Bamboo shrimp feeding

[libertybelle]

That picture is actually a couple days old. No more line and the female is berried now. That has happened a couple times now. Line disappears and boom, new berried female. Surprised me too because last time I had cherries it was a harbinger of doom (lol) but I had very very soft source water at the time.

My kh is around 80ppm; I can’t remember how many drops since I recorded in ppm. I think 4.

GH I tossed my liquid kit. Would not change colors ever on an old tank and I never replaced it. Test strips approximate it at 120ppm. There is a small piece of cuttlebone in the tank.

Lots of successful molting happening in the tank lately, fortunately. From bamboo cherry and amanos. Several of my amanos are carrying around eggs. Too bad no one told them there’s no brackish tank next door!

 

[Autumnsky]

Too bad, it would be great to be able to give them a tunnel to brackish and return to fresh when needed...

If you are getting them molting and berried so far so good!!!

 

[libertybelle]

They can climb out of water. You could build a bridge to a brackish tank next door!

 

[libertybelle]

Another white line and a day later another berried mama. I’m starting to wonder if the line is more normal than I thought. Do you not see that pre molt in your tanks autumn?

The newest otos have been in for a couple weeks now and the oldest ones over a month without issues. Nice chubby bellies and fins healing nicely. Amazingly I think most of these little guys are going to make it past the oto break in period. They aren’t always together but a couple times a day the whole group zips around the tank together and it’s delightful.

I was at the fish store today and they had Pygmy cories. I couldn’t help myself and snapped them all up. 8 plus a bonus ghost shrimp who insisted on coming along for the ride. It’s one of the few fish I would trust to mostly leave shrimplets alone! I have gravel which isn’t great for them but it’s a small smooth gravel so hopefully they’ll be okay with it. I may have to build them a sandbox... they’re utterly adorable! I may have to get about 200 more

Also I saw the biggest bamboo shrimp I’ve ever seen at the store today. It had to have been a solid 3-4 inches long. It looked like a bamboo shrimp but I wonder if it’s something else closely related that gets bigger? The thing was a monster! I wanted to bring him home but I worry enough about my little ones getting enough to eat! Then again maybe Godzilla the bamboo shrimp (yes I’ve named him) wouldn’t be afraid of the syringe. He’s bigger than it right!?

 

[libertybelle]

Noticed my first baby shrimp today! Forgot how tiny they were!

Also I realized why my bamboo shrimp weren’t fanning by the filter much. I went by the tank when the lights were at 1% and several of them were up top in the filter outflow. I guess they’re filtering all night but the plant lights are too bright for them during the day so they just filter and forage in the bottom during the day.

 

[Autumnsky]

Ah, good observation, they don't favor very bright light, true.

Congrats on the tiniest, new little shrimp, they are just bigger than dots!!! I miss them.

 

[libertybelle]

Of course I get the rescaping bug like days after seeing the first tiny babies that could be crushed by a single falling piece of gravel.

I’m still kinda dying to put in a ‘sandbox’ for my Pygmy cories. I don’t know if they need sand because they seem to hang out mostly in the ‘forrest’ but I kinda want to try... I have the container and the sand and everything but I’m afraid I’m gunna crush baby shrimp if I put it in!

Another funny story from the non-fishy people in the house, just for giggles:

Them: your shrimp are dying!
Me: what!
*runs to tank*
Two bamboo shrimp and at least 4 of the smaller shrimp had coordinated molting .

 

[libertybelle]

Also I have a question for you autumn. I feel like I’m barely feeding these shrimp, every day to every other day I spot feed either the soilent green or first bites for the bamboo shrimp but whenever I put in pellet food the cherry/amano shrimp are fairly indifferent. I’m assuming that means they’re getting plenty foraging in the plants and cleaning up the settled floating food and so I’m not really putting extra in for them. I started adding a variety of pellets again when I got the corys but again... general indifference from like 90% of the tank including the corys. So I’m kinda assuming, like the shrimp, they’re just eating the settled powdered foods after I feed the bamboo shrimp.

Seem reasonable to you or should I be trying different types of food to get them interested?

 

[Autumnsky]

If they are looking plump enough and not emaciated, I would continue to watch and add in a tiny bit of extra foods you have to offer every once in awhile, just to give variety and options.

If the water quality is good as well then just keep it up. Sometimes it could be any combination of temp, foods already eaten. Most generally my fish are garbage disposals and east probably way more than they should.

I had some inexpensive shrimp wafers (kind made out of shrimp for fish to eat, not made for shrimp to eat), fish never went for them, honestly one of only a couple not cared for over the years.

Tried again, barely noticed the food, but ate a little bit because they were hungry. Tried again a few months later after finding them in the back of the drawer. Not much interest and they went to the trash.

Might have passed them to someone else if they were a more expensive food, but sometimes fish or shrimp know what they like.

