Should I Breed or Buy

[Billybatz9]

Hey guys,

We just wondering if it would be smart to breed or buy live foods? What do you do?

 

[reret10]

Depends on what you want and what your trying to feed. Some foods like brine shrimp and phytoplankton are fairly easy but other require more advanced care.

 

[Billybatz9]

Depends on what you want and what your trying to feed. Some foods like brine shrimp and phytoplankton are fairly easy but other require more advanced care.

I have seen most videos on YouTube showing how to hatch brine shrimp, but none really show how to raise them (what to feed them and how long they live for).

Do you raise your own feeders?

 

[MondoBongo]

brine shrimp are best for marine applications when they're newly hatched and still have their yolk sacs attached. beyond that, unless you're gut loading them they're not really that great.

copepods and phyto are fairly easy to culture, and are of great benefit to your tank. you can also culture things like mysid shrimp, but they require more room and care.

i like culturing my own things, within reason, because it is nice to have that as a backup. maybe your LFS doesn't get in a shipment, or the weather is too cold to ship live things. it also helps keeps the costs down, and can be a fun learning experience.