Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

I have about 25 cherry shrimp in a heavly planted 20 gallon(short) tank. They share their home with 1 mystery snail. They have 2 corner filters (one on each end).
OK now my questions here and I am sorry if they have been asked I did a search but couldn't find what I was looking for.
What all will they eat? I feed them algae (just plain old algae from a tank that I use to grow it because I keep Molly in another tank), spirulina flakes, veggie flakes, earthworm flakes, small pieces of bottom feeder pellets (they are by new life and made for bottom feeders), crab cuisine and tropical fish food. Now I dont give them this all at once mind you and I do feed them sparingly..

I have 2 large females that have bright yellow patches on their back. Is this something I need to be worried about? I noticed it when I changed their water the other day.

I use a water conditioner called Ultimate (its alot like prime) when I change the water and wait 24 hours just to make sure I didnt throw anything off. Would it hurt them if I used a touch of plant fertilizer once or twice a month? I have some I use in my planted 55 and that has ghost shrimp in it and it hasn't ever hurt them at all.

Ok I promise last question here..My ammonia and nitrates are at zero, nitrites are about 10 and heavy metal is at zero. The tank temp is about 75 degrees constant. The plants in their tank include java ferns, java moss, wysteria, hornwort, anachris, riccia, a marimo moss ball, lutea and something I dont know what it is but they love it (and some floating plant stuffs like hornwort)...And they have 2 small rock caves to go in. I change roughly 20% of their water weekly with well aged water trated with ultimate. Is this enough or too much?

I really like these guys alot and any info would truly be appreciated.

1 other question I'm sorry gang...Why are some of my shrimp bright fire engine red and others more of a palish pink color and smaller? Is it a sex difference or am I doing something wrong? I would say about half of them are bright fire engine red and the other half are the lighter pinkish color.

The foods you're using sound fine, although you should check the ingredients for copper sulfate, which is poisonous to shrimp. A variety of foods is good for shrimp.

The yellow patches are the females' ovaries, and means they're getting ready to breed. The males are usually a paler red than the females.

I would say you're doing too many water changes. I know it's easy to get used to weekly water changes with fish, but it can be bad for the shrimp to have too many changes in parameters. Some people never change the water in their shrimp tanks. I do mine every few weeks.

A little plant fertilizer is OK, but watch out for those that have copper in them. If you stick to a low dose, the shrimp should be OK. I use the bulk CSM + B in my shrimp tank, once a week, with no problems.