In terms of foods fish love are the omnivore sinking wafers from Hikari and most like their Seaweed Extreme I already told you about. In case you haven't seen it there are a few sellers which offer special specialty foods in "sampler" packs for shrimp.

If you find an offering from one which has good ratings, Jungle Aquashrimp who sells here as JungleFowl has some on his website and have bought a couple offerings from dans aqua shrimp
you can copy this heading below in ebay to see / it has some baby food in it to try.
Japan Benibachi Ebita Breed Srirakura Ebikuma Shrimp Food Sample Combo Package

Shrimp King - 5 in 1 Sample Pack food is available but no baby powdered food. Shrimp love the 5 leaf mix and snails love it too.

Shirakura baby shrimp food is a hit as well. Might have already mentioned it.

But sometimes shrimp are happy with what they are getting. I always feed a large number of varieties of foods.

The combo packs for the shrimp are great because you break or cut off a piece just the size you need for your number of shrimp and the packs last a very long time with a smaller number of shrimp as in 10-50 type numbers. And you will know which ones they love and order more, and/or get a new variety pack of more choices later.

If you ever have the chance to go to shops doing promos, or shows for aquarium type pets at a convention center you almost always get some samples, also a nice treat at events.

Sorry for the rambling In short I would try offering more types of foods but not worry if they don't like it much unless there is a reason, like if they are getting skinny.

 

[libertybelle]

Thanks, I appreciate the rambling and now I have a list for if I do start to notice anyone looking skinny.

At the moment the cherrys are breeding the bamboos are molting and the otos look plump as ever despite my backing off their supplementation. Maybe because I’m feeding so much powdered food they’re just grazing it right off the broadleaf plants? It’s not been long enough for me to tell with the corys. I think I will put in the sand box for them, maybe they’d go after the food more if they could dig around a bit for it.

Until now I’ve tried zucchini, spinach, carrot, hikari seaweed, Hikari algae wafers, crab cuisine, bug bites shrimp formula and some kind of shrimp specific quick dissolving algae pellet that I got ages ago and no longer know what it is, lol. I even threw in some omega one flakes I had on hand a couple times just to see if they were interested. The bug bites and dissolving pellet seem the biggest hit but still disappears slowly. I’m not super worried about water quality because the plant load is so high they just seem to suck everything up. I’m struggling to keep nitrates in the tank at all and I’m thinking about pulling out some of the hornwort forest just so I don’t have to dose macros so much! I’ve already pulled out most of the water lettuce and just left a little ring of it for that reason!

Maybe I’ll let the tank go a couple days and then put in a few different things and see which they flock to first!

 

[libertybelle]

Cleared out some of the forest and sunk in a sandbox for the Pygmy Corys! Hopefully I didn’t bulldoze over too many baby shrimp in the process...

So far the Pygmy’s haven’t found it. I think they think they’re otos! They’ve been schooling with the otos all night and whenever the otos stick to the glass the pygmys just dart up and down the glass too like they’re trying to do the same.

Guess I finally waited long enough between feeding to generate some interest. Two of my berried female amanos had a smack down drag out over the bug bites granules! The cherries scattered like ‘oh no way am I getting in the middle of this’

 

[Autumnsky]

That looks like the Cories will like it.

Yes, there is likely so much tiny particles they aren't too hungry.

This knock down drag out is understandable - the mommas need their share to grow babies, and secretly I think the Amanos like wrestling over the foods, tug of war is a favorite activity, lol!

You could also use one of the small glass feeding dishes to place food in to help with the messiness.

 

[libertybelle]

A glass dish is what I was using before but the amanos just scattered food everywhere and then it got lost in the gravel around the dish. Turns out this helps a lot as a feeding place on its own because the sand keeps the food on top and it’s big enough that it doesn’t go everywhere when the amanos start bickering over it!

At least one of the corys has found the spot, hopefully the others will soon. They don’t stick together all the time anymore. I guess they’ve already learned there’s no predators in this tank.

Speaking of which, in your experience are there any other species of fish that could add some fish - activity to the tank without taking out all the baby shrimp? This is partly a tank for my almost 15 month old son to enjoy and the more color/activity the better for little eyes.

I’m thinking something like other species of Cory or maybe top feeders who wouldn’t be that tempted by what’s crawling around in the plants.

Alternatively, are there other types of relatively hardy shrimp species that won’t cross breed with the neos? I’d love to have some more color in the tank but I don’t want to mix neos.

 

[Autumnsky]

The best ones I have had and everyone agrees is Otos as they are Algae eaters, but may inadvertently suck up a tiny baby shrimp. Baby shrimp jump away also so less chances there.

My other option is a group of real Boraras Brigittae aka Chili Rasboras males will have more color usually one or 2 with dark red and other lesser dominant males will be a bit red and females will be more pale.

You can see some small babies there in the moss to the right. These were my PRL - Pure Red Line shrimp.

