What to feed these little ones??

[attygirl]

My opae have been in the tank now for one week. I have not feed them but am concerned that there is not enough micro organisms in the tank for food. Unlike others who have posted, I have NOT noticed any shrimp waste in the tank. The shrimp are still clear white and four or five can be seen out in the open.

In my first attempt at a tank, I was told to feed the shrimp Spirulina powder meant for human consumption. I purchased a bottle of Spirulina tablets from a health food store. I opened a capsule and used a cotten swab to scoop out a little of powder and put it in the tank's water.

So, is Spirulina powder for humans okay to use? Or, should I buy fish food pellets and if so, what kind??

How do I know if the shrimp are starving?

Thanks for reading!

[jpccusa]

It is hard for people to understand that these shrimp can live A LONG TIME "without food." Let me give you a perspective: they can live 2+ years inside a sealed globe.

Overfeeding kills more than starvation. If your tank is well lit, these shrimp are not starving.

I'll leave the "human spirulina" question to a more knowledgeable member.

[MelWong]

My opae have been in the tank now for one week. I have not feed them but am concerned that there is not enough micro organisms in the tank for food. Unlike others who have posted, I have NOT noticed any shrimp waste in the tank. The shrimp are still clear white and four or five can be seen out in the open.

In my first attempt at a tank, I was told to feed the shrimp Spirulina powder meant for human consumption. I purchased a bottle of Spirulina tablets from a health food store. I opened a capsule and used a cotten swab to scoop out a little of powder and put it in the tank's water.

So, is Spirulina powder for humans okay to use? Or, should I buy fish food pellets and if so, what kind??

How do I know if the shrimp are starving?

Thanks for reading!

They can eat the spirulina, sure, but the cotton swab might have actually dished out too much for them. For example, I've got a pretty healthy tank going and about ten shrimp and twelve snails (I say about because the snails are having babies right now) and I feed them 2 0.5mm sinking fish food pellets every two weeks. We're talking smaller than a pinhead size pellets.

You can tell if they're getting enough to eat if you look at them (and while they're being clear it's a pretty good sign) and see a thread of dark stuff through their middles, ending at their tail. That's their intestine, and if they've been eating well the intestine will be full of dark stuff, ie: shrimp poo. They're also pretty unembarrassed about just dropping it in front of you when you're observing them.

If you want to keep feeding them the spirulina, I recommend you use a cocktail toothpick to just scoop up a little bit, pinhead-amount, and drop it into the water. Once every two weeks and they should be fine.

However, because measuring like this is a pain in the behind and also could lead to accidental spills, you could try getting any kind of flake or pellet food from the pet store, - shrimp food, fish food, it doesn't matter, they're not picky - and give them about a pinhead of it every two weeks. For numbers larger than ten, you can try feeding a little more, but keep a small plastic spoon or straw ready to remove the excess if they don't finish it in an hour or two.

[attygirl]

Mel: I tried to send you a PM (twice) and though it said "successfully sent" both messages are still in my "outbox." Hopefully one will get delivered. Until then, Thank you!

[MelWong]

Oh, I got your reply all right (:

- Mel

[Iwantshrimp]

Any sinking fish food I guess, if the shrimp go pale or get smaller feed more not too much or else ammonia levels will go up and pollution will harm the shrimp. Good luck