# Alternatives to hatching baby brine shrimp



## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

I have some ram wigglers and don't have the stuff to hatch baby brine shrimp. So, I am looking for some alternatives to live food. What are your experiences with Hikari First Bites, frozen baby brine shrimp, or any other alternative? The eggs hatched some time this afternoon or morning so just looking for something where I don't have to buy an air pump and locate brine shrimp eggs locally. Thank a lot.


----------



## PhilipS (Jan 9, 2014)

Air pump?

Brine shrimp hatch regardless. I hatched them outside in an oil drip pan on the balcony last year. In winter I just float a bottle in an aquarium (filled 75%). 

Go get 2 slim water bottles. Cut the bottom off one to support the conical top of the other. Now you have a stand. Cutout the bottom of the other. If you have an air pump then just cut/drill out a 1/2" hole to accommodate a rigid airline and airstone.

1 tsp of brine shrimp cysts is plenty. See how long that batch lasts.

I use Aquarium salt 1Tbsp per quart. Err on the higher salinity.

Keep above 70F and in a day or 2 you should see nauplii in the bright light.

Brine shrimp eggs are found at most pet stores or pet departments.


----------



## Laryl (Feb 21, 2014)

I used first bites on my baby rams and angels. I also used Ken's growth meal 00 and 01 size and decapsulated brine eggs. They all worked great.


----------



## Maechael (Sep 9, 2012)

Using tetra granules you can just grind them in your fingers to make fry sized bites, and you can find them everywhere.

First bites are ok, but if you feed a different solid food, just crush some of that up for them.


----------



## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. Hatching bbs is probably the way to go just seems like a lot of work.


----------



## Clayman (Jan 7, 2015)

FewestKitten896 said:


> Thanks for all the suggestions so far. Hatching bbs is probably the way to go just seems like a lot of work.


I've been raising peacock gudgeon fry for a few weeks now and hatching baby brine shrimp daily. It's really simple and easy. The temp will determine hatching time, at 80-82 degrees they hatch in 18 to 24 hours.The thing I've read about bbs is they need to be fed to the fry when they are freshly hatched because they still have the yolk sack which is the most nutritious part for the fry to eat. So that is why I hatch a new batch every day. It has just become routine. Another easy live food for the early stages of the fry is vinegar eels. They require almost zero maintenance. You just need Apple cider vinegar and s starter culture.


----------



## iamtechno (Sep 23, 2013)

I use a number of things depening on the fry. Hikari First Bites aren't to bad and work pretty well, also the decapsulated brine shrimp eggs are great along with Rotifers and cyclops if they're big enough. At one point I had a tank with a large Daphnia population which is now gone but they were the best as in ease of use cause you really don't have to do anything.


----------



## lee739 (Oct 12, 2014)

I used to do it without an air pump - just throw some eggs into a container of brine, hatch might not be a high, but should be enough to feed the fry. Of course a $10 air pump and a soft drink bottle and you are set up right anyway.....


----------



## ErtyJr (Jun 21, 2014)

I use a combination of many things. Micro worms, bbs, infusoria, vinegar eels, first bites, and repashy spawn and grow.


----------



## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Well thanks for everyone's suggestions. I think I am going to try a mixture of prepared foods first. I honestly didn't think there would be wigglers and would have a little more time to prepare for this adventure. But I might as well try as the parents have done a good job keeping the little ones together so far. I was thinking about trying the first bites and then frozen baby brine shrimp. Some people have said the frozen baby brine shrimp are too big for the newly free swimming fry. Is this correct? I will also look into the repashy spawn and grow as I know someone local with some.


----------



## garfieldnfish (Sep 25, 2010)

I would go with micro worms or vinegar eels. Vinegar eels are smaller but you can keep a culture going for months even if you don't need them. It does take about 1 month to have a good culture going well. Micro worms are a little larger but again I have 4 cultures going at any given time, weather I need them or not. I make a new one whenever we eat mashed potatoes so I will always have some. But you can get a nice culture from a starter culture in just 3 days. Very easy to do. I also have several cultures of grindal worms but they would be too large for newly hatched fry but great for older fry.
Infusoria is easy to have ready too. Take an empty plastic bottle fill it with tank water. Micro wave a couple of lettuce leaves until they are mushy and add them to the bottle. Set the bottle in a sunny place and it will turn into green water.


----------



## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Yeah I might have to try the infusoria. This would be possibly 36 hrs at wriggler stage. So I got a couple days or less. I went ahead and picked up first bites, repashy spawn and grow (really stunk up the kitchen but placed a few extra pieces in another tank and fish seemed to enjoy it) and some frozen baby brine shrimp. I will be at home maybe once a day for the weekend which they will probably be swimming so I thought the repashy might be the best idea for a low maintenance food that would last a while in the tank.


----------



## newbieshrimpkeeper (Dec 2, 2014)

Infusoria maybe too small for ram's fries. Micro worms, daphnia(sieved) or decapsulated brine shrimp eggs are all good.


----------



## lee739 (Oct 12, 2014)

I think infusoria is more messing about than live baby brine shrimp in any case...


----------



## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

I decided to just go with what I got. Kind of anxious to see how the repashy works out. Seems like a good idea just hopefully they will take it by learning off their parents.


----------



## Coralbandit (Feb 25, 2013)

I use microworms for my GBR.
I mix them in water with;
Golden pearls http://www.kensfish.com/aquarium-supplies/fish-food-feeders/golden-pearls-5-50-microns.html
Astaxanthin powder http://www.kensfish.com/aquarium-supplies/fish-food-feeders/astaxanthin-powder.html
De capsulated brine shrimp eggs http://www.kensfish.com/aquarium-supplies/fish-food-feeders/decapsulated-brine-shrimp.html
Sera micron http://www.kensfish.com/aquarium-supplies/fish-food-feeders/sera-micron-50-ml-25-g.html
If your fry don't need to be tricked(lured) by movement this combo without the microworms will yield OUSTANDING results!
My fry go nuts at feeding time!


----------



## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Well they started to swim today. I placed in a couple squares of repashy around them though the mom and dad didn't like the intrusion of something new in their area every time the parents took a chunk of it the fry would go crazy eating the smaller particles that got mixed up into the water column. I did see one get snatched by one of the ember tetras although he did have trouble getting it down. I think here if they make it another week they will be to big for the embers but not sure how fast they grow. I am doing 25% water changes daily and will continue to feed repashy spawn and grow. I also saw them huddled around it but couldn't tell if they were biting at it or not.


----------



## ichthyogeek (Jul 9, 2014)

Thought I'd mention Reef Nutrition's Instant Baby Brine Shrimp. It seems pretty good, and I'm still trying to find a LFS that carries it, but it seems to have all the nutrition of BBS and none of the hassle.


----------