Here you can see these guys in the moss eating. The substrate balls are `1 to 2mm lots in the 2mm size. So you can see they are very tiny.

My experience, and I always wanted shrimp tanks to also be my display tanks, is no fish for a serious breeding project.

The PRL shrimp were a serious project but not specifically for breeding, and there were the pretty Chilis there as well, but if I remember I did remove them eventually.

You could find some nice CRS - Crystal Red Shrimp bred by someone near you with similar water parameters. Reason mentioning that is because CRS favor softer water but have been adaptable when bred in the water the babies have been born in and can be more reliably hardy when from a hobbyist breeding in your area.

CRS and many other shrimp which are wildly popular now because of easier keeping than in earlier years of them emerging into the hobby are Caridina shrimp.

(Caridina)Blue Bolts are cool even in the low grades and many Bee Shrimp (side note: not the "Bee" shrimp often sold at Petco btw - their for sale tags state they are Neocaridina not Caridina) are fairly easily kept with attention to maintenance and feeding schedules to not pollute the tank. And when keeping the TDS and pH is a monitored average range.

Once you know your average range, keeping them is much easier and your monitoring would be less frequent (kinda like a normal new tank).

In my tanks I prefer to use a healthy, already set up tank so you know there is good build up of biofilm in there. Like a baby fish tank, or a Betta tank.



Cherry shrimp and the rainbow of colors they come in now are NEOCaridina and the 2 groups do not cross breed.

 

[libertybelle]

Thanks for the list; the chilis are so beautiful! I may have to see if my lfs can order them someday! This is not a serious breeding project. I would love for them to breed and fill the tank with shrimp antics and color but if the occasional shrimplet becomes a meal I won’t be too upset. Just don’t want anything that will be actively hunting them down!

The sand box is approved all around. They don’t really hang out there all the time, they prefer the plants. But come meal time they and the shrimp seem to like sifting through it and I like that the food doesn’t vanish into the gravel.

My lfs got in more pygmy cories and now I have, get this!, 17 of the little guys in there with my cherries. They school with the otos sometimes and everyone eats peacefully together (except the amanos who are, of course, big adorable bullies in comparison!). It’s really magical to see so many of the little guys darting around together.

Side benefit, I’m hoping now I won’t have to dose so many macro nutrients for my plants now that there’s some fish in there ... even if they do have the mass of about 3 neons!

 

[Autumnsky]

That's really great you have such a large group. Very exciting!!!

 

[libertybelle]

Sadly a couple didn’t make it but I still have 15 pygmys in there and they are a lot of fun to watch.

Did some gravel vaccing with my water change yesterday and had to shift my hornwort forest and the decor item the bamboo shrimp hide in a bit. Clearly I freaked them out pretty good. I found one of my bamboo shrimp on the other side of the room this morning looking a little crispy. My tank has a cover but there is a gap around the filter/ equipment so I knew that was a risk. So anyway I go to pick it up and wouldn’t you know it.... extra crispy is still kicking. I dropped him back in the tank and I don’t know if he’ll recover from his adventure but that will be pretty amazing if he manages to recover.

Maybe he’ll warn the others against the adventure

 

[Autumnsky]

Hoping your shrimp makes it! That's scary to find them out and away from the tank!!!

 

[libertybelle]

Well my wandering bamboo shrimp lasted two weeks after almost completely drying out. Didn’t survive the next molt unfortunately. Honestly I am truly amazed it even survived its excursion in the first place.

The other bamboo shrimp seem fine. I spot feed them when I can and now that I have Pygmy cories I’m less worried about the dust settling. They and the cherry shrimp work together to vacuum up the first bites dust within an hour of my feeding floating food.

And the otos have even taken to the crab cuisine I put in there for the shrimp. Between that and the natural algae I haven’t lost anymore and they look nice and rounded.

I’m pretty happy with my little ecosystem at the moment! The one thing I’d like to add now; the next time I see them, is an assassin snail.

I knew the plants I added came from tanks with ramshorns and couldn’t decide if I wanted them or not so I just rinsed the plants and waited to see what happened. Not surprisingly I now have a few ramshorms cruising around. They’re tiny, I haven’t seen any over a mm or so wide And their shells mostly lie flat to the glass rather than sticking out. Any idea what these are? I’ve seen descriptions online that seem to match just called “mini ramshorns.”

They’re pretty cute actually (and are the perfect size for cleaning off my fine leaved plants) but I figure a single assassin will keep them from getting too out of control in there. Presumably the assassin would leave my fairly large nerite alone and go after the smaller prey, right? I can’t imagine a single assassin going for a nerite when smaller snails are around...

 

[Autumnsky]

They can kill a larger snail.

A couple years ago, I overheard a conversation from some seasoned fish club members (of the CAS) speculating they have a neurotoxin to take down their prey. I do not know this to be true or not. But food for thought. There hasn't been any reason since then for me to check further if there is any evidence of this theory.