anything wrong with using FREEZE DRIED Brine Shrimp instead of frozen?

[kbreese]

I have seen the Hikari container's of Brine shrimp and was wondering if anyone ever uses this to feed fish &anemones?

Usually when i see people mention brine the word frozen is in front of it. Anything wrong with using the freeze dried brine instead?

The other foods I feed is Ocean Nutrition Prime reef flake food and Ocean Nutrition formula two marine pellet's.

[3_high_low]

FD foods float. You can soak them so they sink though:D I think it's good stuff but I prefer frozen. I think the frozen foods have a larger percentage of microscopic particles of food so that small mouthed corals can consume some too. JMO

[rayjay]

Because it's dry, it will soak up a lot more Selco, or Selcon for fortification.
I still prefer the gut loaded live adults though.
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[kbreese]

3_high_low, I actually thought the freeze dried stuff had more little paricles. Much of it seem to break right up like dust...

rayjay, I actually have not soaked it in selcon. is that something i should definitely do? If I do this would I still soak it in tank water to sink?

Also, is the freeze dried still nutrtionally complete?

[Aquabucket]

Freeze dried has much more in the way of protein than frozen. Most all frozen foods are 96-98% water and useless IMO. My Sally's FD brine is 40% crude protein and made from 100% brine.

FD brine has much smaller particles than you could ever hope for with frozen foods.

[kbreese]

Originally posted by Aquabucket
Freeze dried has much more in the way of protein than frozen. Most all frozen foods are 96-98% water and useless IMO. My Sally's FD brine is 40% crude protein and made from 100% brine.

FD brine has much smaller particles than you could ever hope for with frozen foods.

hmm, that's interesting. i just don't understand why, out of the hundred times, almost everytime I see people list their feeds the word "frozen" is always in front of whatever kind of shrimp they feed.

i read the hikari container and they basically say it is just as good as fresh Brine shrimp but has even more omega fatty acids.

[3_high_low]

Originally posted by kbreese
3_high_low, I actually thought the freeze dried stuff had more little paricles. Much of it seem to break right up like dust...

Maybe so:).

[Aquabucket]

Most packaged fish foods whether they are frozen or dried provide a crude analysis on the packaging. 100's of people use frozen foods without realizing they are basically adding water to their tanks. Hikari makes some good food. I like Sally's San Francisco Bay Brand products but have used Hikari quite often.

The rest of my feedings consist of finely chopped seafoods bought at my local market. Clam's, oysters, shrimp, scallops, etc.. are all great foods and can be frozen yourself. I sometimes add fresh spinach, spirulina, and finely crushed and chopped garlic to the mix.

[3_high_low]

Originally posted by Aquabucket


The rest of my feedings consist of finely chopped seafoods bought at my local market. Clam's, oysters, shrimp, scallops, etc.. are all great foods and can be frozen yourself. I sometimes add fresh spinach, spirulina, and finely crushed and chopped garlic to the mix.

Wow that sounds delicious! I bet this would taste good on some Italian bread:)

[jdieck]

The only disadvantage of dried foods is the need to presoak them to prevent floating and ending up in the overflow. Brine shrimp I would definitively soak in Selcon or Vitachem as their nutrituous value is somehow low. You may want to presoak then and keep them in a bottle in the fridge. The longer they are soaked the less tendency to float.
As an alternative I switched to CyclopEzze which has higher nutritious value.
Use small amounts specially at the start to give the bacteria a chance to multiply to the new level of available feed.

[pscheel]

Rayjay has a good point. Soaking with Selcon/Zoe sounds better than soaking frozen brine.

[Aquabucket]

I simply place my freeze dried brine in front of my HOB and it easily throws it towards the bottom of the tank. Freeze dried brine has even more nutritional value than live brine in most cases. Again it is important to read the packaging before you buy.

Of all the FD foods, brine requires little soaking. Other foods like krill and mysis require at least 15-30 minutes of soaking in some tank water to sink.

Adding additives as mentioned is just another advantage of using FD foods.

It is best to store FD foods in their original container. Storing them in water can only open up the possibility of undesired bacterial growth.