The Best in Brine
We love Nutramar. We think their dried foods are the absolute best and trust their quality above anyone else. Their Pellets, Shots and Crumbles are a major portion of our regular feeding schedule here. In fact, there isn't a food that they make that we don't use in some form or fashion both here at Aquatropic and in our sister facility at Quality Marine. From the dried algae like Ogo, to their line of Live Algae products, we use it all and suggest you do too.
One of the more recent offerings from Nutramar is Live Adult Artemia and Artemia Nauplii. Basically, you can now buy pre-packaged live brine shrimp (artemia) and baby brine shrimp (nauplii) right at your Local Fish Store! Both are appropriate for feeding to pretty much anything in your aquarium and the choice for which one to feed comes down to size. Artemia nauplii is a perfect food for a lot of baby fish and really everything that can see it will eat it, while the adult Artemia are better suited for adult fish that are very picky about eating. Almost nothing can resist the natural feeding trigger that is produced by a little wiggling brine shrimp. They also represent a hunting opportunity, and fun food to give to any fish to watch them be able to track down and consume prey. Any brine shrimp that is not consumed immediately after adding to your tank will be found and eating shortly afterwards.
The Nutramar Artemia comes packaged in laboratory grade, sterilized synthetic seawater, that come pre-dosed with Nutramar Phyto IC Live Microalgae. This is a blend of Isochrysis and Chaetoceros microalgae. They're both heavy in different types of omega-3 fatty acids making IC an ideal food for the artemia and also helps gut load them for enhanced nutrition for whatever fish eats the brine. In addition, these microalgae help control dissolved nutrients and elevate oxygen levels, good both for your artemia and your tank, so don't be afraid to dose the liquid with your brine. You'll also notice some debris that settles out of the solution, and this is just waste from the brine, which is also known as marine snow. It is excellent for your filter feeders and will not impact on your water quality.
Feeding Nutramar Artemia and/or Artemia Nauplii is really straightforward. You can either target feed it, by using a baster or pipette to deliver them to close proximity of a fish you want to feed, or it can be poured into the aquarium directly. If you choose the second method, pour the contents into the return of the filter (or other area of high flow) to disperse the live food around the tank. The entire pouch is 500mL (16.9 oz) and you can feed this all at once if you desired. If you want to spread it out over several feeds, the pouch can be stored in your refrigerator with the cap off for a couple days. If you want to keep the mix for longer than that, you should also buy some Phyto IC Live Microalgae. Add the brine (or baby brine) to an open top container and add enough IC to tint the water, which will feed the brine for a day or two. Once the water starts to clear, add more IC.
If you are feeding Nutramar Artemia (or Nauplii) to fish that are very picky in an effort to get them to start eating in the home aquarium, we always recommend to feed some thawed out brine with the live shrimp, like Gamma Brine Plus Omega 3. The live Brine will trigger a feeding reaction and in this “frenzy” the fish are likely to start consuming the thawed out brine as well. This is also a good time to introduce these fish to dried foods like Nutramar Complete Pellets and/or Crumbles. It usually doesn't take too many feeds before the fish realizes everything you bring to the aquarium is food and is much more likely to accept other offerings from you.
Perhaps you have some very picky fish that need some encouragement to start eating, or maybe you are starting to breed fish (intentionally) and are looking for something to raise them on and aren't interested in the mess of raising your own brine shrimp (that article is elsewhere here on the website). Regardless, if you're looking for the easiest way to get the highest nutrition artemia into your aquarium, look no further than the Live Nutramar Adult Artemia (and Artemia Nauplii) at your local fish store. Tell them Aquatropic sent you!