sabol@reed.UUCP (Bryan Sabol) (01/18/88)
Has anyone been successful in growing brine shrimp to adulthood? From what I've seen, most people feed them to their fish right after they 'hatch', but I'd rather see if I could continue their growth until they're fully adults. I've talked to some people here in the Pac. NW, but all have said that trying to grow them that long is more of a pain than the final outcome. Anyone have any relatively easy solutions? Thanx in advance, Bryan Sabol Reedie at Large
richard@gryphon.CTS.COM (Richard Sexton) (01/20/88)
In article <8072@reed.UUCP> sabol@reed.UUCP (Bryan Sabol) writes: >Has anyone been successful in growing brine shrimp to adulthood? From >what I've seen, most people feed them to their fish right after they >'hatch', but I'd rather see if I could continue their growth until >they're fully adults. > I've talked to some people here in the Pac. NW, but all have >said that trying to grow them that long is more of a pain than the final >outcome. Anyone have any relatively easy solutions? I've done it, but the yields are terrible. Brine shrimp need two things: cool water, and plenty of oxygen in that cool water. So start out with a kids wading pool filled with 55 degree water. Now throw in a cupfull of baby brine shrimp. They easy either "green soup" (suspended algae) or zooplankton. Good luck growing either. The disadvantage is that while baby brine shrimp are an excellent source of nutrition, the adults are mostly husk and shell and are a relativly poor source of nutrition. Besides, you can buy 1000's of the buggers for $0.79, so why bother ? -- "...and the morning sun has yet to ride my hood ornament" richard@gryphon.CTS.COM {ihnp4!scgvaxd!cadovax, philabs!cadovax, codas!ddsw1} gryphon!richard
gringort@decwrl.dec.com (Joel Gringorten) (01/21/88)
In article <2200@gryphon.CTS.COM> richard@gryphon.CTS.COM (Richard Sexton) writes: > [concerning brine shrimp] >Besides, you can buy 1000's of the buggers for $0.79, so why bother ? > Brine shrimp in the SF Bay area has become incredibly difficult to find lately. What little information I've been able to gather is that some goverment body has decreed that removing brine shrimp from the ocean (bay?) could be having environmental impact. Based on this, they revoked the local suppliers permit for 90% of his shrimp gathering sites. Can anybody add-to/substantiate/deny any of this? Can anybody suggest an alternate easily obtainable food source for picky eaters? In particular I have a new juneville Emperator Angel that seems to want only live brine shrimp. (I understand that they eat live coral polyps in the wild, but we won't go into that). -- -joel
richard@gryphon.CTS.COM (Richard Sexton) (01/22/88)
In article <249@bacchus.DEC.COM> gringort@decwrl.UUCP (Joel Gringorten) writes: >In article <2200@gryphon.CTS.COM> richard@gryphon.CTS.COM (Richard Sexton) >writes: >> [concerning brine shrimp] >>Besides, you can buy 1000's of the buggers for $0.79, so why bother ? >> > >Brine shrimp in the SF Bay area has become incredibly difficult to find >lately. What little information I've been able to gather is that some >goverment body has decreed that removing brine shrimp from the ocean (bay?) >could be having environmental impact. Based on this, they revoked the >local suppliers permit for 90% of his shrimp gathering sites. > >Can anybody add-to/substantiate/deny any of this? Brine shrimp are still plentifull and cheap in the L.A. area. >Can anybody suggest an alternate easily obtainable food source for picky >eaters? In particular I have a new juneville Emperator Angel that seems >to want only live brine shrimp. (I understand that they eat live coral >polyps in the wild, but we won't go into that). Well, there are a few things you can culture - wingless fruit flies, white worms, daphnia. They all have their drawbacks. The flies eventually revert back to the winged variety unless you keep them cool, I've been told, making you real unpopular with whoever you live. The white worms also like it cool and are rather rich. Daphnia arn't a great source of nutrition. And of course, none of them live in saltwater. Sigh. I did read once about a finicky red-sea butterfly that was persuaded to eat by taking a small piece of (brain ? rose ?) coral and putting some frozen brine shrimp on it, letting it dry a bit, and placing it in the tank. It was supposed to simulate live coral polyps, and apparantly worked. Nice choice of angels. I never could make up my mind which was my favorite, the Imperial or the navarchus. -- "...and before too long I might, see those flashing red lights" richard@gryphon.CTS.COM {ihnp4!scgvaxd!cadovax, philabs!cadovax, codas!ddsw1} gryphon!richard