Flake Foods & Hatching Brine Shrimp
by Stephen Neil Kwartler
When the tropical fish hobby began to gain popularity it was essential that the hobbyist would be able to maintain his prized specimens. There were at the time many homemade recipes for making and preparing fish food. Some of the early pioneers made elaborate formulas like Myron Gordon’s Liver Paste Food as the staple diet for the tropical fish. The local pet shops sold several major brands of fish foods that were mainly animal by-products and useless filler that was in a granular form. Most of the aquarium magazines were filled with advertisements by so called professionals selling their special blend of fish foods. You had guppy breeders selling their special "giant guppy growth food", and others with claims to ridiculous to mention. Most of these foods had as their main ingredient powdered dog food, fish and/or animal by-products that included bone meal. Yes the fish did eat the food, and yes they did seem healthy, but at the cost that the foods were being sold at was it a good product worth using. The foods that were being sold by the major manufacturers like Wardley, Longlife, and Tetra to name a few, didn’t concern themselves at that time with proper packaging or honest ingredient labeling. It wasn’t until sometime in the mid 1960’s that better products to help maintain our fish were sold at the pet shop level. Better ingredients were also being used to help promote growth as well. Different foods were sold for almost every type of tropical fish one could imagine. The tropical fish food industry combined with all other pet foods was as large if not larger then the baby food industry. So by now you are asking, "what about flake foods", well I’m getting to that.
The tropical fish flake foods that are sold in most pet shops are made and distributed by major manufactures. The ingredients used today are much better then before and most labels sell a vast amount of specialty diets. By weight these foods average over $15.00 per pound. For feeding guppies any of these flakes will do providing that you crush these flakes into a smaller almost powder like food. I have found that the guppies prefer to feed when the food is easier to consume. I use a food processor to break down the flakes into a much smaller flake. This can be accomplished by putting the food into a large fish bag and after letting all the air out you squeeze the bag until the food is crushed into a finer flake. Always keep your opened fish foods stored in a freezer or refrigerator between every use. This will insure freshness as well as preventing the food from spoiling. Vitamins that may have been added in the manufacturing process will lose strength in a short time.
I have tried many varieties of fish foods over the years and have seen all the claims made by manufacturers and breeders. Usually the foods that are sold by hobbyists are twice the price of commercially prepared foods and there is never any guarantee on the quality or what is actually in the ingredients. There are some mail order companies that do sell bulk fish foods that are both low in price and high in quality. It is not my intention to single out those selling high priced "specialty foods" or those selling inferior products. What I will do is give you a guideline to follow to purchase good quality flake foods for all types of tropical fish including guppies.
- Purchase only enough food to last no more then two to three months.
- I suggest using several varieties that are fed in intervals everyday depending on your schedule. The varieties I use and have been using for many years are as follows: Golden Egg Flake, Shrimp Flake and/or Plankton Flake, Vitamin or Conditioning Flake, Earthworm Flake, and a Basic Flake. I use all these foods to feed all my fish from the babies to the adults.
- I strongly urge you to avoid using color food of any kind.
- All these foods can be purchased through reliable mail order establishments that sell bulk fish foods. Expect to pay about $9.00 per pound before shipping. If you are paying more then $10.00 a pound for fish food foods you are paying too much.
- Feed all your fish sparingly and often. (every hour is ideal)
- If your fish do not seem eager to feed then DO NOT FEED THEM!!!
- Remember that the number one killer of most tropical fish is OVERFEEDING
Hatching Live Baby Brine Shrimp
by Stephen Neil Kwartler
Over the last several years it appears that the most asked question regarding feeding guppies relates to the difficulty of hatching baby brine shrimp. Let us examine what brine shrimp are and where they are found and harvested.
Brine shrimp are naturally found in lakes that are of very high salt content like the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Most of the adult brine shrimp sold as frozen shrimp or packaged as eggs are harvested there. San Francisco also harvests a similar specie of shrimp but in my experience they are of a smaller type. This article will refer to the eggs obtained from the Great Salt Lake.
