Introducing cherry shrimp for Bichir food.

[Connershawzz]

my bichir are big enough now that want to start feeding live food , I don’t like blood worms cause they are to messy. I want to add cherry shrimp into my tank. Hoping they will breed and act as a sustainable food source.
So my questions are , how many should i add? Is there a better type of live food source that can breed in the same type of way?
obviously I will feed them other things through the week along with these shrimp.
I have a 36 gal bow front for now , till my bichir get to big which is will be not to much longer. I have live plants for them to hide,


Thanks in advance

 

[MaloK]

They'll likely devour any cherry shrimp you add, regardless of population and hiding places.

They would need ample hiding spots with dense plants and rockwork to avoid becoming a constant snack.

From your pictures, they wont last a day. You would probably be better starting a small shrimp tank and harvest some to feed. This way you can control how much they eat without compromising your colony and the health of your bichir at the same time.

 

[Connershawzz]

They'll likely devour any cherry shrimp you add, regardless of population and hiding places.

They would need ample hiding spots with dense plants and rockwork to avoid becoming a constant snack.

From your pictures, they wont last a day. You would probably be better starting a small shrimp tank and harvest some to feed. This way you can control how much they eat without compromising your colony and the health of your bichir at the same time.

Ok I have a spare 10 gallon I can use for that. Is there a ratio I should try to follow for a shrimp tank (m/f) or should I just buy a large bulk and let them go to town? I’d be ok just adding in a few every night and watching them eat , I’d enjoy having another tank to look after.

 

[MaloK]

I bought a dozen and 4 months later, there's more than 100 in the tank, constantly new babies showing up and berried females wondering all around.

They are pretty prolific, once it starts.

 

[Connershawzz]

I bought a dozen and 4 months later, there's more than 100 in the tank, constantly new babies showing up and berried females wondering all around.

They are pretty prolific, once it starts.

Ok that sounds like I’ll do then , just at in a few everyday after I can breed some , I’m not to worried but putting to many cause as you said I’m sure they won’t last long. Hopefully long enough to clean the tank a little tho

 

[gwand]

But cherry neocaridina are too beautiful to use as food.

 

[MaloK]

The danger is your Bichirs overfeeding because they are too easy to catch. Start introducing them slowly, as much as needed for a meal at first.

Then with time, if your bichirs starts keeping some for later... You can try to introduce a little more and so on.

A 10G is pretty good for a shrimp tank with many botanical, lots of moss and a couple Java ferns.

Get a larger group of Wild Cherry Shrimps. They are cheaper $$$, more hardy and grow faster.

But as @gwand said... They are too cool to be food. When you will start to observe them... You'll understand

 

[Connershawzz]

The danger is your Bichirs overfeeding because they are too easy to catch. Start introducing them slowly, as much as needed for a meal at first.

Then with time, if your bichirs starts keeping some for later... You can try to introduce a little more and so on.

A 10G is pretty good for a shrimp tank with many botanical, lots of moss and a couple Java ferns.

Get a larger group of Wild Cherry Shrimps. They are cheaper $$$, more hardy and grow faster.

But as @gwand said... They are too cool to be food. When you will start to observe them... You'll understand

Ok makes sense , I can start off as a treat then. Then gradually add more. I do have a little baby ansorgii who’s about 3” , I am a little worried she will have a harder time eating them because the other 2 are fairly larger , which is why I’m wanting to make the switch to live food cause it’s a lot better for them and hopefully she’ll grow a little faster then she has been. And im just sick off sinking pellets and blood worms , with how bichir eat they just make a huge mess. And oh I believe it ! My wife is against this idea , I’m sure her opinion will get even stronger once I start the tank lol

 

[Magnum Man]

I have a 10 gallon I have Cherry shrimp started in & in the natural breeding process, most breeders cull out the ones that aren't as red as is standard it was my intention to breed the red shrimp, & cull out the others for food... I did see one this morning, that was almost clear, & about an inch long, so that's a good candidate for culling ( feeding to my Bichir ) which is what I was hoping for, however, I've had my colony going for a couple months... & so far one cull, that I can see... not enough for feeding, yes they will supplement, but not fully sustain... I could do a couple things differently, if I were really wanting to get into feeding them... there are 2 schools of thought on temperatures... mine is currently cool ( more natural ) and they won't reproduce or grow abnormally fast... raising the temp to around 80 is suppose to speed them up, they won't last as long, but grow faster, & reproduce faster... the other thing is visibility... you need good light, & my tank is nearly on the floor, if it was on a table, or that height, they would be more visible, & not require me to go to my knees to try to catch specific ones...

I've just started a colony of scuds... these are cheaper shrimp like critters, that reproduce much faster, & are commonly fed to aquarium fish... they are smaller, but that may mean they could reproduce in your tank, & only the larger ones would fall prey to the Bichir

more on Scuds here, along with a few links...

Well, I just bought a colony of 1000 Scuds...

I've had a tank ready for them for a while now ( a 10 gallon )... I'll likely feed about half of them, & add the rest to my tank for breeding... anyone else play with Scuds??? I got mine from here... hoping everything goes well... https://goliadfarms.com/shop/gammarus-scuds/

www.fishforums.net

 

[Connershawzz]

I have a 10 gallon I have Cherry shrimp started in & in the natural breeding process, most breeder cull out the ones that aren't as red as is standard it was my intention to breed the red shrimp, & cull out the others for food... I did see one this morning, that was almost clear, & about an inch long, so that's a good candidate for culling ( feeding to my Bichir ) which is what I was hoping for, however, I've had my colony going for a couple months... & so far one cull, that I can see... not enough for feeding, yes they will supplement, but not fully sustain... I could do a couple things differently, if I were really wanting to get into feeding them... there are 2 schools of thought on temperatures... mine is currently cool ( more natural ) and they won't reproduce or grow abnormally fast... raising the temp to around 80 is suppose to speed them up, they won't last as long, but grow faster, & reproduce faster... the other thing is visibility... you need good light, & my tank is nearly on the floor, if it was on a table, or that height, they would be more visible, & not require me to go to my knees to try to catch specific ones...

I've just started a colony of scuds... these are cheaper shrimp like critters, that reproduce much faster, & are commonly fed to aquarium fish... they are smaller, but that may mean they could reproduce in your tank, & only the larger ones would fall prey to the Bichir

more on Scuds here, along with a few links...

Well, I just bought a colony of 1000 Scuds...

I've had a tank ready for them for a while now ( a 10 gallon )... I'll likely feed about half of them, & add the rest to my tank for breeding... anyone else play with Scuds??? I got mine from here... hoping everything goes well... https://goliadfarms.com/shop/gammarus-scuds/

www.fishforums.net

Ya I actually was following your thread for a while looked very interesting, maybe I will get scud instead. I was just trying to not have to order anything online , my fish store have a lot of cherry shrimp tho.

 

[gwand]

Ya I actually was following your thread for a while looked very interesting, maybe I will get scud instead. I was just trying to not have to order anything online , my fish store have a lot of cherry shrimp tho.

What is the store charging per shrimp?

 

[Connershawzz]

What is the store charging per shrimp?

I don’t remember exactly it was a week or so ago , I think it was like 4 of them for like $5 maybe?

 

[GaryE]

I used cherry shrimp as feeders. They bred extremely well, but I doubt they could supply a Bichir out of a 10 gallon. It would be like feeding a teenage boy on potato chips - you could never keep up.

Feeders for fish above 3 inches are way way more work than keeping the fish themselves.

 

[gwand]

I play Corelli’s Concerto Grosso #8 in Gmin for my cherry shrimp. It accelerates breeding