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Specific shrimp food?

alex_l

alex_l

Member
Joined
12 Mar 2023
Messages
78
Location
UK
Hiya,

Quick question (I think).

I think shrimp food is a marketing con... I mean, I put them in there to clean up and I don't see it making it past the fish anyhow.

But I've just seen a post on Facebook where someone is losing their shrimp due to low kH/ gH and everyone is suggesting specialised food.

I have shrimp in my son's guppy tank which is pretty hard... from memory, maybe around 9kh, 15gh last time I checked? Not too worried about them...

But the ones in the blackwater tank... that's about 4.5kh, 10gh... I'm concerned for them. Wondering whether I should get them out of there?!

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Cherry shrimp? 10gh would still be considered on the hard side so not an issue for them.

Feeding would depend a lot on your tank. For example a tank heavy stocked with fish and bottom feeders, without plants that you clean religiously will have alot less natural food sources for shrimp than a planted tank, with wood, leaf litter and a nice film of algae growing on your back glass. Also depends on your shrimp numbers, if you target feed them, you'd likely have a larger population than if it's limited by what they can scavenge.
 
In the softer tank it's RCS plus a bamboo. Low numbers, the lower grade ones that I'm not bothered about breeding. Heavy fish stock including bottom feeders but also a lot of driftwood and moderate planting. No algae. I do see them come out and feed alongside the bottom feeders now and then.

In the harder tank it's bloody mary shrimp, which I hope might breed, and a few amano. These are in with male Guppies, no bottom feeders (although the Guppies give it a good go!) and they have a few plants, a little driftwood and a fair bit of algae.

That's reassuring re the hardness of the water, thank you. I remember researching this and deciding they would be fine but this post I saw panicked me.

Sounds like target feeding will be sensible... Will finely ground flake and pellets, etc do?

Thank you!

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alex_l said:
Hiya,

Quick question (I think).

I think shrimp food is a marketing con... I mean, I put them in there to clean up and I don't see it making it past the fish anyhow.

But I've just seen a post on Facebook where someone is losing their shrimp due to low kH/ gH and everyone is suggesting specialised food.

I have shrimp in my son's guppy tank which is pretty hard... from memory, maybe around 9kh, 15gh last time I checked? Not too worried about them...

But the ones in the blackwater tank... that's about 4.5kh, 10gh... I'm concerned for them. Wondering whether I should get them out of there?!

Sent from my SM-G780F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I’d depends on your objectives. Some people add shrimp simply as a clean up crew, and they do fine eating biofilm, algae and left over fish food and can maintain a population on that basis without issues.

Other people want to actively breed the shrimp and give them the best chance of producing plentiful and healthy offspring, and so feed dedicated foods to enhance their diet.

4.5dKH and 10dGH is more than enough for shrimp, and is actually quite hard water as @tam says - it’s a long way from blackwater conditions (which are often 0dKH and probably less than 2dGH). In true blackwater conditions, most shrimp would struggle. The only ones I’ve seen cope are Tangerine Tiger shrimp, but they still need around 3-4dGH, and supplementing with calcium rich foods can help.
 
Hi all,
alex_l said:
In the softer tank it's RCS plus a bamboo. Low numbers, the lower grade ones that I'm not bothered about breeding.
Click to expand...
You can always feed the RCS with some, high in calcium, green veg. At this time of year <"blanched Stinging Nettles (Urtica dioica)"> would absolutely perfect.

Plants need to protect their chlorophyll and nutrients from grazers, <"most do it with toxins">, but Nettles use stinging hairs and once you are past these? All the "goodies" are available.
<"Nutritional and pharmacological importance of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica L.): A review">

cheers Darrel
 
Last edited:
Wookii said:
I’d depends on your objectives. Some people add shrimp simply as a clean up crew, and they do fine eating biofilm, algae and left over fish food and can maintain a population on that basis without issues.

Other people want to actively breed the shrimp and give them the best chance of producing plentiful and healthy offspring, and so feed dedicated foods to enhance their diet.

4.5dKH and 10dGH is more than enough for shrimp, and is actually quite hard water as @tam says - it’s a long way from blackwater conditions (which are often 0dKH and probably less than 2dGH). In true blackwater conditions, most shrimp would struggle. The only ones I’ve seen cope are Tangerine Tiger shrimp, but they still need around 3-4dGH, and supplementing with calcium rich foods can help.
Click to expand...
Perfect, no need to worry, then They are clean up crew in the big tank, hoping a few might breed in the little tank, so I'll raise my game with them.

So the guy at the LFS who panicked me the other day saying my tank was getting too soft and in danger of crashing... really did not need to panic me Thankfully I kind of thought it still has enough kh to buffer and I've not attempted to change anything. My rams and ember tetra appreciate it softer... in fact I think it's barely soft enough for rams.

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dw1305 said:
Hi all,

You can always feed the RCS with some, high in calcium, green veg. At this time of year /www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/best-free-food-for-shrimp.70980/#post-711032']blanched Stinging Nettles (Urtica dioica)[/URL]"> would absolutely perfect.

Plants need to protect their chlorophyll and nutrients from grazers, /www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/name-some-super-low-light-plants.50727/#post-498176']most do it with toxins[/URL]">, but Nettles use stinging hairs and once you are past these? All the "goodies" are available.
/www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844022010052']Nutritional and pharmacological importance of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica L.): A review[/URL]">

cheers Darrel
Click to expand...
Perfect... I have plenty of them around. I've taught my son to pinch them hard so they don't sting, roll them to remove the hairs then snack on them They taste like peas. Great tip, thank you!

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The water in one of my tanks is mostly rainwater mixed with some tap. The shrimp have done ok but I did buy some of this a while back just in case. It’s made no difference though as far as I can tell.


DA2-B16-F5-4-FB8-4-C93-BDFF-5687-DA6-CB930.jpg
 
alex_l said:
Perfect... I have plenty of them around. I've taught my son to pinch them hard so they don't sting, roll them to remove the hairs then snack on them They taste like peas.
Click to expand...
I've fed them to various animals before, but I didn't know that you could de-sting them that way and eat them!

They also dry well for storage and I would imagine then work as year around feed.

If you want something commercial, I've used the shrimp kind complete, which seems to go down well and smells delicious (very herby).
 
I feed my otos repashy super green a couple times a week and the shrimp seem to love it. I don’t have any other fish and don’t feed anything else and shrimp growing in number quickly. My tank is heavily planted though.
 
I make my own food with spirulina, broccoli, carrot, mussels, bloodworm. Blitz the lot into a paste then smooth over clingfilm, and freeze.
 
Loads of great tips here, thank you everyone! It would be beneficial to get something in there that the ottos like as well because I'm always worried they're not getting enough despite me trying to target feed algae wafers and micropellets. I think I may make up a little concoction with some of the ideas above... thank you

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There is a lot of crossover so if you feed the otos fresh foods the shrimp will be happy. Mine love a bit of courgette :)
 
Hi all,
alex_l said:
It would be beneficial to get something in there that the ottos like as well because I'm always worried they're not getting enough despite me trying to target feed algae wafers and micropellets.
Click to expand...
They are fussy little thing and ideally you need to feed <"them some vegetables">.
tam said:
Mine love a bit of courgette
Click to expand...
They do. Cucumber, courgette, red pepper etc. <"all good">.

cheers Darrel
 
Okay... this is an easy fix! I'll start getting veggies on the menu... thank you

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Kale is popular so far! Also with the kuhlis, surprisingly, and the tetra.

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