The Benefits Of Using Brine Shrimp As Food
Brine shrimp are an incredibly efficient and energy-rich source of food. In fact, the amount of protein in brine shrimp can be up to 60 percent of their dry weight. This makes them the perfect choice if you need food to facilitate the growth of young fish.
Their protein content is the primary reason why brine shrimp are such a popular food choice in the aquarist community. However, there are quite a few other benefits as well.
- They engage the hunting instincts of your fish due to their spastic swimming motions. This is good enrichment for your fish, and fun to watch! Many aquarium fish species naturally feed on similar small critters.
- Brine shrimp are easy to eat and easy on the the digestive systems of your fish.
- Due to their salinity tolerance, you can use them as food in both marine and freshwater tanks.
- They rarely contain diseases that can be passed along to your fish, unlike many other live foods sold in aquarium stores.
- Freshly hatched brine shrimp are very tiny and make a great food source for fish fry that are too small to eat anything else.
Brine Shrimp History
Brine shrimp has been a readily available food source for hobbyists since the 1930s. Unlike other live foods, brine shrimp does not need to be cultured continuously, but rather hatched as needed to provide a quick source of live food for fish. As time went by and harvest and processing methods for their eggs improved, brine shrimp became a staple not only for hobbyists, but also for the aquaculture industry around the world.
for information on hatching Brine shrimp eggs watch the following video.