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Recommend me a staple food


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So I'm looking for a new staple food to try........

 

I'm looking for a couple of things....or at least a few requirements I had in mind

 

Requirements

1.  I don't want/too lazy to deal with taking out the left overs.  

2.  Not shirakura (bought ebi dama soft years ago only to have it ignored by every shrimp I owned, luckily found someone else in college who was in the shrimp hobby)

3. Hopefully a good "bang for your buck" buy

4. It's gotta be a staple food....hehe

 

If you could.....list.....

1. Brand

2. What size it comes in and how long it'll last you

3. Pros

4. Cost

 

Thanks guys, I'm interested to see what's out there nowadays.  The hobby has increased it's access to

the market drastically over the last couple of years.

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My staple food is Ken's veggy sticks with calcium. Whatever the shrimp doesn't finish, my MTS finish it up.

 

just $7 for 1/2 lb can last about 1-2 years depending on your stock.

 

Hahaha that's the food I use.  Just bored and wanna try something new.  My newer shrimps seem to ignore it lol so I might change it around.

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I use Snowflake food from Ch3fb0yrdee.  My TBs were refusing to eat the Mosura pellets I gave them, which was odd since my CRS in the past would take mosura with gusto.  But when I added snowflake, they started going to town with it quite fast.  

Best part is, it's ridiculously cheap for something that will last me at LEAST 6 months.  And my tank is packed with TBs of all sizes.  I also really dig the fact that I can leave it in the tank without fear of it rotting.  It slowly goes away on its own.  

 

I think they're only like... 7 and free shipping...?  

In my experience, the snowflake pellets need to be broken down smaller than what it comes in originally.  So keep that in mind when using it.  

 

Here's a video I shot in June with snowflake in there.  

http://youtu.be/eyn19kzSt7Q?list=UUU75HSe231Qk4i6PhTwAx5A

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I use Snowflake food from Ch3fb0yrdee.  My TBs were refusing to eat the Mosura pellets I gave them, which was odd since my CRS in the past would take mosura with gusto.  But when I added snowflake, they started going to town with it quite fast.  

Best part is, it's ridiculously cheap for something that will last me at LEAST 6 months.  And my tank is packed with TBs of all sizes.  I also really dig the fact that I can leave it in the tank without fear of it rotting.  It slowly goes away on its own.  

 

I think they're only like... 7 and free shipping...?  

In my experience, the snowflake pellets need to be broken down smaller than what it comes in originally.  So keep that in mind when using it.  

 

Here's a video I shot in June with snowflake in there.  

http://youtu.be/eyn19kzSt7Q?list=UUU75HSe231Qk4i6PhTwAx5A

 

Yeah I just got snowflake, using it as more of a supplementary feeding for the moment.  I don't really see how soybean husks can act as a staple.  I treat it similarly to barley.  It's super nice and my shrimp do go crazy for the stuff :D

 

GlasGarten Shrimp Dinner

ShrimpKing Complete

Cologne/Peter Ladens OmniPro Edge

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I saw those three, any differences between them?  My biggest issue with shirakura back in the day would be that no shrimp would eat it...or a couple would pick at it...and it would just sit there and grow fungus.

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My understanding is that the snowflake explodes into lots of pieces and promotes/supports the growth of a fungus which the shrimp then eat (mycella?) Apparently as said before a little bit goes a long way.

Can't get hold of it in the UK but am told it's similar to Mosura Graze.

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My staple food is Ken's veggy sticks with calcium. Whatever the shrimp doesn't finish, my MTS finish it up.

just $7 for 1/2 lb can last about 1-2 years depending on your stock.

I've also used Ken's veggie and and worm sticks. I figured one would be a staple (veggie) and one would be a conditioner for breeding (worm for its proteins). What I found out is the sticks are quite "dirty". What I mean is the food almost instantly breaks apart. I found that it's not suitable for high flow tanks as the quick water movement will break the sticks down and cause the sticks to dissolve and hit my water column. Additionally, luckily I was experimenting on my Neo rack. The foods caused "death spots" and fouling that killed off my Blue Pearl population. It could be overfeeding by my parents as the tanks were kept at their place. Regardless, I've since stopped using it.

Yeah I just got snowflake, using it as more of a supplementary feeding for the moment. I don't really see how soybean husks can act as a staple. I treat it similarly to barley. It's super nice and my shrimp do go crazy for the stuff :D

I saw those three, any differences between them? My biggest issue with shirakura back in the day would be that no shrimp would eat it...or a couple would pick at it...and it would just sit there and grow fungus.

