Re: BBS and salt (was-DEAD TRIPLE RED.)

["David A. Youngker" <nestor10@mindspring.com>]

> I don't rinse the shrimp.  I put fresh water that's warmer than the brine
> into the vial, so the shrimp swim up into the fresh water...
>...Is this enough to cleanse the salt from their systems?

> The last 2 batches died, and I'm wondering if it was from the
> shrimp (too salty?) or the liquid fry food (clogged up their systems?) ,
> or maybe the parents ate them...

I've been following the thread on Artemia and salt content with some
interest, and have a couple of ideas to throw out based solely on personal
experience.

I'm not so sure it's the salt content of the shrimp that's causing the
problem. True, there are species of fish who seem to be highly intolerent of
salt(s) in their environment, but does this pertain to the salt level of the
body fluids of their food? Isn't the salt content of most organisms within a
fairly consistent range? (I've heard it theorized that, in general, the salt
content of the body is roughly analogous to the salt content of the oceans
as life first entered our system many eons ago...). The argument of
fresh/salt water fish drinking water or passing salt to maintain this narrow
range of salt concentrations seems to highlight the concept...

Additionally, rather than salt content, which would not be too easily or
quickly altered through a very short-lived environmental extreme (freshwater
rinsing, etc.), could it not be the bacterial content of the newly-hatched
nauplii?

I've been raising Artemia a few years as both supplemental and primary
nutrition for a large number of fish species, using the nauplii for fat
content (=growth energy) and Selcon/Vitamin-enriched adults for protein and
"vitamin gateways". One thing I have noted over time is the tendency of
nauplii to "infest" their environment with a very high bacterial count. This
count has, at times, been high enough to make the grow-out tanks seem to be
infected with the "red tide", and when the water starts to turn I've often
quit feeding the Artemia altogether. And they seem quite content to munch on
the bacteria for a couple-three days, doing a fine job of cleaning the tank
out before I begin the algae feeding again.

I've about come to the conclusion that these bacteria are almost as
important as the yolk sacs themselves to the newly-hatched nauplii. It's
almost as if the bacterial content ensures a readily-available, "first-up"
food supply should there be a shortage of algae at the beginning of the
growing season. I theorize this because I can envision situations where the
first round of hatching shrimp, in the early, early spring, may appear
before their environment has the chance to produce the algae normally
associated with feeding Artemia and the fact that it appears (apparently) in
every instance where I've introduced freshly-hatched nauplii even into a
well-established grow-out system.

Given the delicate nature of some fry (apistos, naturally, as well as
others) and the generally bacteriostatic nature of their natural habitats
given the humic contents, acidity and purity of the water, it's entirely
possible that some fry might succumb to such an introduction to their
digestive or immunological systems.

Thoughts? Ideas? Criticisms?

-Y-

David A. Youngker
http://www.mindspring.com/~nestor10
nestor10@mindspring.com



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