brine shrimp eggs

[tony z]

I don't understand the brine shrimp thing. Do i use decapsulated artemia cysts or do i use regular brine shrimp eggs in the 2 liter bottle hatchery. Do i have to remove the shells if i use regular shrimp eggs

[brewmaster15]

I have tried the non hatching brine shrimp cysts that brineshrimp direct sells. I was not too happy with them...well actually my fry were not.

You can decap and hatch yourself , in which case you are doing more work in the beginning, or you can hatch the cystes, and then work a little harder after the hatch to separate the shells from naupauli. These shells will float.

The choice is yours as either way works.

hth,.
al

[tony z]

Can i just purchase the live brine shrimp from the pet store

[thirston]

Yes, but I would reccomend loading them up on some nutrients before feeding to your discus. In most retail locations I would immagine the feeder fish, glass shrimp, and brine shrimp are the last thing on the list to have their water changed and their gullets filled. Always gut load them first before feeding to your fish :)

-Andrew

[brewmaster15]

Hi Tony,
As andrew said, you can buy them...but those are adults. for fry you need fresh hatched. if juves or adults...you can feed frozen as a variety diet.

There are a bunch of No Brine shrimp feeds out there you can try. I have no experience with them though.Others have had good and bad.

hth,
al

[tony z]

as far as hatching and removing shells is it more work before or after and how do you remove the shells before the hatch or after the hatch ?

[knobby]

Tony

you dont need to remove the shells before you hatch them if you dont want to

you can hatch them just fine with the shells on

some people choose to 'decapsulate' them because they claim to get batter hatch rates...and also then theres no shells in the hatchery when you go to get the baby brine shrimp out...which is really no big deal either but some people dontlike the shells getting into their tank and/fish

if you have never hatched them b4 I would not worry about decapsulating them right now....just hatch a few batches and get the hang of it

decapsulating is more work before hatching
basically you soak the cysts in a bleach solution and it dissolves the shells
then you put the decapsulated cysts in and hatch them