do you have to have a kit to have sea monkeys?

Question

???????i dont want to spend a butt-load of money on them,when I just want to feed them to my fish.

sea monkeys/

brine shrimp are the same ,I know

dont you feed brine shrimp to your Goldfish?

or guppies

Answer 1

no.

Answer 2

You don't need a kit to hatch brine shrimps. The real name for brine shrimp is artemia. You only need a few things. The most complicated part in hatching artemia is knowing the aquarium salt and water ratio. I bred a lot of fish in the past such as discus, angels, and oscars and they consume a lot of brine shrimp. Now this is what you need: brine shrimp eggs(you can find it on ebay...cheap) or pet store, aquarium salt, day old tap water at room temperature, small airstone, pump, 1 gallon pickle jar, and a brine shrimp net. When you have everything, fill the pickle jar with water almost up to the rim, add exactly ten teaspoon of sea salt, one teaspoon of artemia eggs, put the airstone in the jar hooked up the pump, and hang the jar inside the tank if you want a greater hatching ratio. Artemia will hatch faster and easier if the water is kept warm. In two 2-3 days the jar water will be like a orange colour. Its best if you feed the fry live brine shrimp or you can freeze them in small cubic trays. Brine shrimp can live up to 4 days after hatching with air supply. After hatching, take the jar out of the tank along with the airstone and let water settle for 20-30 minutes or when all the egg shells/eggs are floating and the artemia are at the bottom. If you have problems in getting the artemia to the bottom, add a small light as they are attracted to light. Now use a clean air pump tubing and siphon the live artemia out into the artemia net and give it a quick rinse under the tap to wash off the salt.

PS. The best way to store unused fresh artemia eggs is by freezing them in its original package/glass tube. I've used artemia eggs that have been sitting in the freezer after 4yrs w/ good hatching ratio....85%

Answer 3

I can tell you the procedure I follow every night with my hatchery, and what some other folks do as well.

I'm cheap, I use a 2 liter bottle for hatching in, and built a box with a dimmer to contain the light, and heat. The dimmer adjusts the temperature, you can see the setup here; http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=136880&hl=

You can just as easily use a desk lamp, or other lamp in an enclosed area to keep the temperature at 80F. I imagine a deep drawer from a discarded dressed would work good, a cardboard box would probably be a bad idea due to being more flammable. I've seen people run hatcheries with a 2-liter bottle, and a gooseneck desk lamp on the corner of a table. Anything that provides light 24/7, and a constant temperature of 80F will do.

I used to run my hatchery off of a small air pump; it's hooked into my centralized system now. You do want plenty of aeration; this keeps the artemia cysts suspended in the brine solution.

You can see from the pics in the link how much water I fill with, about 1 1/2 liters. I don't add any dechlorinator, just cold tap water. I add 2 tablespoons of non-iodized salt; I've been using livestock salt, $3 for a 50-pound bag. I told you I was cheap. I also add about 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda, and since doing a little experimenting, 3 drops of chlorine bleach. I've seen breeders add a drop or two of acriflavin instead of bleach; the idea behind either of these is to keep bacteria levels down. The baking soda increases hardness; some folks will use Epsom salt instead.

So, after adding salt, baking soda, bleach and eggs I give the hatchery a good stir, and ignore it until the next night. The next night I pull the hose out of the hatchery, put the hatchery on the table, and shine a bright light on the bottom, this makes the bbs settle to the bottom. I then get what is left from the previous evening hatch out of the fridge, and get my bbs cup, which is nothing more than a large deep plastic cup with a paper coffee filter rubber banded to the top. I take my turkey baster (every aquarist should have a turkey baster) and take the previous hatch out of the old sour cream container I use to store bbs. I have a 1" square hole cut in the top; this lets a little fresh air in during storage. The stored bbs goes into the filter/cup gizmo, and drains while the hatchery is settling. After about 3 minutes I pour a little fresh water into the filter to rinse. A few minutes later I take the baster, and add some of the fresh bbs from the hatchery to the now empty & rinsed out sour cream container. To get past the shells floating at the top, without mixing them in, rub your nose a couple of times with you finger. Touch the surface of the bbs hatchery. Oil from your skin reduces surface tension, and the shells all go to the edge.

Now I add a little more water to the filter, and walk around feeding the older bbs to older fry. Once this is done, I take some of the freshly hatched bbs, and add them to the filter. I go through the same rinsing procedure before feeding these to younger fry. The sour cream container goes in the fridge, the hatchery, hose, and top go to the utility sink for a good rinse and refill, and it starts over again.

This procedure takes about 10 minutes; I try to multitask through it. Many people will get two batches going, one in the morning, and one in the evening. I hate mornings, and don't need this extra 10 minutes of work when I could be sucking down coffee; one batch daily being refrigerated has worked fine for years.

Answer 4

Have you raised brine shrimp before? If not, I'll tell you it takes some time and work to get them to a decent size for your fish. And you'll have to have several batches going at one time so you'll have a new one ready by the time you use the previous one.

Adult brine shrimp aren't that nutritious for your fish either - freshwater fish are able to fare better on them than saltwater, and the newly hatched ones are more nutritious, but these are tiny. Adult brine shrimp should be used as a treat, unless you use special food for the shrimp to enrich them right before you feed them.

You may find it's more convenient to buy them (I prefer frozen with HUFAs, Omega fatty acids, or spirulina added to make them more nutritious. These aren't terribly expensive and are a lot more convenient. When you compare the cost of the frozen with having to buy the equipment to raise them (containers, water conditioner, sea salt, hydrometer, air pumps and tubing, food, lighting/heating, etc.) and the number that may die by the time you get them to a large enough size for the goldfish, it's far cheaper and easier to buy.

If you want to raise them yourself, you can get hatcheries for $10-15, but you still need to buy the air pump and food for them and provide a 2 liter bottle. The kit comes with eggs and salt for 2-3 batches. The frozen food is about $5-6.

My fish also prefer bloodworms to brine shrimp.

Answer 5

You don't need a kit. I raise them in a rectangular Pyrex casserole dish. The only thing special I bought is a brine shrimp net, which is just a cloth net instead of mesh.

Answer 6

they are actually brine shrimp. i was heartbroken when i found that out. kinda like finding out there is no santa!. you can get them fresh and keep them in a separate container, or they even have frozen brine shrimp...i think that's the best way to get them.

Answer 7

lol "sea monkeys" are brine shrimp, you can buy them at a pet store if yournot interested them as pet

Answer 8

You would most likley be able to feed them to baby (fry) beta
s . Don't feed them to gold fish , it's far too small for them to make a meal out of !

Answer 9

you feed them to your fish ??

you can get the kits at the toy store . their about $7.00
if that.

Answer 10

no i don't think u should but it would come in handy if u wanted them to grow for more meat ............what kind of fish are these? piranhas?