Canned Freshwater Shrimp and other Invertebrates

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I personally prefer to feed my fish raw ingredients when possible. What's your opinion of these cooked shrimp vs whole raw or freeze dried shrimp or krill?

From zoo-med website, " Our full line of feeder insects are cooked in the can (called "retorting") which locks in the flavor and freshness while also softening the exoskeleton for easier digestion."
 
houie925 said:
I personally prefer to feed my fish raw ingredients when possible. What's your opinion of these cooked shrimp vs whole raw or freeze dried shrimp or krill?

From zoo-med website, " Our full line of feeder insects are cooked in the can (called "retorting") which locks in the flavor and freshness while also softening the exoskeleton for easier digestion."
Click to expand...

Hi Joshua,

In most situations, I prefer uncooked as well. I like the canned shrimp because it is one of the few freshwater species available; the insects are a nice way to provide dietary variety, as some of the species used - grasshoppers, snails - are not readily available to many folks. I don't rely on either as a sole diet for fishes or herps, and have used krill, FD and whole, etc. with great success over many years. I'm not sure about ZooMed's comment re "digestion", some amphibs that feed largely on soft bodied insects are prone to blockages when fed hi-chitin foods, but not much research etc. into that. Thanks for your interest, enjoy, Frank
 
I would think like most other things.. given in moderation they should be fine.. the only hesitation i would have is if they used preservatives ect.. as i'm sure they are tested for herps/reptiles in general and not fish. but iir the products your speaking of don't have preservatives. I have used their tiny crickets from a can to feed a very stubborn baby arrowana to get him offa live food onto pellets and it did work as a nice transition food ( i think we opened one small can and didn't even go threw 1/2 of it mixing it with pellets to convert him. the rest went to some herps we also had at the store at the time.)
 
MonsterMinis said:
I would think like most other things.. given in moderation they should be fine.. the only hesitation i would have is if they used preservatives ect.. as i'm sure they are tested for herps/reptiles in general and not fish. but iir the products your speaking of don't have preservatives. I have used their tiny crickets from a can to feed a very stubborn baby arrowana to get him offa live food onto pellets and it did work as a nice transition food ( i think we opened one small can and didn't even go threw 1/2 of it mixing it with pellets to convert him. the rest went to some herps we also had at the store at the time.)
Click to expand...

Thanks for your feedback and the interesting observation, best, Frank
 
I also think your assessment of FW vs SW shrimp used in the feeding of FW fish is spot on and something hobbyists should start to do more research on.

I would LOVE to have a source of FW shrimp available to me at a reasonable price, as I keep many spiney eels and find it hard to aquire foods i find "acceptable" for them. They are extreamely expensive to feed since i avoid market shrimp other then an occasional snack.

So thank you, I will do some further digging on the shrimp in a can and see.
 
This is really interesting because the article stated that if you grind them up they are good for smaller species, I wonder how good that is for the water quality?
 
Hi ,

Great to hear you are keeping these fascnating fish...they and some of their relatives are great favs of mine also. I few years ago I had a very prolific colony of cherry shrimp; sounds odd, i know, as they are quite expensive, but they exploded in numbers very quickly. They do best in a heavily planted tanks (I used Vallisneria and java moss) with lots of green algae available. Might be worth looking into; several native FW shrimp breed in captivity as well, but this varies among species. Here's some further info. Pl let me know if you have any info posted on yur spiny eels, best, frank
 
Hi,

Thanks..no probs as long as you rinse as with any other shrimp, feed in correct amounts, etc. The other canned inverts need more rinsing, esp grasshoppers. Best, Frank
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom