6 Essential Foods to Make Your Shrimp Colony BOOM 💥!

Check out The Neocaridina Shrimp Handbook 👇🏻
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[@Jamjam1256]

Hello Richard! I’m a reasonably experienced fish keeper, but have now started shrimp keeping for the first time for about the last three months. I started out getting a batch of a lucky 13 fire red shrimp in a 3.5 gallon shrimp only tank. I have purchased your book, and watched many of your videos, and am excited to say that today, for the first time I noticed baby shrimp in my tank. With your tips and advice hopefully this is the start of a thriving shrimp colony! Cheers from Canada!

[@hurtingfeelingsdaily]

Very cool!

[@slowstartpokemon8652]

I just enjoy the way you say ‘shrimp’

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Thanks 😂

[@VeteranCapybara]

I like to mix up some repashy and before it sets, dunk some wooden skewers in. Homemade shrimp lollies!

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Nice 👍🏻

[@csharpe5787]

Me too.

[@jiteshhate6117]

Leaves and Crushed regular pellets works fine... Also feed them alternate days so the food is consumed properly and can be cleaned.

[@MarksShrimpTanks]

Great video sir, thanks for the mention at the end of the video, I learned this trick from our friend @markshellyaquatics

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

😎

[@bigcatgaming3909]

Thanks for all of your great advice, I will definently start to feed my shrimps more variety!

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

🫶🏻

[@AgxntAqua]

Another banger as usual Richard! I cannot wait to get my first set of lil cherry bois

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Thank you 🙏🏻

[@darkstars-torpedoes-of-truth]

Hi Richard a very good alternative to crushed flakes is Hikari first bites. I use a target feeder to distribute it around the tank.

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

That’s a great suggestion. Thank you 🙏🏻

[@BOKYODUBS]

Only just started the video but I love the house music!

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

That’s. Always trying to keep it interesting 🕺🏻

[@mageyalook4392]

Great video covering types of food, benefits of using such foods and methods of delivery. Fantastic bit of information! Thanks for making it easier for those of us just starting our adventure!

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

🫶🏻

[@LordChumbley]

Another great vid full of great info, thanks.

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

🫶🏻

[@clementbellande8720]

Thx for these feeding advice ❤❤❤

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

No worries. At lot of effort went into the first 30 seconds (which is something YT really cares about). Hope it wasn’t too much 🫤

[@clementbellande8720]

@@FishKeepingAnswers 🤷‍♂️💪🏻👍🏻

[@HypnoNett]

I feed my shrimp a variety of foods. I’ve not tried frozen bloodworm yet, but I give them crushed Bug Bites that are black soldier fly larvae. Will try it the frozen bloodworms. Brilliant vid 😊

[@sazalisahmat2064]

Saw this video today. Bought the hikari algae wafer. They go crazy! Thanks richard for sharing!

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

That’s great to hear

[@DashDrones]

Excellent. Can you add the stinging nettle leaves without the blanching?

[@chngdbygrace]

One of the things I did when I powdered my fish flakes was to grind up/powder egg shell to supplement the calcium that is available. I don't know if it is quite enough but I am also supplementing the tank with montmorillonite clay.

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing 🫶🏻

[@chngdbygrace]

@@FishKeepingAnswers I have been grinding egg shells for my work farm for a long while, they use it to process food the way birds use tiny rocks.... And when you and Mark were talking about turning flakes to powder I was reminded of videos that shrimp keepers and breeders had made talking about the different things that were needed on a shrimp's diet, one was the calcium so the dots seem to connect and do fast I have not found any shrimp dead from a failed molt and no changes to the water parameters... A dead large snail caused a bad ammonia spike but nothing I can test for has been out of whack because of the powdered food... That and now the powdered food is helping feed Blue Star Endlers males which are too small for even small Betta pellets...

[@kenw9438]

Just got a beautiful established red cherry shrimp tank. They are doing great. I just tried some frozen blood worms that I use for my aquarium fish tank and wow do the little shrimp love them. Your channel is great and I wish you success growing it (I just subscribed)

[@Youngstomata]

Love these videos!

