Brine shrimp cyst discussion

[jeep]

Brian, size chart..
Attachment 135538

Info from....https://www.fao.org/3/w3732e/w3732e0m.htm
Which is an excellent overview of Brine shrimp.

Hth,
Al

Thanks Al! According to this chart, the San Fran strain is the smallest, although the Aral region isn't mentioned. I wonder if this is because of the colder environment?

The San Fran strain seems the way to go but I still think I'll try a side by side comparison, mainly because of how clean the Green Bay brand is, although I personally won't be eating any anytime soon, lol...

[brewmaster15]

Brian, is there a reason why you want the smallest baby brine shrimp for your black rams? I've not bred blacks but when I bred German Blue Rams and Gold Rams regular GsL brine shrimp cysts were fine for fry. Are the blacks a smaller ram?

One area that really seems to be when the smaller San Frans ones are helpful is when artificially breeding Discus.. the discus fry will take these easier than the standard GSL ones. Ive never used them as they are more expensive.

[jeep]

The Rams just seem much smaller and slower growing than discus fry, Someone who breeds Rams recently suggested that I use the SF strain because of size.

Again, I have no experience breeding Rams so this may just be the norm, but I do find the tanks become pretty dirty because of uneaten bbs and a lack of mechanical filtration until they get larger. Even with a small HOB, I'm afraid they will get sucked up. And, I can't do a good cleaning because they fry seem to scatter across the bottom of the tank and can get sucked up no matter how hard I try to avoid them.

Any changes to my routine are welcome...

[brewmaster15]

I used the hydro 5 sponge filters in 10 gal tanks for my Rams at the time..Those were easy to remove and clean as necessary. Rams aren't as obligate on live BBS as our Discus. I had great success with powered dry foods as well as BBS..Coffee grinder to fine dust, using a turkey baster to gently blow it on the mass of fry . You can also try the Prepared fry powders that are common now like Hikari First bites or Ultra Fresh Baby Fish Food,

[jeep]

I did find some First Bites in my freezer and have been using it. The fry are still alive so they must be eating something, lol...

I'm ordering more sponge filters but Jehmco is out of them until next week or so. Maybe I'll had another one. So far, I don't think I have a water quality issue, but rather a water debris issue.

Maybe they're growing just fine. I just don't know how fast they should grow. The first spawn is about 2 months old and about 3/8" at the largest but there are some smalls in there as well. They are eating solid foods like flake and BH now and seem fine.

EDIT: I just looked again and they're about 3/4"

[Hicgup]

I have had the best luck raising ram fry by starting them on small strain rotifers that have been cultured at 5 p.p.t. Salinity. Back when I was breeding/raising rams I could average 95% survival with rotifers. Better than any other feed for me.

[Hicgup]

A good read for artemia culture. https://digitalpubs.ext.vt.edu/vcedi...ticleId1609376

[Hicgup]

Al I have used the E Z Eggs and there is a learning curve to getting good hatches with them. But that can be true of any pickled cyst. (De capped preserved in a hyper saline refrigerated condition). I prefer to de cap my own cysts a weeks worth of cysts at a time, but a well decapped and proper moisture level has given me good hatches for up to two weeks.

[brewmaster15]

I have had the best luck raising ram fry by starting them on small strain rotifers that have been cultured at 5 p.p.t. Salinity. Back when I was breeding/raising rams I could average 95% survival with rotifers. Better than any other feed for me.

Thats a great tip Steve, Thanks! I've never cultured rotifers.

al

[Hicgup]

Not hard to culture rotifers , but again there is a learning curve. Consistency works wonders. Keep them fed and clean and you can have millions available to harvest daily. It may feel odd at first but harvesting 40% of a culture every day keeps a culture young (4 To 5 days old on average) and productive. I HIGHLY suggest using Reed Mariculture Roti Grow paste or even their Nannochloropsis paste. With 68 Billion cells per ml a quart can raise Billions of rotifers.



paste. Lasts for several weeks in a refrigerator and can be kept frozen for a year. With 68 Billion cells per ml a quart can raise Billions of rotifers.

[Willie]

We had a speaker from San Francisco Bay Brine Shrimp present to the Minnesota Aquarium Society about a year ago. He advised that all the eggs are sourced from China due to environmental degradation in both SF Bay and the Great Salt Lake.

[brewmaster15]

We had a speaker from San Francisco Bay Brine Shrimp present to the Minnesota Aquarium Society about a year ago. He advised that all the eggs are sourced from China due to environmental degradation in both SF Bay and the Great Salt Lake.

Willie thats a real bomb shell. So they admitted to importing the cysts from China and repackaging them as San Francisco Bay Brine Shrimp?

al

[Hicgup]

Although true San Francisco strain artemia have not been available for years (I still have a couple of pounds that have been in a freezer for over a decade) you can buy artemia cysts from the GSL that have been graded and selected to be smaller. So although that company may only sell imported cysts, GSL cysts, including smaller “S.F.” Cysts should be available.

[Willie]

Willie thats a real bomb shell. So they admitted to importing the cysts from China and repackaging them as San Francisco Bay Brine Shrimp?

al

He said this openly, even showed slides of Chinese harvests. So, yes.

[brewmaster15]

Thats really interesting and goes along well with my belief that some are also sourced from Russia... though if from China or Russia its not being made known apparently.