I read the tagged topics on food but I still couldn't find the answers I'm looking for, although it's possible I'm oblivious. I have a platy and a guppy, both juvenile, and I have brine shrimp to feed them because they didn't want to eat the flake food, presumably because they're stressed from just being moved. I've never fed live food before. How much do I give them? I gave each three to start with and they ate those quickly, should I give them more now? I don't want to overfeed. Also, how long will the brine shrimp live? Am I just going to have to throw out what the fish don't eat within the next day or whatever, or is there a way to keep the brine alive a little longer?
Thanks

This post has been edited by Mauricia: May 27 2008, 09:55 PM

Did you rinse them before putting them in? If you didnt, you couild kill your fish becasue Brine shrimp are Saltwater ( lots more salt than freshwater obviously). You owuld need to scoup some up in a net, and then rinse them under a sink,and then out them in. I would feed them as much as they will eat.

Yeah I rinsed them in a coffee filter with water from the tank, then sort of plopped a few in. The guppy seems to have a black hole as a stomach, there's not a chance he could make himself sick by over eating?

Is it a male or a female guppy?

Don't worry, your not going too kill the fish by putting brineshrimp unrinsed in a freshwater tank . The tiny tiny tiny amount of brine on them is diluted so much that unless you keep your fish in a small cup and feed nothing but brineshrimp for a week, not rinsing them will have no affect.

Unless you added the whole bag with water (which I'm sure you didn't), but even then you wouldn't kill the fish as you have fish that can quite happily live in brackish water. Filter bacteria wouldn't appreciate it though .

Brine shrimp can be stored in the fridge safely for a few days, to keep them lasting for ages just put them in a small jar with some more brine water on the windowsill, and feed them some yeast or sea-monkey food once a week. They are the same as sea-monkeys, so if you have ever kept them before you should be great at keeping brineshrimp alive as live-food.

A few is fine, they don't need much, I'd be concerned about them not eating flake though, how big is the tank, depending on the size and assuming it's fully cycled I would get a few more platies and guppies, they really prefer to be kept in groups .

Funny you mention that, hehehe. I did that before, about a year and a half ago. The angelfish in the tank got white spot and they all died from the shock.

The tank hasn't cycled, it's sort of a weird situation. My friends tank got knocked over and all the fish died except for these two, and I had a five gallon tank that I used to keep my beta in (died after four years), so I quickly set it up and we put them in there. I've been testing the water daily, put cycle in there, and we're just hoping for the best, but we don't know anyone else who can take them so the tank is just going to have to cycle with the fish. They used to eat flake food, we think they're just traumatized. But yeah, I don't really want to put any more in there since the tank is so small.

Ah, OK, cool. I'd do 50% water changes on the tank daily for a couple of weeks and not bother with the nutrafin (or whatever brand) 'cycle' as it actually contains ammonia and your filter will be getting enough from the fish .

Cut back feeding for a couple of weeks, I'd just put a live plant (something like elodea) in there for the fish to peck at, and feed every 2 days for those 2 weeks. After that start feeding normally but carry on the those water changes for another 2 weeks. By that time your tank should be cycled for those fish. Though personally I wouldn't want to keep them in that tank all their life, I would plan on getting something bigger so you could get a couple more platies and guppies, look into rehoming them to someone else who has a suitable tank, or even just had them in to an lfs to give them at least a chance of being bought by someone who will give them a good tank.

Thanks so much for your reply. I would like to try to keep them, they have good personalities, but I really don't want the responsibility of dealing with fry, so if I put a couple more males in a ten gallon tank would that be a stupid idea? I can't really upgrade to anything bigger than ten gallons because I'm in college and have a small room. Do you think I should wait until this tank cycles, then put the filter, water, heater, etc. in a ten gallon tank (all the equipment is rater for ten gallons), and then add a couple more fish for them? If you don't think males of the same species would work, is there a fry-less compromise?

I'd personally prefer a bigger tank for platies, but given the circumstances that would be fine, the fact that they are males makes it easier to do, as male guppies and platies tend to get smaller than the females .


Yep, I think that would be the best way to go .