How to cultivate live BBS?

**WaterH2O** · 17th Apr 2008, 15:18

Guys

How do you guys breed live brine shrimps for your apisto? 1 packet from the LFS usaully too much for periodic feeding so thinking of breed small quantity here and then to feed apisto ( that is if I get them just doing research now).

**celticfish** · 17th Apr 2008, 15:41

To get them to adult size takes quite a bit of effort.
But if the baby brine shrimps are good enough I'd suggest getting the Brine Shrimp Direct hatchery.
Very convenient to use and harvest.
There was an MO on that and now a local Merchant carries it - aquanova.

**WaterH2O** · 17th Apr 2008, 17:04

Acutally looking for some cheap alternative. A plastic container, some aquarium salt and some light can cultivate?

**doppelbanddwarf** · 17th Apr 2008, 17:37

It would be good if you could add an air pump. If you're looking at long-term then I would ssay to get a hatchery dish too. I'm using one and its very very convenient.

**torque6** · 17th Apr 2008, 20:50

h2o,

hatchery tank + air pump will do.

**doppelbanddwarf** · 17th Apr 2008, 20:55

An air pump isn't necessary if you are using the hatchery dish.

**stormhawk** · 18th Apr 2008, 00:51

But agitating the eggs in a container pretty much helps.

It is not easy for home hobbyists to cultivate the brine shrimp at home. They are a hassle to handle, especially with the salt content in the water. You might have to deal with some salt-related issues, especially paint flaking on the walls near the brine shrimp tank, if you decide to cultivate them.

You can easily hatch the brine shrimp eggs, but baby brine shrimp are not useful for larger fish. They are good, but do not meet the full dietary requirements of some fish, hence the reason why BBS are used primarily to raise fry. Plus, the BBS is most nutritious to the fry when they are freshly hatched. The BBS lose their nutrition value in a few hours after them hatching, when they go into the 2nd instar stage. You can probably raise these BBS to adulthood by using spirulina powder, and a marine plankton feed that you can find at marine LFS, BUT, you must keep up on the water changes. Bacteria thrive in BBS hatcheries that are not thoroughly cleaned...

**WaterH2O** · 18th Apr 2008, 10:43

Agree it is a hassle and that is why I have not brought my own hatchery. Not looking at BBS or brine shrimp as a full diet for apisto ( If I do go into it). I just want to feed it occasionally so buying a huge bag from LFS a little wasteful for the occasional feeding and the rest usually go to waste.

**illumnae** · 18th Apr 2008, 14:42

this is why i use decapsulated brine shrimp eggs. more nutrients than even freshly hatched bbs (even 1 minute old bbs has used 1 minute worth of nutrients...decap eggs is always at ground 0), no hassle in hatching, no salt water used and the fish love it!

just make sure to soak for 10 minutes before feeding to allow it to absorb the water and expand

**stormhawk** · 18th Apr 2008, 15:13

WaterH2O,

If you're just looking to feed occasionally, I'd suggest you hatch small quantities of BBS, or use decapsulated brine shrimp eggs like what illumnae suggests.

Illumnae, do your Apisto fry take the decap eggs readily? They might prove useful to me if that's the case.

**illumnae** · 18th Apr 2008, 21:18

yup they take it readily. i always see them with orange bellies after i feed. just be sure to soak the eggs for 10min before feeding so that the eggs will expand first. otherwise if they expand in the stomach of the fry, the fry will die

**WaterH2O** · 18th Apr 2008, 22:03

Really just soak for 10 min and then feed. That is easy. Can feed adult apistos with this?
but I thought live feeds promotes breeding in Apistos. So feeding decapsulated brine shrimp eggs not really live feed right?

**illumnae** · 18th Apr 2008, 22:29

yep, it's really easy and that's why i highly promote the use of this as a hassle-free fry food. it's probably also smaller than bbs considering that the bbs hatches from the egg.

i've never had a problem with my apistos not breeding and i don't feed any live food. i used to feed decap bs eggs as a staple (once a day every day) and the fish loved it.

**stormhawk** · 18th Apr 2008, 23:57

I might consider using this, but first... I need fry.

Is this decap egg thing available commercially? As in can it be bought at an LFS locally? If C328 has it I might go get it.

**illumnae** · 19th Apr 2008, 00:51

aquanova, a merchant here, carries it

**WaterH2O** · 19th Apr 2008, 07:42

So decap egg is a special kind of brine shrimp unlike does that you get from LFS for hatching?
I got the impression that it is the same kind of brine shrimp egg just soak in water and feed. Care to clarify?