live Brine Shrimp....

[stevertr]

Just got a new Mandarin the other day....

Any idea what would happen if I threw a couple tablespoons of Brine Shrimp eggs into my tank? In theory....wouldn't they just hatch and populate the reef with baby brine shrimp and the empty shells float into the skimmer?

Steve

 

[wrassefan]

The eggs will sink and rot...some will hatch but not a whole lot. That is the reason I hatch eggs in a tilted 2liter soda bottle with an air tube to the bottom. This keeps all the eggs suspended and moving.

 

[JustDavidP]

Ditto...

Another issue that comes to mind is that the cyst/bran on the capsule has been known to irritate corals and fish it they acidentally ingest it or in the case of corals, get it stuck in/on their flesh. Also, they would add to the unwanted nutrients to the system.

Breed them in another container, use a brine net so you aren't introducing the brine shrimp water into your system (salinity swings etc.), and feed the display that way. they need to be constantly tumbling to get a decent hatch rate. That probably won't happen in your tank.

With a manarin, you are better off setting up an above tank fuge and gravity feed pods, shrimp etc. to the display tank. Growing and feeding baby brine is a pain in the arse imho (I can't wait to be done with it...want a baby bangai ) and is not a good source of food for the fish anyways unless they are less than 24 hours old or are gut packed with other foods. Pods and mysid are the "victims" of Hendrix, my mandarin.

Have fun