freezing live baby brine shrimp?

[tamikakes]

First of all, as I said in a previous thred, I appologize, for I feel I am flooding the board with all my n00b questions.

I am lucky enough to have a very reputible aquaculture store down the street from my house, where I purchased live baby brine shrimp. I got a bag (the size fish come in) filled about 1/4 full of baby brine shrimp (literally HUNDREDS in the bag) for $1.25. Figured that was pretty cheap, but I know there is no way he can (well, he can, but won't be good) eat them all before they die off. how would you suggest going about freezing them? I was thinking just dump the shrimp, with the water they came in, into icecube trays, or is it more complicated than that. If I do this, how do I thaw them or whatever to feed him?

[Oldfishlady]

Ask all the questions you need...that is what the forum is for......

As for freezing the brine shrimp to feed to an adult Betta....what I would do....dump them in a brine shrimp net and rinse well under running water-then mix up a small amount of dechlorinated water-Add the rinsed brine shrimp to the container you plan to freeze them in and cover with the dechlorinated water and freeze.
You can either use a knife and cut off what you need to feed or use a grater.

You don't want to add any of the water the shrimp are in to your Betta tank-its salt water for one and two, its full of bacteria that is not healthy for the Betta....

This is how I freeze and feed mosquito larva.

Adult brine shrimp have very little nutrition-but they are fine to feed as a snack to adult Bettas-If you want to make them more nutritious add a HUFA supplement to the water before freezing...Silcon is what I like to use-you can find this online or at a fish shop that sells saltwater fish/supplies.

[tamikakes]

Thank you so very much. After I freeze them, do I just thaw them out in my fish net? They are baby brine shrimp and feeding them to a "baby" 9ish week old betta.

[Oldfishlady]

I would only thaw what you plan to feed-you don't want to thaw and re-freeze.

Since this is for a young Betta-I wouldn't recommend brine shrimp as the only food source. Once the brine shrimp have used their yolk sac they have very little nutrition.

[tamikakes]

how old is considered adult in betta terms? if he IS 9 weeks, how long on only BBS? if I post a pic, would you be able to possibly "age" him if he's next to something to compare size?

How many roughly, should I feed at a time?

[Oldfishlady]

IMO/E....9 weeks is near adult...I have spawned at that age...not recommended.....but some/can spawn...really depending on goals...But for general keeping a 2 month old should be about or at least nearing adult body size-it can take a bit longer on the fin length/development-this depends on tail/fin type too....The long fin males can take 4 months and the HM I like to wait 6 months to make sure they can hold/carry their fin/tail...anyway....

I generally stop feeding BBS to my fry at 8-12 weeks of age-depending on growth/development-But regardless-by 8-9 weeks they are on a different diet-I have found the BBS are too small for them to eat anyway-I may supplement with BBS- I am weaning them from the live foods by that point so that they will know how to eat processed foods-plus-I want a heartier diet than what BBS can provide-along with my homemade food-I will add processed food, mosquito larva and some HUFA supplemented brine shrimp to get best growth/development.

As for the amount to feed....BBS should be more of a snack at this age...hard to give amount since the BBS can be different in size...but roughly 50-100 BBS...more or less- along with some processed food and/or mosquito larva-Watch the tummy....you want it to be nice and round/full looking and depending on the Betta color you may or may not be able to see the orange color of the BBS in the stomach

Post a pic of him along side a common item to compare him with....might be able to tell or give estimate on the age....but growth/development can vary as a general rule based on a lot of different factors...

Did you buy him from a breeder or did you buy one of the baby Betta from a pet shop

[tamikakes]

Thank you very much oldfishlady. I've heard so much about you already by stalking the board! You really put a gals heart and nerves at ease!

I got him at Petco. He was the brightest and one of the biggest of the "baby" bunch.

I have posted in a previous thread about how I got him for my son, I already had a 2.5gal tank and figured he would be more than happy in this tank. (I too was like almost every other first time betta parent thinking they only needed the little bowls. Thank heavens for this board!!!) so of course, browsing around the board, I"m a nervous wreck! But I figured for $1.99 it would be fun to watch grow and the mystery of if it was a boy or girl and what type. (again, I was a nieve parent not realizing it was harder to keep a baby)

phew! sorry bout that.

here are a couple pics, sorry they are blurry!! maybe you can tell. (what is is exact color by the way?)