How much to feed Cherry Shrimp?

[NathanWilliams415]

I recently put 15 cherry shrimp in a 5 gallon tank. There are no fish, just cherry shrimp. The tank was cycling for around 2 months and they have lots of plants and a few peices of cholla wood from another tank that they completely picked clean of algae. I've been feeding them 1 peice of tetra flake food every other day. Is that enough food for them? I heard from another forum they they only need to eat as much as their eyeball. As in 1 shrimp eyeball size peice of food for every shrimp in the tank. Is that true or am I under feeding?

I feed on a glass dish. The food usually is eaten by the end of the night.

 

[Jeremy180]

I often see the recommendation to remove the tray after about a half hour to an hour if feeding shrimp on a tray, and to cut back if there are significant leftovers.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Mine are free to eat any leftover pellets that my fish don’t eat. At night, I drop 1 1/2 algae wafers in. The whole one is for bn pleco and the half is for the shrimp. I have about 10 shrimp but I also have a tank full of MTS that help clean up.

 

[Colin_T]

If there are no fish in the tank and you are feeding them once every second day, you are under feeding them.

Shrimp have high metabolisms and eat a lot of food. In a shrimp only tank you should be feeding them 2-3 times per day with a variety of food. Remove any uneaten flake food after 5-10 minutes. If you feed a bottom feeding pellet, remove that after an hour or so. You don't want to leave uneaten food in the tank for any length of time because it can produce ammonia that will kill the shrimp.

Most shrimp will quickly learn to take flake food and other food from the water surface. If you crumble the flake up they can gather it up and eat it easier.

 

[NickAu]

The shrimp sharing with fish get to eat left over fish food they are basically culls and are waiting to be eaten,

My Bee shrimp get Bacter AE

They all get fresh veg

 

[FishGuest5123]

The shrimp sharing with fish get to eat left over fish food they are basically culls and are waiting to be eaten,

My Bee shrimp get Bacter AE

They all get fresh veg

Thanks! I’ll check it out.

 

[NathanWilliams415]

I don't understand how I could feed them 2 to 3 times a day. They never seem to go after the food. They mostly just stay put on the driftwood or plants. Your shrimp must be a lot more active than mine. I could sit and watch my tank for an hour after putting food in and never see one go near it.

The only way I know they eat it is if I leave it in there overnight and it's gone in the morning. But that's a lot more than the 15 minutes you guys recommend to keep flake food in for.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Thanks! I’ll check it out.

Ordered some!

 

[FishGuest5123]

I honestly don’t pick mine up. Between the shrimp, the snails, and my bn pleco mine gets eaten.

 

[NickAu]

I cant even put my hand in the tank without the shrimp wanting to eat it. My shrimp are quite happy to grab a bit of flake before it even hits the bottom, they are also quite happy to grab food that is still floating on the surface.

 

[NathanWilliams415]

Maybe mine are more stationary because of the temperature? It's around 68° in it since my small tank doesn't have a heater. They seem to move faster and go after food more in my other tank that is set on 75°.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Could have something to do with it. Both my shrimp tanks are 76F.