Can I hatch brine shrimp egg in my reef tank?

[binylee]

Hi there,
Can I put brine shrimp eggs in my 70G reef tank? Is there any positive and negative aspect for doing this? I want to feed my reef.
Thank you very much

 

[brandon4291]

The temps we keep in a reef aquarium are not the ideal temps for rearing artemia. they are cold water loving creatures, many LFS sell them live in bags of water kept in the refrigerator. Although they will definately hatch in your aquarium, their discarded cyst shells will make an unnecessary mess. It is better to hatch them in a fishbowl, pump in air for 24-48hrs, shine a flashlight on the bottom after they hatch and they will swim towards the light where you can suck them out with airline tubing, then add to reef. Decapsulated BS have better nutritional value than encapsulated eggs (so the 'perts say) and it is wise to feed your BS ground up flake food or Dt's, to gut load them as much as possible before feeding to your reef inhabitants. I think many corals would like to have this supplement, its a good idea.

Brandon

 

[danmhippo]

Ugh..... temp does not make much differences here. BS will hatch even if you put them in 82F water.

Clean-up and pollution is the reason many rather hatch them in another container. Empty shells can be messy to clean up. Though they do not present to be a problem for most of your inhabitants, they could clog your filters and/or add to your biological waste. When there are too much artemia hatched at same time, you risk either overfeeding your tank. If left uneaten, most baby brine shrimp will ends up either trapped in filtration media or starve to death and add more to your biological waste.

It's a lot easier to hatch them in another container and control the aeration rate, ammonia level, and feeding portions.

 

[csv_scorpion]

what about feeding your livestock with "Sea Monkeys"??

 

[binylee]

Thank you very much for your input. It's very helpfull. So, you guys feed your coral by using DT's phytoplanton? Where is the best location to buy it at? on the web?
Thanks

 

[Reef Goalie]

I buy my DTs at the LFS. Make sure it is refrigerated and check the expiration date on the bottle before buying.

 

[danmhippo]

Try inlandreef.com