# Feeding daphnia to shrimp



## tiger15 (21 May 2021)

I am wondering if it is beneficial to feed daphnia to dwarf shrimp.  From what I read, no shrimp keeper feed daphnia to dwarf shrimp citing that dwarf shrimp don’t prey on live food.  Is it true?  

I have added daphnia to my planted shrimp bowl a few times to clear up green water.  It works but once the green water is cleared, the daphnia will gradually disappear in a few days.   I have never seen any shrimp grab and eat daphnia, but I do find the shrimp busy as if they are filter feeding.   So why are the daphnia disappearing.  Are the daphnia dying off from starvation, or eaten alive or dead by shrimp  that I don’t witness.


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## three-fingers (21 May 2021)

I've fed frozen daphnia and Amano/cherry shrimp gobble it up fine, the same as any other frozen food. Not particuialry beneficial for shrimp, not bad either. It's a natural food higher in protein than many dedicated shrimp foods, so not ideal as a main diet but the extra protein is maybe good for some individual shrimp that have developing eggs.

Live daphnia will starve in totally clear water, and also very easily get stuck to filter intakes and plants/decor, especially in an aquarium with moving water as they have to expend energy faster compared to the totally still waters they are found in nature.

So they are probably just being eaten by the shrimp when dead/weakened, or getting stuck and dying hidden somewhere in the tank.


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## tiger15 (21 May 2021)

My shrimp bowl has no filtration or water movement, so they can’t get stuck to death.  So they must die from starvation, and later eaten.  So they are still food for shrimp and other invert, hopefully not feeding planaria.


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