Brine Shrimp
A. What is it & what is it good for ?
1. Brine shrimp is a little sea creature used as a staple food for both fry and adult Angels.
2. Brine Shrimp is fed in two common forms: Live and frozen.
B. How to hatch live brine shrimp.
1. To feed live Brine Shrimp you must first buy the Brine Shrimp eggs. Eggs can be very expensive so you will want to shop around for your best price and best quality.
2. Hatching the eggs is an easy process. Over the years we have used many different methods. Depending on the number of fish you intend to feed you can choose from a flat pan, a quart to a gallon jar, two liter bottles or The Efficient Hatcher which holds 4 three liter bottles, or something in between. Which ever you choose the process is the same. Take a clean 1 gal. milk jug and put 1/3 cup of non-iodized salt it. Then fill the jug with water. Pore the salt water solution into the size container you chose to hatch in, almost to the top. You will need an air stone in the jar to circulate the solution. Add the amount of shrimp eggs necessary to feed your fish. Keep in a warm place or put a light bulb near the jar for heat. In 24 hours turn off the air and tilt the jar with a block. The egg shells will float to the top and the live shrimp will settle to the bottom. Turn off your light for 5 minuets while it settles then back on. The shrimp will be about the color of this page. You will be able to see them swimming around. Now you will have to siphon the live shrimp out of the bottle into a brine shrimp net ( the net being at a lower level of course ) and a bottle of the same size or greater because you will siphon almost all of the water out. Try to avoid getting the egg shells into the net. The shells wont hurt the fish but they add to the dirt in the tank.
C. The actual feeding of the shrimp.
1. The salt water will drain through the net leaving the live shrimp behind. ( some will rinse the shrimp with clean water at this point I do not )
2. IF you are feeding only one tank you may dip the net into the tank at this time releasing the live shrimp into the water. This normally causes a feeding frenzy.
3. When several tanks need fed I use a Popsicle stick that I purchased from the local craft store. They are so cheap you can use a new one each day.
4. Judging the exact amount to put in each tank is something you will have to experiment with. Normally for a newly swimming spawn a very small amount is required. The fry can only eat one or maybe two shrimp. You can actually see them eat one. This will cause their belly to be fat & puffed up and once again about the color of this page.
5. As the fry grow you will need to increase the amount of shrimp you put in. A good judge is by the amount of food that is not eaten. If you notice dead shrimp accumulating at the bottom of the tank, you are over feeding and will have to remove the dead shrimp. This can be easily done with a turkey baseter. ( You better buy yourself a new one 'cause the cook in the house might frown on using theirs )
6. I feed all my fish twice a day. The fry get live Brine Shrimp at both feedings. The juvenals get live shrimp in the morning and a quality flake at the second feeding. (be sure to have them on flakes before selling the fish 'cause the ones you are selling to most likely will not be hatching brine shrimp) The large and breeder size get frozen adult brine shrimp in the morning (about a 1/4 inch cube) and quality flakes at night. Once again removing any food that was not eaten.
