I often get asked "What do I need to feed my dwarf shrimp?",
I feed a diet containing both vegetable and meat both are equally as important.
Foods containing a high quantity of plant matter are excellent for improving the colour of your shrimp, especially foods containing spirulina and astathaxin they contain caritinoids which are natural colour enhancers.
Foods containing more 'meat' are a good source of protein a high protein diet is necessary to breed you shrimp as protein is needed in the development of eggs by the female shrimp.
For the majority of hobbyists keeping freshwater dwarf shrimp however want the best of both worlds! Wanting well coloured beautiful looking shrimp that also breed really well. As such we need to feed BOTH types of food.
You can buy specialist shrimp foods such as Shirakura Ebi Dama which contain a good balanced mix of foods of both plant and meat origin this I use myself and also recommend for ease of use.
Also in the same way as we feed our fish a good balanced diet by feeding a variety of foods, you can also feed your shrimp in the same way.
I have developed a feeding regime that seems to work well for my shrimp, using a mixture of Shirakura feeds micro pellet granular, frozen foods, Seaweed Green
2 days a week I feed a frozen meaty food, usually either frozen baby brineshrimp or frozen lobster eggs I have tried bloodworm but not all of my shrimp like bloodworm so I chose not to feed this to avoid rotting waste
1 day a week I feed a granular micro pellet I feed BCUK micro pellet which I find to be very good value, and both my fish and my shrimp love it. You can also try a flake food for this role, although these often take longer to sink the micro pellet grain is micro small and sinks instantly
1 day a week I feed Spirulina Flake & Seaweed Green
3 days a week I feed a brine shrimp pellets they are popular with all of my shrimp, and give good results.
There is no set order as to how I feed these, all that stay constant is that I try not to feed the same thing too often. You can also experiment within the food groups to find what your shrimp respond to best. I also find that I get better result feeding a small quantity of food twice a day, rather than a larger quantity once a day. This is contrary to traditional thinking, which advises that you feed shrimp one small feed a day. I tried the traditional method and found that my shrimp bred more slowly and that the young grew slower. However if you don't particularly need your shrimp to breed and grow quickly then feeding less often does probably increase their lifespan, I found my shrimp lethargic with this method.
Written by Jo
;-)
I feed a diet containing both vegetable and meat both are equally as important.
Foods containing a high quantity of plant matter are excellent for improving the colour of your shrimp, especially foods containing spirulina and astathaxin they contain caritinoids which are natural colour enhancers.
Foods containing more 'meat' are a good source of protein a high protein diet is necessary to breed you shrimp as protein is needed in the development of eggs by the female shrimp.
For the majority of hobbyists keeping freshwater dwarf shrimp however want the best of both worlds! Wanting well coloured beautiful looking shrimp that also breed really well. As such we need to feed BOTH types of food.
You can buy specialist shrimp foods such as Shirakura Ebi Dama which contain a good balanced mix of foods of both plant and meat origin this I use myself and also recommend for ease of use.
Also in the same way as we feed our fish a good balanced diet by feeding a variety of foods, you can also feed your shrimp in the same way.
I have developed a feeding regime that seems to work well for my shrimp, using a mixture of Shirakura feeds micro pellet granular, frozen foods, Seaweed Green
2 days a week I feed a frozen meaty food, usually either frozen baby brineshrimp or frozen lobster eggs I have tried bloodworm but not all of my shrimp like bloodworm so I chose not to feed this to avoid rotting waste
1 day a week I feed a granular micro pellet I feed BCUK micro pellet which I find to be very good value, and both my fish and my shrimp love it. You can also try a flake food for this role, although these often take longer to sink the micro pellet grain is micro small and sinks instantly
1 day a week I feed Spirulina Flake & Seaweed Green
3 days a week I feed a brine shrimp pellets they are popular with all of my shrimp, and give good results.
There is no set order as to how I feed these, all that stay constant is that I try not to feed the same thing too often. You can also experiment within the food groups to find what your shrimp respond to best. I also find that I get better result feeding a small quantity of food twice a day, rather than a larger quantity once a day. This is contrary to traditional thinking, which advises that you feed shrimp one small feed a day. I tried the traditional method and found that my shrimp bred more slowly and that the young grew slower. However if you don't particularly need your shrimp to breed and grow quickly then feeding less often does probably increase their lifespan, I found my shrimp lethargic with this method.
Written by Jo
;-)
