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Re: Sea monkeys, rotifers, and jarred plankton



Sea monkeys are  brine shrimp. You can feed them to your fish if they have
not been exposed to any harmful substances.  Rather expensive way to buy
brine shrimp though. Brine shrimp are not exactly a saltwater animal
although they will do very well in any of the artificial sea mixes. There is
a progression; freshwater/brackish water/salt water/ brine. Brine is saltier
than the water from the ocean. Each population or species of brine shrimp
have an ideal salinity and temperature range, but the tolerance range is
pretty broad. I know several people who have raised brine shrimp in the
Great Lakes are of North America in second-hand kiddie pools half filled
with discard water from water changes on a marine aquarium (no copper
medications though). The salinity can fluctuate up and down due to heat and
drought or rain. As long as there is enough sunlight to grow algae, the
brine shrimp will prosper.

The marine rotifer, Brachionis plicatus, is suitable for feeding to both
marine and some freshwater fish. I have fed them to adults and fry of an
albino strain of Julidochromis ornatus, an African cichlid, and any other
small African cichlid fry that there were still excess rotifers for. The
albino "Julie" fry had difficulty eating brine shrimp, and so only a few fry
would survive from each clutch of eggs without the rotifers. Brachionis
rubens and B. calyciflorus are freshwater species and so would be more
logical to use with freshwater fry, but if you find it easier to culture B.
plicatus, try it with some freshwater fish, especially those from hard
alkaline waters. The Plankton Culture Manual (by Hoff & Snell) covers the
freshwater species B. rubens and B. calcyflorus and the marine species B.
rotundiformis and B. plicatus.

The preserved plankton in small glass jars appears to be nearly all Daphnia.
Daphnia is a good food, especially if the Daphnia have been kept fed and
vitaminized just prior to feeding or preservation. Preservation of course
eliminates the feeding response stimulated by the enticing movement of a
living Daphnia.