Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

Hello everyone....I have a question regarding feeding RCS. I have read different posts here, as well as the articles and have become confused by conflicting information. Can someone clarify for me?

1) Any commercial fish food will do v. they can't live long term on this.
2) They don't need to be fed if there's algae in the tank v. feed once a day.
3) An oak leaf will provide food.
4) They are vegetarians v. they eat shrimp pellets.

I have about 15-20 RCS in a heavily planted 10 gallon tank. There is a total carpet of hairgrass with some java fern and driftwood. I have both hair algae and black brush algae in the tank at all times. Need I feed anything else with the algae in there? If so, how often? I have everything available already from other tanks: shrimp pellets, flake food, algae wafers. I can get fresh spinach. I can get a dried oak leaf.

Is the algae alone enough?
If I add a dried oak leaf, will that on top of the algae be enough?
Or should I just feed every day?

I've really made an effort to figure this out but seem to be coming across a lot of different info. Any clarification would be appreciated. Tank parameters, lighting, plants, co2, water changes....everything else seems to be great. Thanks!

Beverly

I've spent the past month reading shrimp info on 4 different forums and have concluded that these shrimp are opportunistic detrivores, meaning that they will basically eat whatever they can find.

The good news is that they will eat whatever they can find. In an established planted aquarium they will eat algae and the micro-organisms that live on the surface of everything. They will eat just about any organic matter they can find.

If you feed them commercial foods, they will eat it instead of the things they can find because it is much more nutrient-rich than the stuff they have to work for. If you don't feed commercial foods, they will not starve, especially in a planted tank like your's.

So what am I doing? I am feeding them just a tiny corner of an algae wafer or equivalent amount of food every other day just so I can get them to gather around for a head-count. I believe that is more than enough for them, especially because I have only 30-40 shrimp in my 15 gallon tank. If I had lots more shrimp, then I would need to consider if it was necessary to feed more.

As long as you do not over-feed to the point that your water quality suffers, I really don't think you can do much of anything wrong regardless of how you decide to feed them.

If anything I have said is not correct, the real shrimp experts will chime in to clarify.

YuccaPatrol wrote:

I am feeding them just a tiny corner of an algae wafer or equivalent amount of food every other day just so I can get them to gather around for a head-count.


YuccaPatrol,

Your description "...to gather around for a head-count" is really amusing I've been doing the same