Feeding prawn with shell on?

[batang_mcdo]

Anybody here feeding prawn with shell on?
I usually peel off the prawn and just feed them meat itself.

Just wondering if rays can digest the shell of prawns as well?

 

[Proximus]

I do both. I peel the shell off when i am feeding some of the smaller rays (they just eat the meat and leave the shell anyway). When i feed the bigger ones with prawn i rip off the head and tail, since there are sharp edges there. Also the head makes a mess!

I am sure they can handle the tail, but now i just feel more comfortable removing it.

And yes they fully digest the shell. Can`t remember to have seen any remains in their waste ever.

 

[Tom Maguire]

I've had the theory that they should be eating the whole organism. Reason being it seems like they are missing some vital nutrients out of their diets by only eating shelled shrimp and mysis, earthworms, etc. I know in Thailand they feed whole grass shrimp and things like that. I do not think that the shells of the shrimp are the best or even digestible but I do think they need to be fed whole organisms for proper nutrition. Look into the shrimps they feed in Thailand and other farms in Asia.

 

[Proximus]

"I've had the theory that they should be eating the whole organism".

Absolutely agree with this, but at least for regular cooked prawn i get rid of that head (don`t know if cooked prawn was actually what betang_mcdo was refering to). Extremely messy and very hard and sharp edges there...

To compansate and achieve a whole prey diet i give mine whole smelts, vendace and whitefish all year around. They are small juveniles, so the bones are pretty soft.

There may not even be a problem with feeding whole prawn with the head and all, it is just not for me. I feel safer feeding with those fish species i mentioned.

 

[batang_mcdo]

thanks guys I'll start feeding the shell when they get bigger.
my rays are currently at 10 inches.

 

[Bigfishnut]

Not a good idea to feed the shell...or cooked shrimp/prawns. The shell is not digestible and it can cause internal damage. Best to feed without shell and soak in a vitamin supplement. I use Boyd's vitachem.

 

[batang_mcdo]

Not a good idea to feed the shell...or cooked shrimp/prawns. The shell is not digestible and it can cause internal damage. Best to feed without shell and soak in a vitamin supplement. I use Boyd's vitachem.

oh ok , by the way, can shrimp absorb the vitamins?
I'm thinking it might be diluted into the water when dropped into the tank?

 

[Drstrangelove]

Fish eat the exoskeletons of crayfish, shrimp, crabs, insects, and the scales of other fish, all of which are basically made out of chitin. I'm no biologist, but I would guess fish can eat these things without being hurt.

It's possible it isn't used by the fish (it's 100% passed through), but I think at least some of the fish can digest them since evolution tends to maximize efficiency where it can.

 

[Peckoltia]

Prawns/Shrimps are high in Thiaminase, and is not destroyed/denatured by freezing. I am more concerned about this than shells.

 

[Just Toby]

I do use a lot of King Prawns which are frozen. I understand cooking can destroy thiamin so I also use small cooked prawns, I have started adding aquarium based vitamins to the frozen food. I also feed Smelt and Mussel which can be high in Thiamin too. I also feed pellets and earthworms to help vary the diet and add more vitamins to the diet. It is hard to know what else to feed.

My fire eel recently gone on to frozen but not pellets and I am trying to vary that diet as much as I can.