Brine Shrimp & Phytoplankton: Reef Feeding Experiment. Is It Worth It???

[person]

I once had a phytoplankton culture (well kindof) i wanted to grow and reproduce brine shrimp since i thought it would be a great source of food for my fish, but i learned that you needed phytoplankton to feed brine shrimp. I saw many people on the internet would grow brine shrimp and phytoplankton separately, and then feed the phytoplankton to the fish and i did not do this. I put both phytoplankton and some brine shrimp in a 10 gallon tank with a light. The phytoplankton grew, (very little) and the brine shrimp slowly died out. So i have a couple of questions about phytoplankton cultures. First of all do you guys think that they are worth it to have? would they actually help save money and feed corals well? Could i pair it with a brine shrimp culture to then have fish and coral food? I think that it seems like a good idea, but do the drawbacks outweigh the benefits? The only drawbacks i see in having a phytoplankton culture is that they might be a little extra work and you need to get certain equipment for it, but i think this is goes for everything and it is not that bad. I would like to hear from someone who has had (or has) a phytoplankton culuture as well as others who may have a valid imput. Thanks in advance!!!!

 

[taricha]

So i have a couple of questions about phytoplankton cultures. First of all do you guys think that they are worth it to have? would they actually help save money and feed corals well?

save money? lol. no. (learning to culture difficult phyto and pods was crazy expensive for me.)
necessary food for corals? nope!

grow phyto for fun unless you are culturing a large amount of something specific that requires it. My opinion.

 

[Reef By Steele]

I started out culturing phytoplankton and copepods to reduce the price I was paying to buy it. Is phyto necessary for “feeding “ corals, depends on the corals. NPS corals will greatly benefit from consistent phyto dosing clams, feather duster sand other filter feeders as well. Culturing enough ohyto for a reasonably sized tank and a pod culture is not that expensive vs the cost of buying phyto consistently, but it is work.

We offer brine shrimp, and I think they are especially beneficial to entice new fish to eat, but they are definitely time consuming for fish food, because unless they are gut loaded, they really don’t offer a great nutritional value. Freshly hatched brine shrimp eggs are super nutritious and play an important role in raising fry, but takes way to much to feed a tank.

Copepods can be a great supplement especially if you have mandarins, dragonets, anthias, wrasses and other constant foragers, but won’t provide a complete diet for a well stocked tank.

If you go the route of culturing Brine, look up the hatching disk that looks like a bowl with circles inside. This works really well. Then transfer to a gallon jar or 5-10 gallon aquarium and add live phyto to maintain a greenish cloud to the water, adding a little more every day. When ready to feed, place the amount you want to use in a smaller cup or jar of phytoplankton and a few drops of Selcon.

I have found that buying high quality seafood, soaking in warm water to remove any preservatives that increase phosphates, and purée in a food processor and freeze (I mix shrimp, squid or octopus, tuna, salmon, silversides and it is quite a bit cheaper than buying frozen mysis or brine.

 

[person]

I started out culturing phytoplankton and copepods to reduce the price I was paying to buy it. Is phyto necessary for “feeding “ corals, depends on the corals. NPS corals will greatly benefit from consistent phyto dosing clams, feather duster sand other filter feeders as well. Culturing enough ohyto for a reasonably sized tank and a pod culture is not that expensive vs the cost of buying phyto consistently, but it is work.

We offer brine shrimp, and I think they are especially beneficial to entice new fish to eat, but they are definitely time consuming for fish food, because unless they are gut loaded, they really don’t offer a great nutritional value. Freshly hatched brine shrimp eggs are super nutritious and play an important role in raising fry, but takes way to much to feed a tank.

Copepods can be a great supplement especially if you have mandarins, dragonets, anthias, wrasses and other constant foragers, but won’t provide a complete diet for a well stocked tank.

If you go the route of culturing Brine, look up the hatching disk that looks like a bowl with circles inside. This works really well. Then transfer to a gallon jar or 5-10 gallon aquarium and add live phyto to maintain a greenish cloud to the water, adding a little more every day. When ready to feed, place the amount you want to use in a smaller cup or jar of phytoplankton and a few drops of Selcon.

