Does A Mountain Shrimps Wastead A Lot To My Ammonia Levels

[maisy12345]

Hi ,i`ve bought 2 mountain shrimp ,thinking their waste was similar to my amano and freshwater shrimp ,but they[amano and freshwater ]do little dots and these[mountain],do long lines,will this increase my ammonia levels a lot and what can i do to help?

 

[electropunk06]

It will add to your bioload level as any livestock in the tank will, but some add more waste to the tank than others. Shrimps dont add to much to the bioload and the bacteria in your filter will be able to multiply fast enough to keep the ammonia level at 0.

 

[maisy12345]

Thanks ,hope so ,didn`t realise they produced this much waste ,did research them ,but nowhere did it give me this info.

 

[three-fingers]

If these are a type of filter shrimp, they will generally add a MASSIVE bioload to the tank unless they are starving. You need to feed them powdered food regularly, using a syringe of similar you mix crushed flake or whatever with water and squirt it at them so they can filter it out using their fans and eat it. Obviously, a lot of it will be missed by the shrimp and end in the filter, where it will contribute to nitrate levels.

Unfortunately, most of these "mountain" or "bamboo" shrimp slowly starve to death because the LFS neglects to tell the customer about their specialised feeding requirements, or often because the LFS have no idea themselves.

Hopefully you will read this and your shrimp will be some of the lucky ones that get fed properly .

 

[maisy12345]

Hi three fingers,can`t understand this as my shrimp have been ok now for a few weeks and are constantly sitting on my java fern with their fans open feeding,and i don`t feed them any special food ?

 

[Caprichoso]

Hi three fingers,can`t understand this as my shrimp have been ok now for a few weeks and are constantly sitting on my java fern with their fans open feeding,and i don`t feed them any special food ?

You don't have to feed them anything if you have an established tank and you don't see them crawling around on the ground, scouring for food. I've had mine for months now and they are thriving. In the beginning, I fed them crushed spirulina because it was a new tank but now they just feed off of whatever is floating in the water column. I find that when you have shrimp in a tank with fish and you try to specifically feed the shrimp, you end up over feeding and creating ammonia issues. The only time you should feed shrimp is if you have a shrimp only tank and even then, they only need small quantities of food. Also, shrimp in general do not add much to the overall bio-load of the tank. They are great scavengers which is why they are always a favourite on the "clean-up crew" list. If you are ever worried about them not getting enough food, once a week swirl some crushed up food into the water column. You don't need to do anything more than that.

 

[maisy12345]

Thanks ,that`s what i thought.

 

[three-fingers]

I'm sorry, but I would always target-feed filter feeding animals regularly to ensure they are getting enough food .

"I've had mine for months now and they are thriving" - thats great and hopefully this means they will have grown noticeably by now and the females are producing masses of eggs, but you cant assume your tank is the same as everyone else's . Your tank obviously has enough free-floating organic waste to sustain several large shrimp, but in more strongly filtered tanks or newer tanks, they would starve.

These shrimp can simply take months to slowly die, getting very slightly smaller with each shed in tanks that have a little food but not enough for them to grow and breed, so it's not always easy to tell if they are thriving.

Buying a specialist feeder like filter shrimp and not target feeding is risky for the shrimp IMO. Having kept these in different types of set-ups over the years (shrimp only, and heavily stocked with fish), I would always rather be sure they are eating than have them go hungry and not realise until they die from a bad moult - at least partly due to bad nutrition. The only time mine ever thrived (rapid growth+eggs) was when I target fed, though they appeared perfectly fine in the other tanks - until they suddenly died months later.

Just my experience .

 

[Caprichoso]

I'm sorry, but I would always target-feed filter feeding animals regularly to ensure they are getting enough food .

"I've had mine for months now and they are thriving" - thats great and hopefully this means they will have grown noticeably by now and the females are producing masses of eggs, but you cant assume your tank is the same as everyone else's . Your tank obviously has enough free-floating organic waste to sustain several large shrimp, but in more strongly filtered tanks or newer tanks, they would starve.

These shrimp can simply take months to slowly die, getting very slightly smaller with each shed in tanks that have a little food but not enough for them to grow and breed, so it's not always easy to tell if they are thriving.

Buying a specialist feeder like filter shrimp and not target feeding is risky for the shrimp IMO. Having kept these in different types of set-ups over the years (shrimp only, and heavily stocked with fish), I would always rather be sure they are eating than have them go hungry and not realise until they die from a bad moult - at least partly due to bad nutrition. The only time mine ever thrived (rapid growth+eggs) was when I target fed, though they appeared perfectly fine in the other tanks - until they suddenly died months later.

Just my experience .

Yes, my shrimp are almost full grown and I do not target feed them at all. I did also suggest to maisy that if they are crawling around on the ground, scouring for food and she's worried about them not getting enough food, that she can swirl some food into the water column once a week. Shrimp do not need to eat anymore than that. I breed cherry, green, CRS and yellow sakura shrimp and I feed them minimally. I also have amano, bamboo, rhino and pearl shrimp and they are all healthy and full grown too with females carrying eggs regularly and I only target feed the tanks with shrimp only, not the tanks that have fish that get fed every day. IME it's not necessary in an established tank. I can only suggest to people what I have experienced from my own personal successes, much like you yourself are suggesting. She can take whatever advice suits her best. It's just been my experience that most people over feed their fish and shrimp out of fear that they are starving, which is how the tank gets over fed. I'm sure that maisy will use her own good judgement.

 

[maisy12345]

Hi ,thanks both for your advice my shrimp are all feeding now ,they sit on my java fern feeding from the filter flow,i don`t feed them any special food though ,occasionally i do see them foraging in the gravel but most of the day they feed from the filter flow,just bought 1 more as i think they`re fascinating.

 

[three-fingers]

Seeing them foraging on the gravel (this is not good for their fans) suggests there isn't enough food in the water column. Adding more shrimp means there will be even less food between them now, making it even more important for you to target feed them .

 

[Caprichoso]

Seeing them foraging on the gravel (this is not good for their fans) suggests there isn't enough food in the water column. Adding more shrimp means there will be even less food between them now, making it even more important for you to target feed them .

+1. I was just going to say this. Maisy, from what I said in my first post, if they are scouring on the gravel, they are not getting enough food so you will have to swirl some powdered food into the water column or they will starve. Obviously your water column isn't mature enough at this point so it's something you will have to revisit later. But for now, you can swirl a small amount of food into the tank(preferably close to where they are sitting). Do this once a week. Monitor their behaviour. If they still forage on the gravel, then feed them a bit more. The nice thing is is you can use this as a guide to see if they are getting enough food. You can use crushed spirulina or specialized shrimp food. Just as long as you grind it into a powder, it will be fine. You can also purchase liquid micro-food but I don't know if this is available at your LFS or not. You don't have to use this(I don't ) but it's just another option. Good luck with your shrimp, I hope you have much success with them

 

[maisy12345]

Thanks for that both ,can i purchase the specialised shrimp food from my lfs ,and any particular brand. Also does it have to be special shrimp food and not crushed algae wafers as i`ve read that some people use these,thanks for your help?

 

[Caprichoso]

Thanks for that both ,can i purchase the specialised shrimp food from my lfs ,and any particular brand. Also does it have to be special shrimp food and not crushed algae wafers as i`ve read that some people use these,thanks for your help?

You would have to check with you LFS to see what they carry or what they can order in for you. Also, you can order food online. Mosura shrimpton is ideal, but NLS or Hikari shrimp foods are good too. Whatever it is, just make sure you crush it up into a powder.

 

[maisy12345]

Hi ,thanks for that ,will order it right away,much appreciated.