There are several methods to hatching brine shrimp, too many to cover them all. I have over the years used one gallon pickle jars, inverted soda bottles with the bottoms cut off. Today I use three commercially sold brine shrimp cones available from several sources. You can easily adapt the container size or the amount of containers for your particular needs. Many fish breeders use the inverted soda bottle setup as it is readily available for free and the bottles are correctly shaped for shrimp hatching when turned upside down. This creates a funnel or cone shape that helps keep the hatching eggs in constant motion. Cutting of the bottom of the soda bottle is necessary for ease of cleaning. As you can see from the photo using the plastic carton from a 2 liter soda bottle carrier as a holder makes an ideal rack to hold your bottles. If smaller or larger bottles are to be used you will need to either make a base or construct a holder to keep the bottles stationary. You can also use airline pipe valves drilled into the bottle caps for your air supply. If you decide to use this method make sure to place air line check valves below the containers to avoid draining the container if the air supply is stopped. You can also use rigid tubing attached to your airline and weighted down or clipped to the soda bottle to keep it in place. DO NOT use an air stone to aerate the water as it will create a heavy foam.
So we now have our hatching containers and air supply ready to go. A good quality brine shrimp net is also needed. Most better pet shops carry them. I have found a constant light source will noticeably increase your hatches. This will help in the hatching time and will also assist in separating the live shrimp from the spent shells when hatching is completed. Hatching times will vary due to the temperature of the hatch and the quality or source of the eggs. I have learned never to purchase eggs from the local pet shops as these eggs have probably been on the shelf for some time. Mail order suppliers are a good source for purchasing eggs and some brands are better than others. Over the past few years due to world wide use of Utah eggs, El Nino, poor harvests or just plain poor harvesting has plagued the tropical fish industry. Prices have risen, fallen and today have risen again. All in all baby brine shrimp is still the best source for high quality fish food for livebearer fry and juveniles. Few show specimens are ever raised without being fed live baby brine as a first food.
There are several recipes for preparing the hatching solution. I will discuss some of the older formulas first. Kosher salt or non-iodized salt is used at the rate of 4 tablespoons per gallon of water. A ½ teaspoon of either Borax or baking soda is also added to help soften the egg shells. What is important is that a specific gravity between 1.020 -1.025. Although lower gravity works, better hatches are obtained in this range. I have been using sea salt by itself for several years and the hatches are very good. It may be a bit more of an expense for the sea salt but the hatches remain very consistent. Adding some PH Up or baking soda will also increase your hatch. For a two liter bottle filled a little more then ¾ with water I use between 1 ½ - 2 tablespoons of sea salt. I do not add the shrimp eggs until all the salt is completely dissolved. The amount of tanks and or fish will determine how much brine shrimp eggs you will use in each container. I suggest no more then ¼ teaspoon for a small setup and 1 -2 teaspoons for 50 tanks or more. Baby brine shrimp is best fed to your fish about ½ hour to one hour after feeding dried food. The reason is that the dried food will still be in the fishes digestive system and the shrimp when fed will not become digested too quickly. I have no actual proof of this happening but the bellies of my fry seem fuller when fed this way.
Hatching time varies as I have said due to egg quality but temperature will play an important role in hatching time and hatch size. I try to maintain my hatching containers at about 80 degrees which gives me a good hatch after 24 to 36 hours. This is something you will need to experiment with. When you feel the hatch is ready shut of the air supply. Allow the hatch to sit for about 5 minutes to allow the hatched shrimp to collect near the bottom of the jar as the spent shells will float to the top. If the light source is situated near the jar or container the shrimp will become attracted to the light and will make their removal easier. I let the hatched shrimp drain into a container and then pour the shrimp into my shrimp net. It is important to rinse the shrimp while in the net under cool fresh water. Next you will turn the net over and with the aid of some running water rinse the net again so the shrimp wash off and are collected into a small container. There are several methods to feed the shrimp. Many use a turkey baster which makes the job quick and easy. Another way to fed the shrimp is by using a mustard type squeeze bottle. I have found semi-clear bottles to be easier than the old turkey baster. After feeding all your fish, babies first, rinse everything off and allow to dry until the next use.
Baby brine shrimp is probably the best source for protein that is readily eaten as a first food by all live bearing fry. Other live foods like micro worms or vinegar eels are excellent food sources but are more suitable for those only feeding a few tanks of hungry guppies.
Brine shrimp are naturally found in lakes that are of very high salt content like the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Most of the adult brine shrimp sold as frozen shrimp or packaged as eggs are harvested there. San Francisco also harvests a similar specie of shrimp but in my experience they are of a smaller type. This article will refer to the eggs obtained from the Great Salt Lake.