I have found that buying high quality seafood, soaking in warm water to remove any preservatives that increase phosphates, and purée in a food processor and freeze (I mix shrimp, squid or octopus, tuna, salmon, silversides and it is quite a bit cheaper than buying frozen mysis or brine.

ok, thanks for the tips!

 

[KiwiDirk]

How'd you get on?

I've been growing Brine shrimp in a 20 gallon tank for about 10 days now and so far they're doing great, though it's too early to say whether I'll be able to maintain the water parameters in there.
Up to now I've only had about 1/3 of the tank filled with water and had an air pipe just blowing bubbles in there, mostly for water movement. But last night I added some more water and changed to a sponge filter. Not sure about a sponge filter in a saltwater tank, but will see. At least extra salinity (short term) from evaporation is a little less important in this tank, these are "brine" shrimp after all.

I've also got a ball of chaeto in there, hoping it'll help reduce nutrient buildup. And a cheap LED on 24/7. Plus a few handfuls of K2 media from my reef tank's sump to get the bacteria going.

I happened to have some spirulina in tablet form, so I've been blending one tablet and a pinch of fish flakes in a cup of water and feeding that 2-3 times per day when the water looks clear enough.

Thinking of buying some phytoplankon today and starting up a second, similar sized tank for that as I have some tanks standing around. Going to give it a try, but not sure about the effort. At this stage it takes minutes to blend the food and pour in twice a day - and hours standing there watching them grow... but for phyto, I'll have to maintain water levels in both tanks and I'll need a pretty strong light to grow the phyto I guess.

Might save a bit of money, but more importantly I think chasing live food is good for my fishes' souls and fun to watch.

 

[Reef By Steele]

How'd you get on?

I've been growing Brine shrimp in a 20 gallon tank for about 10 days now and so far they're doing great, though it's too early to say whether I'll be able to maintain the water parameters in there.
Up to now I've only had about 1/3 of the tank filled with water and had an air pipe just blowing bubbles in there, mostly for water movement. But last night I added some more water and changed to a sponge filter. Not sure about a sponge filter in a saltwater tank, but will see. At least extra salinity (short term) from evaporation is a little less important in this tank, these are "brine" shrimp after all.

I've also got a ball of chaeto in there, hoping it'll help reduce nutrient buildup. And a cheap LED on 24/7. Plus a few handfuls of K2 media from my reef tank's sump to get the bacteria going.

I happened to have some spirulina in tablet form, so I've been blending one tablet and a pinch of fish flakes in a cup of water and feeding that 2-3 times per day when the water looks clear enough.

Thinking of buying some phytoplankon today and starting up a second, similar sized tank for that as I have some tanks standing around. Going to give it a try, but not sure about the effort. At this stage it takes minutes to blend the food and pour in twice a day - and hours standing there watching them grow... but for phyto, I'll have to maintain water levels in both tanks and I'll need a pretty strong light to grow the phyto I guess.

Might save a bit of money, but more importantly I think chasing live food is good for my fishes' souls and fun to watch.

If you are wanting to do phyto, I would recommend using something like gallon or larger jars. I think some have done phyto in tanks, but a major concern is the phyto settling. Might accomplish keeping it in suspension with a power head, but the more things you have to sterilize tha hard it gets.

Go with a 5000K light. Can get one pretty cheap, just place it close to the container. Reset it every week with new water and some of the previous batch. Don’t have to maintain water quality as you replace 75% weekly in the phyto.

Sponge filters have been used for years with saltwater especially for QT systems as you can seed the sponge in a Sump. Top off with RODI and reasonable water changes should help you keep the brine active.

 

[tzabor10]

I regularly grow phytoplankton and brine shrimp. It’s super easy. I use a hardware store grow light, air bubbler, mason jars and fertilizer for the phytoplankton. The phytoplankton is in a gallon size mason jar and is sterilized in my dishwasher. Replace the starter culture every month or so. It doesn’t really save money, but it allows me to liberally feed the tank with the same cost.