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Thank you. Please share the word 🤜🏻

[@user-dr5rc5ii6j]

Shrimp breeding is not complicated. I've never done a water change in my 10 gallons. Check my numbers every two weeks or so. Top off when necessary . My deep purple velvet cardina are breeding prolific. Feeding bee pollen algae wafers fish flakes.

[@adamberg5809]

Great stuff as always. Do you recommend using a feeding bowl?

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Thanks. I have used a feeding bowl in the past. It certainly helps prevent issues with detritus worms.

[@shrimplycanadian]

Excellent video Richard. Repashy gel food is one I have yet to try and now you've got me convinced to order some. Which one in particular do you feed to your shrimp?

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Thanks Andy. I love to use Community Plus blend 👍🏻

[@garystein9536]

Hi Richard I have been feeding JBL Novo Tom baby fish powder. Made from artemia. Already in powdered form so no messy fingers 🤞

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Nice 🙂

[@Subie.Stitch]

Thank you!!!!

[@OGBarry16]

One of my cherry shrimp gets territorial over the algae wafers😂had to chop it up into 4s so they could share… wanna try bloodworms soon too!

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Defo try bloodworms 😎

[@Xeract]

Hi, do you have any tips for feeding shrimp in a tank with guppies? Whatever food I put in the tank the guppies find and demolish within minutes, so if I put in enough for both the fish and shrimp the guppies end up overeating (and the shrimp get almost nothing). I was thinking of maybe a shrimp tunnel or something that the guppies are too small to fit into, but I wondered if you had a better idea. Thanks!

[@aleenaaju9428]

Hey richard in my nano cube tank some snails are growing along with my shrimp naturally what should i do should i keep them or kill them?

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

I would just leave them. Snails are great as part of a complete ecosystem. Also, typically snails only populate to the amount of food available. If you have lots of snails, it’s because there is a lot for them to eat. Just leave them be and the tank will balance itself over time 🤩

[@aleenaaju9428]

@@FishKeepingAnswers just so u can know it's a nano small cube it's not a tank with filter or anything it is okay right?

[@WillyBoy1226]

Hey Mate! I am a teenager trying to start a shrimp tank, I have a few cardinal tetra fish and I would like to add 10 or so red cherry shrimp. I have a 20L tank so about 5 Gallons if I am converting correctly and I just have a question. My fish are currently in an artificial tank, fake decorations and that sorta stuff. No real plants. Would you know if the shrimp would still live and eat the left over fish food or algae even in a fake tank, (it doesn’t even have sand, just coloured rocks)

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

I think they will do just fine with a group of Cardinal Tetras. Make sure there are ample hiding place for the shrimp so they can get away from the fish if they need to 👍🏻

[@PrettyBirdArt]

Is the Repashy food something that’s originally for reptiles? I think I make this for crested geckos at work lol. (Yes I know it can be used for both I’m just making sure I am thinking of the right one)😊

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Repashy make a number of different blends. Some are designed for fish, others for lizards 👍🏻

[@edisontoro9290]

Hi . Firstly i want to thanks you for information what you shere with us. i want to ask about co2 planted tanks. i paning to put red cherry shrimps in my full planted tank where i use co2. please can you do a video with this information. Thank you again. Edison Toro from AquaWorld Albania

[@tanmayjalgaonkar6521]

Can you make a video of repashy gel food because we have never seen this before

[@toggeti6913]

hi, looking to get in to neocaridina shrimp breeding for profit, what colors are the best for profit? was thinking of doing red cherry and one other variant. what are some good options to start selling?

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Hi. In my experience, good quality Red Cherry Shrimp are best for profit. They are easy to breed, popular and relatively cheap, meaning you have a large potential pool of buyers 🤑

[@toggeti6913]

@@FishKeepingAnswers thank you, will look in to how to make sure i get good ones

[@mikejernigan5763]

Which Rapashy do I get ......I see like 20 different kinds but nothing says Rapashy gel food

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

I would go for Community Plus 👍🏻

[@mikejernigan5763]

@@FishKeepingAnswers Thanks

[@danyan6806]

Have you ever tried Bacter AE for shrimp? Also I started my first shrimp colony ever three weeks ago. A bunch of females were berried but molted and dropped the eggs. Then this week two females berried but one dropped her eggs that day and the other dropped hers on the second day. Not sure what I’m doing wrong.

