possible food item?

They would be great for smaller mantis shrimps, but too small for the large ones. Bill Stockly is a nice guy & I have ordered these shrimp from him more than once. They only grow to about a 1/2 inch, but fish love 'em. So do cleaner shrimps. Only problems with them are they tend to get sucked into the filter system, but most will survive to be put back in the tank & they get eaten up fairly quick. They are pretty neat to watch while you have them too.
 
I've used these shrimp for feeding Pseudosquilla and gonodactylids. They work fine except that they don't give smashers much opportunity to excercise their raptorial appendages. Still, they are a good component to a mixed diet.

Small size is not really that much of a problem feeding stomatopods. We feed even our large animals brine shrimp (Selco treated) and they can easily catch enough to do well. In fact, given that many of our animals are held in non-circulating, small containers, I prefer live food like red shrimp or treated brine shrimp because it does not immediately start to decompose. A few hours later we simply change the water pouring off the uneaten prey.

I would say that the limit for effectively using small shrimp or adult Artemia is 10-12 cm. The key to feeding stomatopods seems to be a mixed diet that includes some more calcified items. I don't use fish that much except for Lysiosquillids, but in general, just about any shellfish you eat will work as a COMPONENT to a balanced diet for stomatopods.

Roy
 
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