 

[Artemia]

I once had a phytoplankton culture (well kindof) i wanted to grow and reproduce brine shrimp since i thought it would be a great source of food for my fish, but i learned that you needed phytoplankton to feed brine shrimp. I saw many people on the internet would grow brine shrimp and phytoplankton separately, and then feed the phytoplankton to the fish and i did not do this. I put both phytoplankton and some brine shrimp in a 10 gallon tank with a light. The phytoplankton grew, (very little) and the brine shrimp slowly died out. So i have a couple of questions about phytoplankton cultures. First of all do you guys think that they are worth it to have? would they actually help save money and feed corals well? Could i pair it with a brine shrimp culture to then have fish and coral food? I think that it seems like a good idea, but do the drawbacks outweigh the benefits? The only drawbacks i see in having a phytoplankton culture is that they might be a little extra work and you need to get certain equipment for it, but i think this is goes for everything and it is not that bad. I would like to hear from someone who has had (or has) a phytoplankton culuture as well as others who may have a valid imput. Thanks in advance!!!!

Hi! My daughter got Sea Dragons Eggspress 3 weeks ago as a bd present. That was the moment I delved into Artemia, microalgae (Dunaliella, Tetraselmis) and brine shrimp ecosystems. The following paper is priceless:

https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/Brine-Shrimp-Ecology.pdf

I have set up 3 ecosystems a week ago. Got 4 live microalgae species from here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/132029441858
(ReefBoost Phytoplankton 500ml PhytoQuattro)
Artemia loved this new fresh food. Will see if I manage to achieve stable ecosystems. My main algae culture have since either crashed or is barely surviving - turned yellow from such a bright green. But one of the bottles has a promicing green hue. Artemia still florish.

I once had a phytoplankton culture (well kindof) i wanted to grow and reproduce brine shrimp since i thought it would be a great source of food for my fish, but i learned that you needed phytoplankton to feed brine shrimp. I saw many people on the internet would grow brine shrimp and phytoplankton separately, and then feed the phytoplankton to the fish and i did not do this. I put both phytoplankton and some brine shrimp in a 10 gallon tank with a light. The phytoplankton grew, (very little) and the brine shrimp slowly died out. So i have a couple of questions about phytoplankton cultures. First of all do you guys think that they are worth it to have? would they actually help save money and feed corals well? Could i pair it with a brine shrimp culture to then have fish and coral food? I think that it seems like a good idea, but do the drawbacks outweigh the benefits? The only drawbacks i see in having a phytoplankton culture is that they might be a little extra work and you need to get certain equipment for it, but i think this is goes for everything and it is not that bad. I would like to hear from someone who has had (or has) a phytoplankton culuture as well as others who may have a valid imput. Thanks in advance!!!!

I once had a phytoplankton culture (well kindof) i wanted to grow and reproduce brine shrimp since i thought it would be a great source of food for my fish, but i learned that you needed phytoplankton to feed brine shrimp. I saw many people on the internet would grow brine shrimp and phytoplankton separately, and then feed the phytoplankton to the fish and i did not do this. I put both phytoplankton and some brine shrimp in a 10 gallon tank with a light. The phytoplankton grew, (very little) and the brine shrimp slowly died out. So i have a couple of questions about phytoplankton cultures. First of all do you guys think that they are worth it to have? would they actually help save money and feed corals well? Could i pair it with a brine shrimp culture to then have fish and coral food? I think that it seems like a good idea, but do the drawbacks outweigh the benefits? The only drawbacks i see in having a phytoplankton culture is that they might be a little extra work and you need to get certain equipment for it, but i think this is goes for everything and it is not that bad. I would like to hear from someone who has had (or has) a phytoplankton culuture as well as others who may have a valid imput. Thanks in advance!!!!

 

[Reef By Steele]

Hi! My daughter got Sea Dragons Eggspress 3 weeks ago as a bd present. That was the moment I delved into Artemia, microalgae (Dunaliella, Tetraselmis) and brine shrimp ecosystems. The following paper is priceless:

https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/Brine-Shrimp-Ecology.pdf

I have set up 3 ecosystems a week ago. Got 4 live microalgae species from here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/132029441858
(ReefBoost Phytoplankton 500ml PhytoQuattro)
Artemia loved this new fresh food. Will see if I manage to achieve stable ecosystems. My main algae culture have since either crashed or is barely surviving - turned yellow from such a bright green. But one of the bottles has a promicing green hue. Artemia still florish.

Are you trying to run a perpetual algae culture or are you harvesting and resetting weekly. Often cultures crash from nutrient deprivation or predation. View under a microscope to see if you have ciliates, rotifers or any other moving creatures. Harder to see in dun and tetra as they are both motile.