Bamboo shrimp feeding

[tdp]

My tank is fairly new and I got 2 bamboo shrimp, which I shouldn't have. One seems to been filter feeding fine the whole day, but the other one is constanly foraging.
I tried feeding fined algae water directly but most just go on the substrate and foul the water. Everytime I did that, next morning I found a RCS dead. Happened twice now.

So I looked up for a better way of feeding and I found this advice:
"if you can set up a tank to run as a green water culture ... just scoop out a cup a cuple times a week add to main tank."

Is it a safe way to go? I got some delicate cories and RCS in the same tank. Don't want water to go bad.

 

[tmgm1215]

My bamboo eat off my sponge filter and do fine without having to supplement. You can but the filters on Amazon for around $5-8 they are a great addition to the tank and are great if you have fry


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[tdp]

I have a pre filter sponge covering the filter intake so it's pretty much the same as a sponge filter. But I'll give him some times see how he acts. Just did some replanting today so he might not be familiar with the tank layout yet.

In the meantime, I'll start on green water if that doesn't work.

 

[Angela1108]

If you take an algae tab and make it into a paste you can use a syringe and squirt it right into their fans.



Do you have live plants? It will help- there will be tiny plant chunks floating around

Something else to consider is if you have a friend with a more mature tank have them babysit them for a while? Or return them and get new ones later


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[Angela1108]

Dumping real algae in there like that can make an algae bloom in the tank- which won't help- since they aren't going to eat it off the decoration/tank itself



There is a type of shrimp pellets (I found at Walmart) I want to say wardleys that come in an orange can. They are listed as bottom feeder food but dissolve fairly quickly and little particles float around. Those might work too? (Sorry I can't remember the name and I have a sleeping baby laying on me so I can't get up to check right now)


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[tdp]

My tank is heavily planted.
And I have the shrimp pellets you're talking about for my cories.

One of my cories just recovered from fungal infection so I wouldn't risk leaving bits of food to flow in the water at the moment.

 

[Angela1108]

Hmmm


Maybe even the paste with the pellets and using a syringe for them. I've never actually done it- I have 3 in my 55g but it was a few years old when I added them


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[Fishfur]

If you have a coffee grinder you could use, you can try grinding either pellets or flakes super fine.. you're looking for something that resembles baby powder in consistency.

Green water is an excellent food for filter feeding shrimp and it will not give your tank an algae bloom. But blending or otherwise processing other types of algae may well result in a tankful of algae.

If you want to, you can culture green water, either by starting with tank water and leaving it in the sun, or a sunny window, or under lights about 18 hour or more a day.. or you can buy a single cell algae culture and grow that. The advantage to the pure cultures is you know just what you're putting in the tank. I used to shoot about 100 CCs of this twice a day into a 5G tank to feed larval shrimp, it never caused problems. Only a sponge filter in there too.

I find the best way to feed them is to turn the filter off for an hour or so after their food goes in. I have a separate pump running in the tank that provides current even when the filter is off. This keeps food circulating for longer so they can get more of it.

Other foods that are useful are; Powdered spirulina [ shake some in a sealed jar with water and pour into tank].. Golden Pearls, 5-50 micron size.. ideal for filter feeders. Made to replace BBS actually. Frozen BBS also work.

If you are willing and can get some, culture micro worms. These are ideal food for filter feeding shrimps, and fish love them too. Even cherry shrimp eat these.

New Life Spectrum makes a fine food, Small Fry Starter.. it also works for filter feeders, but I would not feed it every day. Be careful not to use too much of any dry food, they can clog up filters if you overdo it.

Most important, a good strong current and perches so they can sit in it and feed. You do get the odd individual that is more of a bottom scrounger, but usually they don't keep it up for too long. So long as you're seeing poop on a regular basis, he's eating.