Smells Fishy
Member
Thought this could be a decent way to save some money, but has anyone actually done it here? My LFS's don't do live food so i looked online and aquaticstoyourdoor do them rather cheap at £1.20, i'm presuming a bag?
Bloody hell wasn't expecting that! Shrimp do have little pincers so maybe a big enough one could grab a fish and not let go and then reel it in. That's pretty mad, its more like a crayfishes style. The maddest occurence for me was when I used to keep some real nasty cichlids and while I was doing something with my hand in the tank, suddenly Mr parrot fish attacks my hand ouch! It was like an electric shock and he did it a few times on separate occasions so I resorted to chasing him with a net when he did to show him who's boss.Had some long ago - assuming similar species - more detritus than algae clean up crew
Mine got quite large, think mature female Amano-sized, after a year or so, I rehomed them back to the shop ... tank in small person's room & one morning, shrimp found holding/feeding on weekly struggling cardinal tetra 😱
(I'd wondered at the odd mystery fish losses 😕)
The feeder shrimp you buy in the UK are a native coldwater marine/brackish species. Being a euryhaline species, they are very robust to changes in water conditions, but will just slowly die in freshwater tropical aquarium.
In the US, different species are sold as feeder shrimp, sometimes freshwater ghost shrimp, which is why so many US based online resources recommending adding feeder shrimp to betta/planted tanks etc. Don't bother trying in the UK.
This happened to me years ago as well. I saw what I thought were ghost shrimp labeled as "freshwater shrimp". Turned out to be Macrobrachium lanchesteri and ate some of my cherry shrimp. These guys are sold at Pets@Home all the time, so watch out.Had some long ago - assuming similar species - more detritus than algae clean up crew
Mine got quite large, think mature female Amano-sized, after a year or so, I rehomed them back to the shop ... tank in small person's room & one morning, shrimp found holding/feeding on weekly struggling cardinal tetra 😱
(I'd wondered at the odd mystery fish losses 😕)
Fair enough, I worked it out by researching online, asking live food suppliers directly and through experience. I worked in an LFS for a few years in the past and have also visited many different UK LFS in the past 16/17 years, the feeder shrimp in shops are from the same suppliers as online online stores. I wouldn't call myself a "shrimp expert", just an experienced shrimp hobbyist, but they are one of my particular interests. I've personally tried keeping feeder shrimp alive in both freshwater and saltwater, they last much longer when stored in saltwater (for feeding large fish after loading) and the few I tried to keep in my freshwater shrimp tank died within 24 hours 🙁.Hmmm cheers for your input. I'm just trying to be thorough and not rude, so do you mind telling me how you came across this info, how do you know all the feeder shrimp sold in the uk are euryhaline, are you some sort of shrimp expert or do you work in a LFS or something similar? You shouldn't believe everything people tell you that's all. Maybe an email to aquaticstoyourdoor would sort things out because surely they must know their products origin?
This happened to me years ago as well. I saw what I thought were ghost shrimp labeled as "freshwater shrimp". Turned out to be Macrobrachium lanchesteri and ate some of my cherry shrimp. These guys are sold at Pets@Home all the time, so watch out.
Here is an old picture of one finishing off a cherry shrimp:
View attachment 95103
Fair enough, I worked it out by researching online, asking live food suppliers directly and through experience. I worked in an LFS for a few years in the past and have also visited many different UK LFS in the past 16/17 years, the feeder shrimp in shops are from the same suppliers as online online stores. I wouldn't call myself a "shrimp expert", just an experienced shrimp hobbyist, but they are one of my particular interests. I've personally tried keeping feeder shrimp alive in both freshwater and saltwater, they last much longer when stored in saltwater (for feeding large fish after loading) and the few I tried to keep in my freshwater shrimp tank died within 24 hours 🙁.
The staff answering customer service enquiries for Aquatics to your Door's website may be knowledgeable about the origin and species about their feeder shrimp, however it's such a niche question I sincerely doubt it. Most likely they will just reply to say they are for feeder use only and will not last long in freshwater, with no further details. You could ask them who their supplier is, and then ask the supplier directly if you are interested in knowing the exact species. What species they are depends on where they are harvested, and this can change depending on the time of the year and supplier. Palaemonetes varians seems to be the main species available, but sometimes marine species are sold instead.
The UK has no native freshwater shrimp, and all live food suppliers provide "river shrimp" caught in the UK (which is why they are only sold cheaply as feeders). Therefor, regardless of exact species, they are cold-water euryhaline shrimp 🙂.
do you know all the feeder shrimp sold in the uk are euryhaline
The UK has no native freshwater shrimp
I think that is probably the answer, we don't have any "freshwater" prawns, and the "River Shrimp" <"Palaemonetes varians"> is the likeliest option.I also worked in the trade and knew the man who went out on his boat in the estuary to catch them (although a lot come through companies on the continent).
Just like jellyfish aren't fish 🙂.