Seed Shrimp (ostracods)

[Jaseon]

Good or bad?

I have thousands of them spring out of nowhere. Even though im reading they are beneficial there seems to be dozens of ways to get rid of them. They dont bother me, and if anything the tank with them in is looking good.

 

[Le duke]

You could very easily give/sell them to friends. They are great food for fish. I have an old, defunct 1000g pond in my back yard that traps some rainwater, and I pull ostracods and mosquito larvae out of there for my fish. When they are breeding a lot, I can go weeks without feeding my fish normal, commercial food.


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[Liam]

That is a lot, they seem to boom and bust from what I have seen, I think they must compete with the baby shrimp for food but I don’t think they do any real harm. They seem to like cucumber so a slice will soon get covered in them, the shrimp jump off when its removed from the water but the ostracods stay on, I drop them in for the fish. If I get any unplanned fry they do well in the shrimp tank for the first few weeks.
Here is a photo of my seedshrimp and shrimp tank. 🙂

 

[Hanuman]

Good or bad?

I have thousands of them spring out of nowhere. Even though im reading they are beneficial there seems to be dozens of ways to get rid of them. They dont bother me, and if anything the tank with them in is looking good.

Unless your goal is to breed shrimps there is nothing much you need to do. Breeders don't tolerate them as they will compete for food with shrimps and you don't want that in a breeding tank for obvious reasons. It all depends what you are after.

 

[Jaseon]

Unless your goal is to breed shrimps there is nothing much you need to do. Breeders don't tolerate them as they will compete for food with shrimps and you don't want that in a breeding tank for obvious reasons. It all depends what you are after.

Im not after a colony for selling, but do want them to thrive. I never thought of them being in competition for food. I have noticed a small drop off in shrimp numbers, but that was before these arrived, and mainly due to me cutting back on the food. I have started to feed more so will keep an eye on it. Was toying with he idea of adding some fish in there to thin their numbers out. I suppose it will be a compromise at the end of the day as id like to see the tank go through its own process.