Are Brine Shrimp Evil?

[Panic]

Hi,

 

I've just read a thread in the Advanced Forum (feeding Clownfish) in which the author (I forget who *ulp*) says that Brine Shrimp are a dodgy source of food ie. low nutrient value.

 

Now I've always understood that Brine Shrimp means neat and lively packages of food which have an approximate balance of nutrients that my clownfish requires (or coral).

 

I'm pretty keen to do live food because that way I get to see live exciting predatory action in the comfort of my own home.

 

Oh yeah, sorry, my question - Is feeding live Brine Shrimp to fish/corals the equivalent of fast food?

 

(And no, I don't believe in solely using brine shrimp)

 

cheers

Panic

[tinyreef]

i think it's closer to say they're plain popcorn than fast food. if you gut load them with selcon or coral accel then i guess they could be considered buttered popcorn.

[MKramer]

I believe I was the author of the post you mentioned. You already read my take on brine shrimp, so I'll let others give you feedback. But one thing I think is worth mentioning:

 

The one time that brine shrimp are an okay food, and not worthless, are as babies, during the first 12 hours after hatching, while they still have the yolk sac attached. So if you want to add live ones and watch your fish chase them down, that would be fine. As you already said, this shouldn't be a sole food source, but it's better than typical frozen or matured brine. In the words of Craig over at wetwebmedia.com "in terms of nutrition they are more like whipped air."

 

The only other time I would use brine would be to convince a non-eating fish to start eating. Once they begin to feed in the aquarium, then they might begin accepting better foods.

[FlyGTI]

I've heard it likened to feeding your fish candy. Not always good for them, but just about a surefire way to get them to eat.

[aquaholic420]

it's a great way to get something timid out in the open, but everyone I know says avoid them.