Date: 30 Jul 1997
From: "Shiao Y. Wang" <sywang@whale.st.usm.edu>
To: BRINE-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
COMMENTS 1:
I'm currently raising brine shrimp using both algae (Chaetoceros
neogracilis) and microencapsulated feeds. I think the live algae
promote better growth but the microencapsulated stuff is definitely
MUCH easier. I don't think you could grow enough algae to keep a
population of any decent size going on a long term basis. Plus, keeping the culture pure is sort of a pain. Anyhow, the two microencapsulated diets are: Maxima #1 by Sanders and Topal algal substitute for early larval rearing. The Maxima diet is intended for rearing larval shrimp but the Topal diet doesn't specify the target organism. It might be for brine shrimp because the label says: "Another performing diet formulated by Artemia Systems".
Shiao Y. Wang
University of Southern Mississippi
sywang@whale.st.usm.edu
***************
Date: 30 Jul 1997
From: Mike Burda <MIKEBU@nebfef.com>
To: BRINE-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
COMMENTS 2:
I do not raise brine shrimp to adult size. I have no need. I raise
angelfish (freshwater). Once my angels are large enough to eat adult
brine shrimp, I feed them frozen brine shrimp or flake food. I once feed them freeze dried fries but that is another post the freeze dried flies list.
The best price that I have found for brine shrimp is around $14.00 per 15-16 oz can. In the recent past I have paid $20 per can. That makes brine shrimp expensive. However, since brine shrimp is easy to hatch (and I know how to do it) it is the most expedient choice.
I have a simple one day rotation on a bank of hatching units. The units are the simple pop bottle setup with a few minor modifications. The pop bottles rest on plexiglass holder that holds 10 units. The plexiglass container fits in a 20 long. The 20 long holds spillage and overflows. I clean the tank regularly. This set up gives me a clean self-contained hatching system.
What is the cost of setting up a rearing tank? We had a brine shrimp
producer in Lincoln. The company went out of business but it used huge 200 gallon containers to rear shrimp. The shrimp took about 2 weeks to hatch. They had to constantly keep rotating their shrimp to ensure that they had a ready supply of shrimp.
Even on a smaller scale what does someone need to make two quarts of live adult brine shrimp? That amount of shrimp needs to be available daily.
Are people making significantly less shrimp than that?
I have toyed with the idea of raising brine shrimp but I find that the frozen brine shrimp is readily available and cheap.
I am interested in a cost break down of rearing brine shrimp. I would like both hard and soft costs (time, labor, and expertise).
I raise roughly a half pint of brine shrimp (nauplii) from three to five
teaspoons of brine shrimp. Before everyone goes crazy, I realize that
there is a lot of water in my hatch. When I let the hatch sit and settle, it settles into 1/3 water 2/3 shrimp. I am not sure how many teaspoons are in a 15oz container of brine shrimp but I usually get about a months use out of can of shrimp.
Mike Burda <MIKEBU@nebfef.com>
***************
Date: 30 Jul 1997
From: Christine Johanna Band Schmidt <bandc@angel.umar.mx>
To: BRINE-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
COMMENTS 3:
I have fed the brine shrimp with Chaetoceros sp. and Dunaliella sp.
The algae you can obtain from different culture collections, if you want a list of some of them I can help you.
Cristina Band
***************
Date: 30 Jul 1997
From: Alan Maxwell <Seacriter@aol.com>
To: BRINE-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
COMMENTS 4:
We have been raising brine shrimp to adults for the last 16 years. A standard food for moderately good results is brewers yeast. Biggest mistake for beginners is to feed too much. Use as large a tank as you can. You should get a good growth of ciliates and other protozoa that come in on the cyst wall. After all this time I wonder if our brine shrimp are growing to adults on the yeast mixture we use or if the wild population of protozoa and bacteria are the major food.
Alan Maxwell, Sea critters, Inc. 50 Sea Critters Lane, Key Largo, FL. 33070.E
mail Seacriter@aol.com Note one "t" in e-mail name.
***************
Date: 30 Jul 1997
From: "Howard W. Newman" <BShrimp@aol.com>
To: BRINE-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
COMMENTS 5:
If you are raising only small quantities try just generating enough green water to raise them to adults. Start with Dunaliella or if you want a better Fatty Acid profile try a Isocrysis or Chaetoceros.
Get a starter culture from a biological supply house like Carolina
Biologicals in the USA. I'm sure there are others around the world to supply these cultures.
howard w. newman
***************
Date: 30 Jul 1997
From: Teo Soon Bock <teosb@pacific.net.sg>
To: BRINE-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
COMMENTS 6:
I am presently using Liquifry No 1 (for egg layers) to feed to the brine shrimp besides feeding baby dwarf gouramis (Colisa lalia). Seems to yield better harvest of brine shrimps than when I fed the brine shrimp with yeast solution.
