CRS are not eating

[Doc4PC2]

Hi,

Ever since I have gotten my new CRS, they are not eating what I give them to eat.

I only try to find them once every two days, and the only thing they actually ate a

little bit of was some organic frozen spinach that I prepared and put in. But they

still only ate a little of it.

 

I have tried Shrimp King food, Mosura, Azoo, Shirakura, and a few other that

are all well know and very qood quality food for shrimp.

 

The tank that they went in, has been cycling for over 6 weeks, and the water

quality was perfect for them, and the all look great, I have not lost a single shrimp.

They seem to explore a lot. I keep the light on for 8 hours, then the night light on

for three hours, then no light until I wake up and turn on the light. They seem

to like this routine. I have checked water quality and parameters every day,

and even their color looks great. Seems like they are getting more colorful

everyday.

 

but still not eating anything I give them. Is it because there is a lot to eat in the

tank already? Or are they all starving themselves for some reason?

 

Do they think they need to be slim and trim or what?  lol

 

 

[wicca32]

what are the water parameters? also what is the set up? how many did you get? and how long have you had them? it could be they are eating enough by eating bio film. do you know what food they were feed before you got them/ what the breeder used to feed?

[Doc4PC2]

Today, I fed them. I always feed at the same time, same spot, once every two days, and today,

they all gathered and ate what I gave them, which was a variety. They really like that Shrimp

King protein sample. They all went for that big time, but this was the very first time they

they actually ate anything I have given them.

 

Wicca32 - Water is:

Temp - 72.5 F

TDS - 170

PH - 6.6 to 6.8

RO Water with BeeShrimp Mineral GH+ and nothing else

Sponge filter

HOB

Moss on bottom floor

some live plants

Got them from Will - CRS at The Shrimp Tank - all SSS grade

All of them are doing well, and have been exploring and seem to be

fine, just would not eat until today.

[h4n]

Good to hear that they like a food.

My shrimps attack the SK protein also

[Doc4PC2]

I cannot believe how fast the snails grow. I could barely even see them, and wasn't even sure

what they were, the were so tiny, but already, they are growing so fast, I am amazed. A

couple of them are bigger than the CRS already.

[OblongShrimp]

Shrimp prefer biofilm to most any prepared foods.  When you don't have many shrimp in a tank there is plenty of biofilm for them and they won't be very interested.  As their population grows and they are eating the biofilm fast then it can replenish itself they will start becoming more interested in prepared foods.  As long as you can see food in their digestive tract or see them pooping they aren't going to starve.

[Soothing Shrimp]

Yepper.  Which is why 1 pellet may be all that's needed in a feeding if it's an established tank.

[OblongShrimp]

Or in the case of my 40gal CRS tank they would eat 10 pellets a day if I fed them that much.

[Doc4PC2]

Great stuff to know, thanks gang!

[FireRedShrimp]

Can I add a feeding question here? I put a small section of BW Color in last night and I had a few eating off of it for a few hours. Should I still pull it like the instructions say, or is ok to leave it in half a day as long as shrimp are still interested? I had to shoo one big female away from it when I took it out. There are days it seems they would rather graze and don't rush to the food though. I only have a small group in a 20g so there is a lot of bio film for them. When you are used to a fish feeding frenzy its quite the transition to feeding shrimp

[Soothing Shrimp]

I used to think shrimp could die from overeating.  Lots of old timers told me that when I was learning.  Now I often wonder if the idea not to overfeed is because of changing water params.  After all, shrimp in nature are not limited to what the can eat.  They have a buffet from day one.

 

Still, the general rule is not to feed more than they can eat in 3 hrs.  If fed too much, just feed less next time.  I feed 3x a week for my regular colonies.  Every day for my large colony of Malawa and red claw shrimp.  I personally aim for 1 hr of feeding time.  That way if I overfeed some- no big deal.

[OblongShrimp]

As long as they are still eating on it I don't remove it.  If they leave the food alone then remove it (it will grow fungus within a day if they aren't munching on it).

[FireRedShrimp]

Ok, so pull the piece of food after an hour or two and they can graze the rest of the day? I've been feeding every couple days since it's only a small colony. It makes sense that you'd want to feed sparingly to keep the water quality up, especially since they're happy grazing. Thank you!

[Soothing Shrimp]

We all have to help each other.

 

You'll find in shrimping there's lots of different answers and opinions because what works for one, may or may not work for another. Soon, you'll have an idea what works best for you.