feeder shrimp

[JMorris271]

Would someone that uses feeder shrimp please explain how they are used in the reef tank?
Are they suppose to increase in quantity not. You buy 250, you get 250 bites for your stock. It seem frivolous to feed shrimp to serve shrimp.
Thank you for your help.

 

[JMorris271]

No one uses feeder shrimp?

 

[cloak]

Can you elaborate a little? I'm still puzzled by the question...

 

[MondoBongo]

what kind of feeder shrimp are you talking about?

do you mean something like live mysis shrimp, frozen mysis? brine shrimp?

if you're talking about live brine shrimp they don't do well long term in reef tank conditions. they're also not very nutritious, unless they're freshly hatched with egg sack still attached or gut loaded.

if you plan on rearing them, it is best done outside your tank.

is that what you mean?

 

[JMorris271]

what kind of feeder shrimp are you talking about?

do you mean something like live mysis shrimp, frozen mysis? brine shrimp?

if you're talking about live brine shrimp they don't do well long term in reef tank conditions. they're also not very nutritious, unless they're freshly hatched with egg sack still attached or gut loaded.

if you plan on rearing them, it is best done outside your tank.

is that what you mean?

I have been checking out potential purchases for my tank and see"feeder shrimp"as part of their diet. I have never heard of them and just tying to figure out what they are.

 

[MondoBongo]

there is a variety of different types of shrimp, most frozen or freeze dried, that people feed.

mysis are a staple. ghost shrimp as sometimes fed to larger predatory species. even normal shrimp like you would see on your table for some fish.

perhaps the way to approach this would be to ask you what kind of livestock you were looking at, and then work backwards from there with what makes a good food source for them.

 

[cherubfish pair]

LA has live feeder shrimp. Good for predators. Like a half inch or more. Maybe 1".

 

[Nina51]

once in a while, i feed my hawkfish tiny ghost shrimp. i know they're freshwater but i do it more for the fun of watching them hunt. stopped to get some today and they were out. ended up getting six 1/4" guppies. the royal gramma got 'em all.

 

[Paul B]

Do you mean these grass shrimp? I collect them in my marina and throw them in my tank. Great for larger fish but I don't have large fish so they just live in my tank. I tell people they are clear harliquin shrimp.
I collected some today and they are happily living in my reef.

 

[cloak]

My LFS has those. The cichlids on the other side of the isle are always eyeballing them.

 

[JMorris271]

there is a variety of different types of shrimp, most frozen or freeze dried, that people feed.

mysis are a staple. ghost shrimp as sometimes fed to larger predatory species. even normal shrimp like you would see on your table for some fish.

perhaps the way to approach this would be to ask you what kind of livestock you were looking at, and then work backwards from there with what makes a good food source for them.

Thank you for your input. What stock I was looking at is not relevant to my question. I observed that in the Diet stats listing on the LA site that many fish diets call for "feeder shrimp." What I understand is that feeder shrimp is used in a broad sense and does not refer to any specific shrimp.
Thanks for all the answers.

 

[MondoBongo]

It is very relevant. A harlequin tusk fish would need a very different type of "feeder shrimp" than a clownfish.

 

[JMorris271]

It is very relevant. A harlequin tusk fish would need a very different type of "feeder shrimp" than a clownfish.

Thanks for clearing this up for me. I had been looking for a species feeder shrimp. I did not realize that LA's Diet Requirement blurb for the fish being looked at is used in a broad way covering several different shrimp used for feeding.