Teo Soon Bock
Bedok Central
P O Box 0841
Singapore 914615
Tel: (65) 449-8623
Email: teosb@pacific.net.sg
http://www.singnet.com.sg/~teosb
http://home.pacific.net.sg/~teosb
http://www.cyberway.com.sg/~teosb
***************
Date: 31 Jul 1997
From: Jeff Lambert <jlambert@microsoft.com>
To: BRINE-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
COMMENTS 7:
I can hatch the brine shrimp (San Francisco Bay) in a soda bottle with no problem. It takes the normal 24-36 hours.
Once they hatch how long does it take for them to grow to adults?
Jeff Lambert
***************
Date: 31 Jul 1997
From: Sean Flanagan <calypso@powerup.com.au>
To: BRINE-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
COMMENTS 8:
I have been interested in Brine Shrimp for my Reef Aquaria, as food. I have been hatching them for some time, as I find the coral, anemones etc enjoy the treat, but have had little success in raising them to mature adults. With the suggestions I have received I am now building a small purpose-built tank to try and mature the little buggers. As I have received various recommendations on using algae (of various different species) I will first try the algae pre-existing in my reef tank ( I have plenty at the moment, but this is decreasing as I have recently embarked on a two month starvation for the tank). I intend to place small, well blended (I intend to use the food processor) amounts in at first. I will heat the tank with a low-voltage 50W halogen light to hatch them, then reduce the light (and hence also the heat) as they mature. If the algae does not work I will contact the CSIRO here in Australia. I have heard that low light (and a slightly lower
temperature) is better for maturing Artemia, so I will experiment with
temperature and light variations.
I will use synthetic sea salt to make up the salt water, and aerate well
using a standard air-stone.
Best Regards,
Sean Flanagan.
***************
Date: 31 Jul 1997
From: "Shiao Y. Wang" <sywang@whale.st.usm.edu>
To: BRINE-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
COMMENTS 9:
One may purchase starter cultures either from a general biological
supply house (e.g. Carolina Biologicals) or algae collection centers
(there is one at the University of Texas, Austin). I don't have their
addresses handy but can search for them if you are searching for a
source.
Shiao Y. Wang
University of Southern Mississippi
sywang@whale.st.usm.edu
***************
Date: 31 Jul 1997
From: Christine Johanna Band Schmidt <bandc@angel.umar.mx>
To: BRINE-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
COMMENTS 10:
Period weeded to grow brine shrimp to adults depends mostly on the quantity and quality of your food, but approx. it takes between 8 and 15 days.
Cristina Band
***************
Date: 31 Jul 1997
From: Bruce Fulton <bfulton872@oncomdis.on.ca>
To: BRINE-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
COMMENTS 11:
I have 2 x130 gallon tanks and I would like to have a continuous supply of brine shrimp for them..can't get them here where I live but can hatch and grow them myself.
Bruce Fulton <bfulton872@oncomdis.on.ca>
***************
Date: 31 Jul 1997
From: "Howard W. Newman" <BShrimp@aol.com>
To: BRINE-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
COMMENTS 12:
If you want adult Artemia biomass the easiest way is to purchase it from San Francisco Bay Brand or another company involved in this aspect of the business. If you want to raise your own the easiest method is to have an aquarium or other container of seawater strength, to which an algae starter culture and inorganic fertilizers have been added. Keep this under full illumination of gro-lux or other plant lights until you have a nice pea soup. Try to time this so that you can have the newly hatched Artemia nauplii available about the time your algae reaches log phase. After your Artemia hatch, rinse them and place them in the green water container and let them graze. At 80 degree F they will grow to adult size in probably close to the 7-8 days mentioned above. Algae is nice to work with in small cultures because you essentially eliminate the water quality problems associated with compound diets.
howard w. newman
**************
Date:1 Aug 1997
From: Richard Lebovitz <lebovitz@mwzb.com>
To: BRINE-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
COMMENTS 13:
There are few places I know where algae cultures can be obtained:
Bigelow Labs, CCMP collection in Maine (207 633 9600) and University of Texas. Does anyone know of other sources?
I've been using Chaetoceros neogracile (from CCMP) but I will be trying Chaetoceros muelleri to see if it is ingested better by the young
nauplius. Both these algae need natural seawater (I've tried Instant
ocean but it doesn't work!).
Richard
***************
Date: 1 Aug 1997
From: Christine Johanna Band Schmidt <bandc@angel.umar.mx>
To: BRINE-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
COMMENTS 14:
In Mexico there are three I know of:
CICESE, Ensenada, BCN
CIBNOR, La Paz, BCS and
UMar, Pto. Angel, Oax.
C. Band
***************
Date: August 02, 1997
From: Jeff Eggenberger <jeffegg2@ix.netcom.com>
To: BRINE-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
COMMENTS 15:
Jones Labs has a lot of stuff. I have bought some of their cultures and been happy with them.
find them at:
http://members.aol.com/jonbio/jblinc.htm
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------