Feeding Corydoras Fry Baby Brine Shrimp...

[davidjp1982]

Ok so I know this probably sounds like a stupid question but...I only have 7 fry about a week old they are in a 10 gallon tank half filled so about 8 inches of water. As all my fry are all on the bottom of the tank and only active in short burts, how can I be sure they are actually eating the baby brien shrimp which are moving around all over the tank? I am adding 4 or 5 x 1ml pippettes of freshly hatched BBS a couple of times a day but suplimenting with egg yolk. If I can be sure that the BBS are enough I can stop with the egg yolk which would help me keep the water quality up. 

 

[Shaddex]

BBS will only "Live" for about 4 hours in fresh water, so will sink to the bottom after that time.
I wouldnt worry about the fry getting to them at all, just make sure you are not over feeding them.

 

[davidjp1982]

Great thanks

 

[TwoTankAmin]

The issue is more is there any nutritional value in the bbs that you are feeding?
 
Basically, a baby brine is born with a closed digestive tract. It lives off its yolk sac for about the first 8 hours which is when the first molt occurs. At this point there is virtually no nutritional value left and feeding the is a waste. In fact the idea is to feed bbs ASAP after hatching.The water temp will effect how fast it takes for the yolk to be consumed and the digestive tract to become functional.
 
The normal practice is to put the bbs through two 12 hours feeding periods to get them back to where they can be fed and actually do some good. The problem is they will grow during this feeding and may become too large for some fry to consume. Normally food for brine has been specially formulated to include certain essential nutrients for the fish that might not normally be found in brine. Brine are indiscriminate filter feeders so if the food they are given contains things desired for fish nutrition which would normally be lacking, they become a dietary delivery system.
 
There is an excellent 2 piece article on live foods which was written primarily for the sw side of the hobby. However, the section on brine is  applicable to fw as well. It is by a PhD marine biologist. You can read it here http/www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/1/inverts

 

[davidjp1982]

Very interesting response thanks for the link.