Hello folks new member here..***waves***. I have a couple of questions about brine shrimp and feeding fry that I haven't seen answered yet. 1- when hatching out BS how long can they live in the hatchery before loosing nutritional value for fry (or just plain dying) 2- Do fry need to be fed within minutes of becoming free swimming or is there a bit of a "grace" period in which they will be safe. 3- how long (give or take) before fry are big enough to graduate to a less labour intensive menu?
Ok, my 2 cents
:
Brine shrimp, when they first hatch out, reportedly have a yolk sac of their own that they absorb relatively quickly so the suggested amount of time to make the most of this "extra" nutrition is about 6 hours after hatching. I have, and I'm sure Bob and Ray and the other breeders on this site do too, a method of hatching out brine that is pretty calculated so I know I am feeding shrimp that have hatched less than that 6 hours prior to use. HOWEVER, if you use older brine shrimp, they are still good just not AS nutritious as the newly hatched (or as small, which might be an issue for smaller fry.) Having said all that, I have left the baby brine in a bowl with some floating algae and had them grow up to adult size so given the right parameters and food, the shrimp can live out a lifetime in your hatchery. Adult shrimp are only as nutritious as the food they have been fed.
As for when to feed the fry: You have to remember, the fry just got done absorbing their own highly nutritious yolk sac just prior to becoming free swimming. So do they need to be fed immediately? Not really. I like to get some food into them within that first day of their free swimming. If they don't eat, it's no biggey as they had been fed with the yok sac. ( Think of it this way, if you ate a highly nutritious meal then fasted for 24 hours, would you starve to death? I doubt it.
) You just need to clean out the dead shrimp so as not to mess up the water quality.
As for how long to an easier schedule: As Bob said, there is no easy schedule with breeding. lol It all depends on your fish and how they grow. If they have enough space and clean water and food, they can grow more quickly and switched to a larger food type. If they are crowded and poorly cared for, they will not grow as big as fast and will require more time to get to that point. So it's up to you and your situation as to timing.
I hope some of this helped