I use snowflake and barley as well. It offers plant base proteins that just doesn't foul or leave those dead spots on my substrate, and that's okay by me. I'm also a lazy guy that hates to remove uneaten foods, especially those pellets that breaks apart of become unstable once it touches water. Probably why I've stopped using Mosura. Shirakura was an old school staple but with so many products available and so many home made goodies, I found myself feeding the alternatives instead.

I like snowflake because it's the only food I've observed that actually draw out babies to feed alongside adults.

Can you spot the babies in this picture?

a3uhequg.jpg

My understanding is that the snowflake explodes into lots of pieces and promotes/supports the growth of a fungus which the shrimp then eat (mycella?) Apparently as said before a little bit goes a long way.

Can't get hold of it in the UK but am told it's similar to Mosura Graze.

It breaks apart and increases the overall available grazing area for everyone to enjoy. Pellets or other foods only offers a finite amount of space for shrimps to pick at, which is often why we see those intense feeding balls and also why we rarely see babies venture out to eat.

Sucks that you cannot find snowflake in the UK. Is mosura graze available at affordable prices?

Mosura graze is snowflake food.

^This. Don't let anyone fool you or tell you otherwise. Snowflake is snowflake. There's so such thing as a specialize snowflake that does something more than a different brand of snowflake. They're all soy hulls.

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I can always ship you some of the larger bags of snowflake to the UK :).  I am getting a TON of thin white worms in a bunch of my tanks from having to much snowflake in the tank I think.  When I add snowflake they come out of the substrate and swarm it. 

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Snowflake food shouldn't even be considered a staple food. It lacks vegetable nutrients and necessary everyday nutrition.

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This is true. Snowflake lacks many of the vital nutrients that would attribute to the overall health and wellness of shrimps. Realistically, it's mainly protein and sugar that's contained in the snowflake that's so yummy and desirable to shrimps if we're really breaking it down and analyzing it. But you know what I've realized? It doesn't matter if I'm spending $30+ on a single food product designed to give shrimps all the health benefits and vitamins they need if they refuse to touch it. If they refuse to eat that super great and healthy product design to provide them with all the advantages to grow big and healthy, then that product I bought just became a money sink (guess what, I do have these products).

Additionally, I'm a firm believer that shrimps should be getting proper nutrients from algae and other microbs growing inside the tank. Unless a tank is newly setup or bare they should be constantly picking away and eating from food sources grown inside their tanks. All my tanks are heavily planted with moss and stems here and there so I rarely stress or analyze such things.

Also, I do feel like what we activity feed our shrimps are actually more treats/snacks for them. A majority of keepers here don't make our own foods so how can you truly testify what's going into our shrimps mouths? (Not trashing or saying other foods are bad, don't get me wrong) It's more of a "peace of mind" that we're dropping into the tanks if we look at it from your perspective. We see them swarm and gather around what we feed and it makes us happy. We see them ignore the food and we instantly develop the idea that the food is inferior or bad.

I know I like a nice juicy piece of steak or a nice sweet piece of desert more than I like green beans and veggies, I'll tell you that much! [emoji4]

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This is true. Snowflake lacks many of the vital nutrients that would attribute to the overall health and wellness of shrimps. Realistically, it's mainly protein and sugar that's contained in the snowflake that's so yummy and desirable to shrimps if we're really breaking it down and analyzing it. But you know what I've realized? It doesn't matter if I'm spending $30+ on a single food product designed to give shrimps all the health benefits and vitamins they need if they refuse to touch it. If they refuse to eat that super great and healthy product design to provide them with all the advantages to grow big and healthy, then that product I bought just became a money sink (guess what, I do have these products).

Additionally, I'm a firm believer that shrimps should be getting proper nutrients from algae and other microbs growing inside the tank. Unless a tank is newly setup or bare they should be constantly picking away and eating from food sources grown inside their tanks. All my tanks are heavily planted with moss and stems here and there so I rarely stress or analyze such things.

Also, I do feel like what we activity feed our shrimps are actually more treats/snacks for them. A majority of keepers here don't make our own foods so how can you truly testify what's going into our shrimps mouths? (Not trashing or saying other foods are bad, don't get me wrong) It's more of a "peace of mind" that we're dropping into the tanks if we look at it from your perspective. We see them swarm and gather around what we feed and it makes us happy. We see them ignore the food and we instantly develop the idea that the food is inferior or bad.

I know I like a nice juicy piece of steak or a nice sweet piece of desert more than I like green beans and veggies, I'll tell you that much! [emoji4]

 

yeah I totally agree.  Just bought snowflake and it's great.  Feels like barley pellets that I use.  

What else do you feed your shrimp though?

 

 

I can always ship you some of the larger bags of snowflake to the UK :).  I am getting a TON of thin white worms in a bunch of my tanks from having to much snowflake in the tank I think.  When I add snowflake they come out of the substrate and swarm it. 

