# Daphnia or brine shrimp?



## StrangeDejavu (May 1, 2014)

Both of my betta's recently went through a pretty nasty bout of constipation. Agent13 advised me to phase out my freeze-dried bloodworms and switch to frozen, which i've since done with success. I'm still using this cheap freeze-dried form of daphnia though and looking to also switch to frozen for their regularity needs. I've not been able to find frozen daphnia at any of the LFS or chain stores but I do see brine shrimp everywhere. Does this do the same thing in keeping a betta regular? If the daphnia is a better/more nutritional option then I will special order it for my boys, but it's looking like they may need to switch to brine shrimp. Any advice on this is appreciated.


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## StrangeDejavu (May 1, 2014)

No one knows?


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## givemethatfish (Feb 10, 2014)

The problem with this is the nutritional content of these foods will vary greatly depending on what it was fed.

In general, daphnia has more fiber than brine shrimp, making it better at keeping a betta regular. But I don't think there is that much of a difference between them. Brine shrimp should be fine if that's what you can get more easily.


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## Agent13 (Apr 23, 2013)

Daphnia 
66% protein 
9% fat
5% fiber 

Brine shrimp 
55% protein
14% fat
8.1 % minerals 
7% moisture 


To me the difference is small enough that brine would be fine however brine shrimp with spirulina would be better then regular brine shrimp . 


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## freeflow246 (Jul 24, 2011)

San Fransisco Bay's website states that brine shrimp and daphnia have the same amount of fiber, .5%. 
Daphnia: http://www.sfbb.com/product_detail.php?id=37
Brine shrimp: http://www.sfbb.com/product_detail.php?id=43
Their mysis shrimp are a bit higher, at .8%: http://www.sfbb.com/product_detail.php?id=31
It should be noted that bloodworms are listed as having higher fiber than dapnia and brine shrimp, but less than mysis shrimp: .7%. However, I believe that as insectivores, bettas' guts need the occasional exercise of breaking down 'hard' fiber, such as the exoskeleton and little legs and such. Just as cats and dogs benefit from eating raw bone. Bloodworms also are larger than daphnia and brine shrimp, so that could be why they have more fiber: http://www.sfbb.com/product_detail.php?id=39

Mysis shrimp also have a very high protein count, but I think this is due more to their size. I think that proportionally, brine shrimp have the highest amount of protein. 

Mysis shrimp are quite large and make less of a mess than brine shrimp and a LOT less mess than daphnia. So if you're looking for a fiber source, I would suggest mysis shrimp.

My picky betta refused pellets even after not eating for 3 weeks, so as of now he's on an all-frozen diet. I just try to stick to as natural a model as I can. Bettas eat mostly mosquito larvae (similar to bloodworms; soft and noodly) with the occasional insect that has fallen in (brine and mysis shrimp). So Blizzard eats mostly bloodworms with brine shrimp and mysis shrimp for variety. 

Sorry that turned out kinda wordy.


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## Agent13 (Apr 23, 2013)

Daphnia has 5% not .5 .. San Francisco Bay must have it wrong . 


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## freeflow246 (Jul 24, 2011)

5% seems like an awful lot. I would check the back of a physical package, but I don't have any daphnia on hand. Hikari's frozen daphnia has .9% fiber, but whereas SBF's daphnia contains only dapnia, water, and xantham gum; Hikari's has some other ingredients added: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=8891

I'm not trying to be argumentative, just trying to find out which is accurate lol. As I said, I'm feeding my fish a frozen-only diet and it's important I know what's going into him.


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## StrangeDejavu (May 1, 2014)

I just checked my SFBB bloodworms and it lists 0.7% fiber, so I would be surprised to find daphnia with even less than bloodworms. SFBB does list 0.5% so what are we to believe? :roll:


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## Agent13 (Apr 23, 2013)

They are measuring the wet weights which make it impossible to accurately compare them. You have to convert it to dry weights. 
Take the percentage of moisture subtract it from 100 then divide the values with that number . For example brine shrimp says 92% moisture . Subtract 100 and you get 8. Protein is listed at 4.7 %. So it's 4.7%divided by 8% =the dry weight protein percentage . Which would be in that case about 58% 


That would make daphnia from sfb considerably higher then their supposed fiber in brine shrimp.. 16% vs .06% . 

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## StrangeDejavu (May 1, 2014)

Very helpful Agent, thanks! I'm going to stick with daphnia as it's higher in protein and contains less fat. I'm hoping one of the LFS will special order it or else i'll have to pay Doctor Foster's (high) shipping price.


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## Agent13 (Apr 23, 2013)

If you have to order I'd go to live daphnia if I were you. Frozen risks thawing in transit . Plus live is better anyway. I know aquaculture store has it as well as fishgobble . 


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## freeflow246 (Jul 24, 2011)

Agent13 said:


> They are measuring the wet weights which make it impossible to accurately compare them. You have to convert it to dry weights.
> Take the percentage of moisture subtract it from 100 then divide the values with that number . For example brine shrimp says 92% moisture . Subtract 100 and you get 8. Protein is listed at 4.7 %. So it's 4.7%divided by 8% =the dry weight protein percentage . Which would be in that case about 58%
> 
> 
> ...


That makes a lot of sense, thank you!


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## Agent13 (Apr 23, 2013)

Do keep in mind if you convert weights that they have snuck in the word minimum and maximum where they benefit them most. So the values you come out with may have a bit of variation from the truth but it does give you a comparable overall picture . 


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