Artemia a.k.a Brine Shrimp or Sea Monkey

Why artemia?

As a beginner, i was wondering how am i going to feed the fries as the pellets and flakes are too big for them to consume. I make some research and heard from my friend about this artemia, which is so call as sea monkey(what a funny name). Artemia are consider one of the best food for the fries and it boost their growth well. As you can see on the below, this is the pictures of the young artemia( scientific name would be Nauplli Artemia) and the adults one. 

Nauplli Artemia ( 1st stage when the egg just hatched)

Fully grown Artemia - 4th stage

*It seems ugly but the nutritional level is extremely high. 

The nutritional level is good does not mean that u have to wait for the artemia has fully grown only be able to feed the fries. Based on the research, the older the artemia be fed, the less nutritional value will be.

The research shows that artemia are divided into 4 stages.

1st and 2nd stage are consider as free swimmer. They don't harm any fish until they comes to 3rd and 4th stage. They are categories as parasite for the environment as they competing the food chain with the fish.

Therefore, it is recommended that once the eggs has been hatch, it should be fed to the fries.

How to hatch?

You can easily D.I.Y by using:

Items required

1 empty bottle( at least 500 ml and above)

1 table spoon of salt ( if your package does not come with salt)

1 transparent tube ( long enough for connecting the air pump to the bottle)

Steps

1. Cut the bottle as shown as the picture above.

2. Make a hole on the cap of the bottle.

3. Slot the tube in the cap and add with 500 ml of water.

4. Put 1 table spoon of salt in the water. (if you feel that your water is under low PH, use your finger to pinch a little bit of soda into the water)

5. Put 1/4 tea spoon of eggs into the water and done! :)

*It requires at least 24 hours for the eggs to hatch. You will see a very small tiny "insects" swim around and they like lights. Make sure when u want to feed the fries, cover a black paper on the top to make sure all the Artemia goes down as they will go to where never there is lights and pluck out the air pump and start feeding.

P.S. If you worry that your plant will be affected with the salt water, make sure you use the fish net to filter the water before u put them for fries.

I personally try this for my very 1st time cause Sera does mix the portion of salt with the eggs.You can skip the 4th step if you buy this.

Please do not hesitate to give me any comments if there is any inquiry on it. Thanks for reading my blog and have fun trying out!

Starting Point!

Breeding freshwaters species and learning to do aqua-scaping has never occurred to me before thanks to a great introduction from a good friend of mine, Derek. I was amazed by the artful aqua-scapes by various professionals and the beauty it brings to the little freshwater species in the aquarium itself. The balance itself is amazing when you get to learn how they correlate with each other to achieve such balance. It is an overall aqua ecology.

Starting of the project

This is how my tank looks like after the set up on the first day. The water is still cloudy due to the soil I put in.

Usually the water will be clearer each day as the water filters run. For me, to speed things up, I used Bio Care biological filteration. It can be used for freshwater and saltwater fishes. The bio ceramic ring is said to create idea habitat and nitrification bacteria which promote a healthy environment for fishes. It costs approximately RM18 per box (850g). My tank water was crystal clear a day after the set up. I have been using it for almost a month now, well, so far so good I must say.

As you notice, I actually planted live aquatic plant in my tank and to unable the plant to survive and runs its photosynthesis system, I must ensure there are sufficient Carbon Dioxides (CO2) in the tank. As shown below, I DIY-ed my own CO2 regulator for my tank. You can easily purchase any CO2 regulator out there if you find it is too much to trouble to DIY. Have a look at the third picture at the right; see the little bubbles coming out from the diffuser?  That is the CO2 that I am talking about and so far, I am glad to say, my plants are growing well.

You can Google up all kind of DIY methods on the web if you are interested to try for yourself too. They are easily available.

Soil, Bio Care filteration, and sand.

Closer look at my tank on the first day. I themed this ‘The Lost Atlantis’. It didn’t turn out as how I imagined though.

My tank after 3 weeks. I am actually breeding guppies now and I introduced a few to my empty tank just to test out how well they can cope in my current tank. The guppy species above is called Blue Tuxedo.

When you are introducing fishes to your tank, you need to make sure your water suits the type of fishes you plan to rear. The above are the few things I have to ensure my water at its correct PH and balance for the guppies.

I am looking forward to breed more of my guppies. Stay tuned for more progress update.