Feeding Cherry shrimp....

[Joe_D]

I have added a few cherry shrimp for two reasons in my planted community tank.
I like their bright red color and they help keep algae in check a bit.

BTW, the tank contains Neon Tetras. Harlequin Rasboras. and Corry cats

The shrimp are doing fine. However, sometimes I wonder if they get enough to eat.
What is best to supplement their feeding with?

[Autumnsky]

Not scrubbing all the glass (only the front if needed) really allows the biofilm and aufwuchs to grow. This provided food for them. Why most often recommended for matured and stable tanks.

Right now I am enjoying feeding Glassgarten foods I use a bunch of them, especially like ShrimpBaby & ShrimpFit and Mineral Pearl Junkie. I use Bacter AE very, very sparingly, infrequently and never as much as they mention on the packaging.

The shrimp have loved all the things from them. I have bought lots of stuff over the years here / link below. Sometimes there are sample packs of foods available which is great since a little food for shrimp goes a long way. Sometimes they have low stock on things, but highly recommend some botanical leaves which as they breakdown also create food sources for the shrimp.
https://www.jungleaquashrimp.com/

Shrimp King sample pack is a pretty convenient food and the shrimp seem to like it.

[Joe_D]

I only clean the front glass and some of the sides
I noticed that in addition to feeding on the algae on the back glass, they also feed on what grows on the the outside of the HOB filter parts that is in the water, air hoses heater etc... most all that is in the water. I never clean those parts and the shrimp seem to keep them relatively clean.
Even on the algae on some plants
They also started to feed on what grows on this wood... you can see the light areas they fed on

They are growing and doing fine
It 's just that this is my first experience with shrimp, even though I am long time aquarium hobbyists.

[Autumnsky]

A Mystery snail might slurp up the extra stuff on the DW.

Shrimp are one of my favorites <3.

[Joe_D]

No i have actually seen the shrimp feeding on the wood.

[Joe_D]

BTW keep in mind that this is not a dedicated shrimp tank. It is a community tank with a with a gravel substrate

So a powder food is not practical

[Autumnsky]

There is a little glass shrimp feeding dish which can help with a attempt at less mess feeding. There are pellets and little pads of food Glassgarten has some options too.

As for feeding, ShrimpBaby is a minute pellet, actually I really like it. And you can drop in a very tiny amount just periodically.

Not sure the numbers of shrimp you have but an easy fix is the Hikari Crab Cuisine. Makes sure they get additional minerals for shell building, other bottom feeders LOVE it and shrimp can pick up leftovers.

As for the dusty type foods for shrimp, you use just a tiny amount, like what fits one end of a flat toothpick, the larger end for many shrimp and the tiny end for few shrimp. The particles disperse in the tank, land on things and the shrimp graze around and eat them.

As a pellet could get lost in the cracks of the gravel, still bottom feeder fish are adapted with pointier mouths and extra whiskers for getting into the gravelly and sandy spots.

It wouldn't be something that you feed every day either, the shrimp are getting tiny particles from the foods dropped around the tank when the other fish eat.

And for mineral availability, I usually drop in a vertical slice of Cuddle bone. (Chop from soft side down longwise with a knife.) The plain kind for birds.

They float for a short time, sometimes longer. Put in soft part down / harder shell part to the top. When it finally does sink, I just tuck into the substrate a little, behind a DW / Stone / plant, like a surfboard in the sandy beach, and the shrimp can graze when they want to.

[Joe_D]

BTW, I have been basically feeding my Cory cats "Tetra Shrimp Wafers" which they seem to really like. This is in addition to what falls to the bottom when feeding my other fish .
I usually break them in half before dropping them is the tank to sink.
By accident, there were usually few tiny piece also and my cherry shrimp also seem to like and nibble on these tiny bits.

BTW I will get some cuttle bone for the shrimp if I remember
In any event, the shrimp are doing fine as is and are really multiplying

[Autumnsky]

What good news to hear they are doing well and multiplying!