 

hahaha yes I used to have a huge problem with those damn nematodes. They are disgusting.....they usually hitch a ride on plants....fish love em.....so I now throw any plants I get into the fish tank for a week and then shake it out and then bring it over to my shrimp tanks.

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Let's see.. Foods I feed includes:

Snowflake (of course), barley, SL-White, Meat, Veggies, Shirakura Baby Powder/Nigon's Baby Bacter, EBITA Bentou, EBITA Quatro II, EBITA Spinach, RAC F3, Jake's Nom Nom (not so much anymore as they've gone stale) Sinewy Cereal, Vibrant Salad, and Amazing Broccoli.

I'm pretty whatever in terms of "oh today feels like ____" rather than a dedicated day for the different types of food.

I'm stricter on my waterchange regime and mineral additives, but that's another can of worms! [emoji4]

With so many different types of foods available. Honestly feel like it comes down to just trying it out and figuring out what works best for you. Are you the type that likes making it up or the type that feeds a staple over and over? It's not bad or good, it's just personal preferences.

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1. CSF ( Cologne Shrimp Food)


2. 10g, 25g, 50g, 100g, 500g, and 1000g 


3. Organic, 100% Natural, Outside the box ingredients that shrimp seem to really love. Check out my product review on the CSF Food.



4. I think this brand is actually comparable if not cheaper than most but my shrimp seem to enjoy it more.


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Hey saw the vid. Great review [emoji106][emoji106]

Out of curiosity, how come the CSF nettle leaf+ look very similar to a much cheaper bird food available here stateside?

Link: http://www.totallyorganics.com/products.php?cat=5

The product seems to be a bird food. The CSF nettle+ seems like a repurpose bird food, no? The description on the site even mentions "red chili pepper" as a selling point for the bird food. It's going for 15ish for 10lb bags which is roughly .007$/gram.

With 10lbs you'll have nearly a lifetime worth of foods, and almost no cost. I'm at work now but I'm sure I can find more CSF shrimp specialty foods buy googling ingredients they all seem to be pellets foods. (Pellet foods tends to be farm feeds for horse, bunnies, birds, etc).

Sharing knowledge so we can all explore different foods available (if we're going to repurpose rodent feeds for our expensive shrimp).

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When I first started I bought the entire line of Borneowild + Part of Mosura's and some of the home made stuff people offer... Half the time my shrimp spent sitting on the back of the tank grazing on the biofilm on the glass and ignoring all the expensive food I purchased for them lol.

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When I first started I bought the entire line of Borneowild + Part of Mosura's and some of the home made stuff people offer... Half the time my shrimp spent sitting on the back of the tank grazing on the biofilm on the glass and ignoring all the expensive food I purchased for them lol.

yep that's what I experienced with my shirakura.  Thoroughly pissed lol.

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Wow - lots of posts to catch up on!

I have found that my shrimp prefer grazing on biofilm to the "gourmet" shrimp foods I've tried too! Have got tubs of stuff they're not interested in. A money sink indeed if they won't eat it! 

Sorry, countryboy, I thought Snowflake was a brand name rather than a food type - my bad!

Ch3f, the cheapest source for the Mosura Graze I can find in the UK without importing direct so far is £9.99 per sachet (not sure what size it is, but it's pink!) Think that's about $16.50 I think

I wouldn't want to feed snowflake food as a staple but I would probably would pop a little in the tank once a week as a treat.

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Glad you made your decision! I'm late to the party, but I rotate Shrimp King Complete, barley, snowflake, bee pollen (plain pollen bits, not a prepared food), Lowkeys Vitamin Kale, fresh spinach/kale and zucchini. And freshly squashed baby bladder snails. :)

ETA oh yeah, both shrimp and Otos still eat my crappy cheap Tetra sinking algae wafers. They love 'em. Go figure.

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Wow - lots of posts to catch up on!

I have found that my shrimp prefer grazing on biofilm to the "gourmet" shrimp foods I've tried too! Have got tubs of stuff they're not interested in. A money sink indeed if they won't eat it!

Sorry, countryboy, I thought Snowflake was a brand name rather than a food type - my bad!

Ch3f, the cheapest source for the Mosura Graze I can find in the UK without importing direct so far is £9.99 per sachet (not sure what size it is, but it's pink!) Think that's about $16.50 I think

I wouldn't want to feed snowflake food as a staple but I would probably would pop a little in the tank once a week as a treat.

I promise im not a salesman just trying to be informative. . Lol I have 3 shrimp tanks and ive had a 50gram bag for like 4 months and have hardly use 1/4 of a bag.. I use it because I like the idea that there is a constant food source in the tank. I still feed ever other day with a normal shrimp food. I would say its well woth the money.
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