ok so in my LFS they have ghost shrimp and brine shrimp. the brine shrimp shrimp are very small just hatched the ghost shrimp are bigger about 1/2 inch. i want to have a colony of shrimp in my 10g tank. i want to use these shrimp to feed the fish in my main tank and newly hatched babys. what would be the better shrimp for this? Also how would i chose what shrimp to feed to my fish or should i only use the newborn shrimp for feeding?
what shrimp is best for a feeding colony?
- Thread starter EDM
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Ghost shrimp while, freshwater as an adult, need brackish water to breed hatch and grow while in larval stage. Prolly to labor intensive.
Brine shrimp are saltwater. Hatching brine shrimp from eggs to use as feeders for fish fry is common. You should be able to find DIY setups on the forums here or elsewhere online. I wouldn't know about growing those baby brine shrimp to a bigger size though. They die relatively shortly afterwards when introduce to freshwater to feed.
Red Cherry shrimp breed rather prolifically in small freshwater setups and can be used as feeders, however its typically more efficient to just sell the new cherry shrimp you breed and use the money to buy whatever feeders. You could prolly breed the wild variant of the cherry shrimp which is not red, and use those to feed.
In the long run using processed foods is the best option cost wise.
Hope that helps a little.
Brine shrimp are saltwater. Hatching brine shrimp from eggs to use as feeders for fish fry is common. You should be able to find DIY setups on the forums here or elsewhere online. I wouldn't know about growing those baby brine shrimp to a bigger size though. They die relatively shortly afterwards when introduce to freshwater to feed.
Red Cherry shrimp breed rather prolifically in small freshwater setups and can be used as feeders, however its typically more efficient to just sell the new cherry shrimp you breed and use the money to buy whatever feeders. You could prolly breed the wild variant of the cherry shrimp which is not red, and use those to feed.
In the long run using processed foods is the best option cost wise.
Hope that helps a little.
I'll add that you should breed cherry shrimp. Easy to breed and take care of. With a little patience you could have a a good colony of them.
Buy like 20-30 of them to start and you are good to go. Someone here on MFK is selling 20 shrimp for $20 with free shipping.
Buy like 20-30 of them to start and you are good to go. Someone here on MFK is selling 20 shrimp for $20 with free shipping.
cherry shrimp would be the best for they breed like mad. Ill send 20 mixed colored(all cherries but some are brown and some are red)for 10 bucks.
I would have to say ghost shrimp, because they are hard to see so some may live long enough to breed but are good feeders
I have to agree that CRS are probably the easiest to keep and breed, since all you pretty much have to do is setup a tank with some plants and sand with a few shrimp and before long you'll notice some of them are bearing eggs
As for price, (although probably useless info to you), in Hong Kong they sell fire red cherries for about $12 - 15HKD a piece which works out to roughly USD $1.50 - 2? roughly
As for price, (although probably useless info to you), in Hong Kong they sell fire red cherries for about $12 - 15HKD a piece which works out to roughly USD $1.50 - 2? roughly