Enriching baby brine shrimp?

[Draco]

Hi all.

 

I probably should have seen this before getting my dwarf ponies, I swear, i did not until after I got them.

 

I am reading enriching bbs is more nutritous than not.

 

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brine-shrimp-hatchery-eggs-bundle-bulk-reef-supply.html

I got this to hatch the eggs, and it works beautifully.

 

I am just confused how to enrich them and what to use to feed them? Every guide says "enriched bbs is best for dwarf ponies'... but none tell me what to use or how. Help?

 

[Ratvan]

Enrichment is another term for gut loading. I've not had Ponies but enriching BBS another others i have done previously. I use Spirulina powder and Pellets that I have crushed and ground up, i would mix both with tank water or RO and add to the BBS approximately 12 hours before feeding  

[Draco]

Just now, Ratvan said:

Enrichment is another term for gut loading. I've not had Ponies but enriching BBS another others i have done previously. I use Spirulina powder and Pellets that I have crushed and ground up, i would mix both with tank water or RO and add to the BBS approximately 12 hours before feeding  

I've heard gutloading, and I was under the impression it was to prepare them for larger fish as the brine grew. So much info its confusing.

 

For the spirulina powder, can I add it right to the hatchery dish that I linked above? or do I have to move the bbs somewhere else to feed them?

[Ratvan]

2 minutes ago, Draco said:

I've heard gutloading, and I was under the impression it was to prepare them for larger fish as the brine grew. So much info its confusing.

 

For the spirulina powder, can I add it right to the hatchery dish that I linked above? or do I have to move the bbs somewhere else to feed them?

With the spirulina powder you are essentially making a phyto solution from scratch, so i would assume that you could easily dose the tank or squirt directly into the hatchery. 

if you havent seen it in your searches, this is a great resource https://seahorsesavvy.com/pages/basic-care-information

they have an article on raising and enriching BBS, however they do this in a separate container 

[Draco]

5 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

With the spirulina powder you are essentially making a phyto solution from scratch, so i would assume that you could easily dose the tank or squirt directly into the hatchery. 

if you havent seen it in your searches, this is a great resource https://seahorsesavvy.com/pages/basic-care-information

they have an article on raising and enriching BBS, however they do this in a separate container 

thank you so much for your help! I am going to read up on the spirulina powder and that page.

Really appreciate it 😄

[mcarroll]

I think you may be confused a little.  Baby Brine Shrimp do not need enrichment.  You're essentially feeding the yolk-sac along with the BBS....full of nutrition.

 

However, the BBS will convert that yolk-sac into less-digestible (more stable) forms very quickly after being born...so feeding them right away is a good idea.  (And why lots of BBS breeders are made to work inside the tank where the fish are going to eat them.)

 

Gut loading/enrichment comes into play if BBS are too small and you need to grow out the brine shrimp to a larger size.  You need to replace that yolk-sac.  Hard to do though....or at least not cost-effective....unless you have an infinite supply of brine shrimp eggs and high quality food to feed them.  There are usually (depending on your scenario) better alternatives such as marine plankton.

 

I've gathered several good articles about Artemia (brine shrimp) as fish food on my blog that may be of use if you proceed with using brine shrimp.  For example: Use of Artemia as a food source for aquaculture by Sorgeloos, et al. covers a lot of the info you'd need.