There are several methods to hatching brine shrimp, too many to cover them all. I have over the years used one gallon pickle jars, inverted soda bottles with the bottoms cut off. Today I use three commercially sold brine shrimp cones available from several sources. You can easily adapt the container size or the amount of containers for your particular needs. Many fish breeders use the inverted soda bottle setup as it is readily available for free and the bottles are correctly shaped for shrimp hatching when turned upside down. This creates a funnel or cone shape that helps keep the hatching eggs in constant motion. Cutting of the bottom of the soda bottle is necessary for ease of cleaning. As you can see from the photo using the plastic carton from a 2 liter soda bottle carrier as a holder makes an ideal rack to hold your bottles. If smaller or larger bottles are to be used you will need to either make a base or construct a holder to keep the bottles stationary. You can also use airline pipe valves drilled into the bottle caps for your air supply. If you decide to use this method make sure to place air line check valves below the containers to avoid draining the container if the air supply is stopped. You can also use rigid tubing attached to your airline and weighted down or clipped to the soda bottle to keep it in place. DO NOT use an air stone to aerate the water as it will create a heavy foam.
So we now have our hatching containers and air supply ready to go. A good quality brine shrimp net is also needed. Most better pet shops carry them. I have found a constant light source will noticeably increase your hatches. This will help in the hatching time and will also assist in separating the live shrimp from the spent shells when hatching is completed. Hatching times will vary due to the temperature of the hatch and the quality or source of the eggs. I have learned never to purchase eggs from the local pet shops as these eggs have probably been on the shelf for some time. Mail order suppliers are a good source for purchasing eggs and some brands are better than others. Over the past few years due to world wide use of Utah eggs, El Nino, poor harvests or just plain poor harvesting has plagued the tropical fish industry. Prices have risen, fallen and today have risen again. All in all baby brine shrimp is still the best source for high quality fish food for livebearer fry and juveniles. Few show specimens are ever raised without being fed live baby brine as a first food.
There are several recipes for preparing the hatching solution. I will discuss some of the older formulas first. Kosher salt or non-iodized salt is used at the rate of 4 tablespoons per gallon of water. A ½ teaspoon of either Borax or baking soda is also added to help soften the egg shells. What is important is that a specific gravity between 1.020 -1.025. Although lower gravity works, better hatches are obtained in this range. I have been using sea salt by itself for several years and the hatches are very good. It may be a bit more of an expense for the sea salt but the hatches remain very consistent. Adding some PH Up or baking soda will also increase your hatch. For a two liter bottle filled a little more then ¾ with water I use between 1 ½ - 2 tablespoons of sea salt. I do not add the shrimp eggs until all the salt is completely dissolved. The amount of tanks and or fish will determine how much brine shrimp eggs you will use in each container. I suggest no more then ¼ teaspoon for a small setup and 1 -2 teaspoons for 50 tanks or more. Baby brine shrimp is best fed to your fish about ½ hour to one hour after feeding dried food. The reason is that the dried food will still be in the fishes digestive system and the shrimp when fed will not become digested too quickly. I have no actual proof of this happening but the bellies of my fry seem fuller when fed this way.
Hatching time varies as I have said due to egg quality but temperature will play an important role in hatching time and hatch size. I try to maintain my hatching containers at about 80 degrees which gives me a good hatch after 24 to 36 hours. This is something you will need to experiment with. When you feel the hatch is ready shut of the air supply. Allow the hatch to sit for about 5 minutes to allow the hatched shrimp to collect near the bottom of the jar as the spent shells will float to the top. If the light source is situated near the jar or container the shrimp will become attracted to the light and will make their removal easier. I let the hatched shrimp drain into a container and then pour the shrimp into my shrimp net. It is important to rinse the shrimp while in the net under cool fresh water. Next you will turn the net over and with the aid of some running water rinse the net again so the shrimp wash off and are collected into a small container. There are several methods to feed the shrimp. Many use a turkey baster which makes the job quick and easy. Another way to fed the shrimp is by using a mustard type squeeze bottle. I have found semi-clear bottles to be easier than the old turkey baster. After feeding all your fish, babies first, rinse everything off and allow to dry until the next use.
Baby brine shrimp is probably the best source for protein that is readily eaten as a first food by all live bearing fry. Other live foods like micro worms or vinegar eels are excellent food sources but are more suitable for those only feeding a few tanks of hungry guppies.