A short video guide on how to feed bamboo shrimp. Bamboo shrimp are native to Southeast Asia and are filter feeders. They catch small particles in the water using their fans. Due to this unique mode of feeding, some special care is needed when feeding bamboo shrimp.
Tag: shrimp
Fish that won’t eat shrimp
We showcase 3 fish that won’t eat shrimp, tried and tested in our very own 5 gallon nano planted tank.
1) Phoenix Rasbora
2) Neon Tetra
3) Lambchop Rasbora
These 3 fish are shrimp safe, in our experience.
There are many baby shrimp, juvenile shrimp, as well as adult blue shrimp (blue version of cherry shrimp) living happily alongside those fish. As well as 1 Amano shrimp.
From what we observe, the fish don’t disturb or bother the shrimp as well. Music is “Foo the Flowerhorn” style peaceful music, aka the Gymnopedie No. 3.
Usually, aggressive or predatory fish like the betta tend to eat or hunt shrimp.
It is relatively easy to breed shrimp, especially cherry shrimp and its color variants. There need to be enough calcium source in the tank, what we did is put some coral chips (crushed corals) which has calcium carbonate. The most common way for shrimp to die is due to unsuccessful molting.
Shrimp Videos
I find that shrimp are just as interesting as fish to keep in an aquarium. Shrimp are very good at tidying/cleaning up the aquarium; it is a great idea to keep some shrimp whenever possible.
The easiest shrimp to keep are cherry shrimp (and its color variants), and also the Amano shrimp. The biggest cause of shrimp deaths is due to molting problems. Below are some videos of the shrimp I have personally kept.
Easy to keep shrimp: Amano shrimp, cherry shrimp (Neocaridina davidi).
More difficult shrimp: Bamboo shrimp (aka Wood shrimp), Bee shrimp (I have not tried these yet), Sulawesi Shrimp (not tried yet either).
Hikari Shrimp Cuisine Review
I find this Hikari Shrimp Cuisine quite good. The pellets are quite small sized so you can control exactly how much you want to feed (down to each individual pellet).
Hikari Inc AHK19404 Shrimp Cuisine 0.35 -Ounce
How to feed Hikari Shrimp Cuisine Pellet (without fish snatching it away)
This was something that perplexed me for a long time. My fish would grab any food meant for the shrimp, leaving close to nothing left for the slower moving shrimp.
The solution I found was to:
- Put the Hikari Shrimp Cuisine pellets in a small container with tank water.
- Crush the pellets (I just use my finger).
- Stir to “dissolve” the pellets a little. Stirring also helps the pellets to sink.
- Pour the water with “dissolved” pellets back into the tank.
You may switch the order of steps 1 & 2 if you like (I find it easier to crush the pellets when wet).
The main reason why this works is because:
- Hikari Shrimp pellets are sinking (this is very important since shrimp can only eat sinking pellets that reach the floor).
- By crushing the pellets into powder, it is virtually impossible for the fish to snatch all the shrimp’s food.
- Some, if not most, of the powder will reach the tank floor, where the shrimp can find and eat it.
Another way to feed shrimp exclusively is the usage of a shrimp feeding tube and feeding dish.
How much Hikari Shrimp Cuisine Pellets to feed
This depends on how many shrimp you have, and also your tank setup. Ideally, shrimp such as cherry shrimp or Amano shrimp can survive on algae and biofilm. Hence, if your tank is well planted, you only need to feed lightly. Personally, I only feed the shrimps once a week, at around 2 Hikari Shrimp pellets per shrimp.
If your tank is bare (no plants), you need to feed more, maybe once every day or once every two days.
Supplementing with Hikari Shrimp food is good because it contains essential minerals like copper (shrimp need small amounts of copper) and other minerals that can help shrimp molt.
Imposter / “Fake” Amano Shrimp that Disappeared Totally
I just realized that 2 of the previous shrimp I bought may not be “true” Amano Shrimp.
Basically, they lack the distinctive dots / dashes of true Amano shrimp. See also this site on an example of fake Amano shrimp: https://www.plantedtank.net/forums/88-shrimp-other-invertebrates/570946-amanos-born-their-side-top-markings.html
You can also see the shrimp in my YouTube video (around 2m 43s mark):
Despite it being an “imposter”, it behaved quite similar to Amano shrimp, eating algae and cleaning up the tank. According to some online sources, it could be Malayan shrimp which is also quite probable due to the locality (Malaysia is just next to Singapore). Malayan shrimp have different colors, and the clear colored ones look very much like Amano or Yamato shrimp.
Disappearing / Missing Shrimp
What is interesting about this shrimp (fake Amano) is that it totally disappeared from my fish tanks — twice. The first time, it disappeared from an open tank with just neon tetras in them. The second time (another shrimp of the same type), it totally disappeared from a close lid tank with just a honey gourami and 2 horned nerite snails. I did not find their body anywhere inside or outside the tank.
What I suspect is that they died soon after molting (I did see them molt), and then got totally eaten up by the small fish as shrimp sashimi. Or possibly they have a very fast rate of decomposition and can essentially “dissolve” into the water overnight.
Singapore Maths Tuition 