites from what i know of.

[BettaRic]

Sef, believe, the easiest way to hatch brine shrimp (and I mean, easy!!!) is to buy a San Francisco Bay kit + little packages that come with it. You don't have to worry then about the quantity of salt, it's all set up. You just need to add an airstone in the kit and let it run under a lamp. You can find those online at DrsFosterSmith.com. Let me know if you need more details. And yes, my males used to chase and eat them.