Post by parker002 on Dec 11, 2010 0:00:35 GMT -5
My daughter's 2.5G betta bowl currently houses 4 ghost shrimp and an otocinclus catfish. The oto eats spot algae, so as long as we keep the tank somewhat "dirty" (counter-intuitive, I know) he has plenty to eat. However, I'm having trouble with feeding the shrimp.
They're scavengers and they don't eat algae. As a beginning aquarist over the past 12 months, I've managed to collect several different types of fish food that, for whatever reason, I quit feeding to my fish in favor of something else.
In an effort to 1) get rid of that excess food and 2) find something - ANYTHING - that the shrimp will eat, I've been experimenting. Here are the results:
Wardley Shrimp Pellets - originally purchased for cory cats who have all died. Ghost shrimp eat it but sometimes they love it and sometimes they just kind of tolerate it. Unfortunately, I'm out and can't find any more locally.
Hikari Algae Wafers - originally purchased these for a pleco which has also since died. The ghost shrimp won't even touch these.
Top Fin Dried Seaweed Sheets - I don't know why I bought these. I've only had moderate success getting my FISH to eat it, let alone the ghost shrimp.
New Life Spectrum Community Formula Pellets - I had been using this as my main food for the mollies and tetras. However, the rate at which it sinks usually means that my mollies eat it all while my tetras starve. I don't have much left and the ghost shrimp won't eat it anyway.
Omega One Veggie Rounds - this is going to be my staple molly food going forward but I haven't even tried feeding them to the shrimp considering they won't have anything to do with any other herbivore food I've tried.
Hikari Micro Pellets - this is going to be my staple tetra/neon food going forward. I have considered feeding it to the shrimp but since they wouldn't eat the New Life Spectrum I opted instead to try a different route.
Hikari Sinking Wafers - I bought these specifically for the shrimp. Since they would at least nibble on the Wardley Shrimp Pellets, I thought these sinking tablets of krill, spirulina, and fish meal might do the trick. I was wrong - they won't touch it at all. The only food they've shown less interest in is the Hikari Algae Wafers.
Which leaves me with Tetra Sun Dried Gammarus Shrimp. This seems to be the one food that they REALLY enjoy. Not only do they enjoy it but I'm sure that the gammarus shells are loaded with nutrients that the shrimp actually need. I've observed my ghost shrimp eating their own shells after they molt and both times I've managed to get them some of the Gammarus, at least two of them molted within a few days.
Here's the rub - the reason I even have the Gammarus is because they ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT SINK. I stopped feeding them to my fish because they just swirl around the HOB outflow indefinitely until I fish them out. I can manage to get some of the bits to sink and the shrimp will eat them but the vast majority of the Gammarus material ends up having to be scooped out after a couple of days.
Does anybody know how to get this stuff to sink?
They're scavengers and they don't eat algae. As a beginning aquarist over the past 12 months, I've managed to collect several different types of fish food that, for whatever reason, I quit feeding to my fish in favor of something else.
In an effort to 1) get rid of that excess food and 2) find something - ANYTHING - that the shrimp will eat, I've been experimenting. Here are the results:
Wardley Shrimp Pellets - originally purchased for cory cats who have all died. Ghost shrimp eat it but sometimes they love it and sometimes they just kind of tolerate it. Unfortunately, I'm out and can't find any more locally.
Hikari Algae Wafers - originally purchased these for a pleco which has also since died. The ghost shrimp won't even touch these.
Top Fin Dried Seaweed Sheets - I don't know why I bought these. I've only had moderate success getting my FISH to eat it, let alone the ghost shrimp.
New Life Spectrum Community Formula Pellets - I had been using this as my main food for the mollies and tetras. However, the rate at which it sinks usually means that my mollies eat it all while my tetras starve. I don't have much left and the ghost shrimp won't eat it anyway.
Omega One Veggie Rounds - this is going to be my staple molly food going forward but I haven't even tried feeding them to the shrimp considering they won't have anything to do with any other herbivore food I've tried.
Hikari Micro Pellets - this is going to be my staple tetra/neon food going forward. I have considered feeding it to the shrimp but since they wouldn't eat the New Life Spectrum I opted instead to try a different route.
Hikari Sinking Wafers - I bought these specifically for the shrimp. Since they would at least nibble on the Wardley Shrimp Pellets, I thought these sinking tablets of krill, spirulina, and fish meal might do the trick. I was wrong - they won't touch it at all. The only food they've shown less interest in is the Hikari Algae Wafers.
Which leaves me with Tetra Sun Dried Gammarus Shrimp. This seems to be the one food that they REALLY enjoy. Not only do they enjoy it but I'm sure that the gammarus shells are loaded with nutrients that the shrimp actually need. I've observed my ghost shrimp eating their own shells after they molt and both times I've managed to get them some of the Gammarus, at least two of them molted within a few days.
Here's the rub - the reason I even have the Gammarus is because they ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT SINK. I stopped feeding them to my fish because they just swirl around the HOB outflow indefinitely until I fish them out. I can manage to get some of the bits to sink and the shrimp will eat them but the vast majority of the Gammarus material ends up having to be scooped out after a couple of days.
Does anybody know how to get this stuff to sink?
;D