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

It’s not uncommon for females to drop their eggs, especially in a new set up. Best thing to do is just leave them alone to settle in. Soon enough they will be berried again and you will see babies in the tank 🤞🏻

[@danyan6806]

Okay, thank you very much for the advice!

[@sheilah2140]

What version of Repashy do you recommend?

[@Cassandersgirl1]

Thank you so much . I have the Hikari wafers but wasn't putting them in as i was overfeeding. There seems to be lots of fry and they are breeding. I put nettle in once a week. Also shrimp yummy gum. I'm i underfeeding now?

[@Cleeon]

Not as long as your aquarium cycled already, except inside that tank already have densely populated shrimps, you can give them food, once a week

[@Cassandersgirl1]

Thanks 😊

[@mich421]

Legumes are also rich in protein like beans and peas so they should be fine

[@zowiecardwell8807]

I had 5 mummas berried at the same time and had their shrimplets at the same time.. I bought a bigger tank for my all my shrimps and I counted over 150 shrimplets 😊

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Boom 💥

[@zowiecardwell8807]

@@FishKeepingAnswers 2 are berried again lol perfect excuse to set up another shrimp tank

[@davidhatton8109]

Which rapashy do you use? I use goldfish super gold

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

I think they are all good, but I typically use Community Blend 👍🏻

[@garyalbright1982]

Hi put mullberry leaves in tank not touched by shrimp tried putting in boiling water first then tank still not touching what am I doing wrong thanks

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Give them a couple more days. See if the shrimp start to show an interest 👍🏻

[@asifahmed6043]

I feed my shrimp boiled chicken and lamb lever, blanched salad and spinach leaves.

[@kazBrown4350]

Which rapashy gel ?

[@VeteranCapybara]

I dropped some live grindal worms into their dish yesterday. I can't say for sure that they ate the worms but they were not in the dish anymore after an hour or so. I assume they did

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

I bet they did 🥳

[@kenetromeokunder8213]

I got hydra and tubellaria in my shrimp tank... What sld I do can u plzz help.

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Do you have access to Expel P where you live?

[@kenetromeokunder8213]

I'm from India

[@kenetromeokunder8213]

An I got shrimp babys too in the tank...

[@Cassandersgirl1]

​@@kenetromeokunder8213have you access to Amazon?

[@jordynjones855]

No planeria would probably work if you can get it there

[@jimmyhfishes]

I just feed them mainly crushed up flakes...with occasional algae wafers..

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Nice 👍🏻

[@McMartinVille]

Just fed mine some bloodworms today--the shrimp practically pounced on them.

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Yep 😂

[@Sanyasi_Baba_01]

Do u ship shrimp to India ?

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

No. Sorry.

[@lazyremnant380]

I keep my shrimp colony in a community with some guppies and corys. They did a great job keeping my tank free from pests like hydra, detritus worm, and planaria.... But I swear these guys has been cursed with eternal hunger or something. I've tried many times to target feed the shrimp. Worms, flakes, spinaches, cucumbers... Every single time, without fail, even if I deliberately hide the food, the guppies WILL find it and feast on it for the next several hours, only leaving scraps for the shrimps. And they've only just been fed several minutes ago! Sure, some of the larger and bolder shrimp might be brave enough to join the party, but even they got intimidated eventually, and most of my shrimp don't. Is there a way to somehow let my shrimp eat veggies in peace without constantly getting jumped by their rambunctious neighbors? 😂

[@jordynjones855]

Not really. Shrimp only tank or just deal with it I guess. If your goal is to breed a large shrimp colony, move the fish out. If it’s just a community tank, the shrimp will be fine and will have plenty to eat to keep their population up. But guppies will eat shrimplets, and Cory’s will too if they happen to get lucky enough to find a real slow one.

[@chngdbygrace]

My shrimp are defective... The have ignored any food items that can be seen by the naked eye, except some algae wafers occasionally... Shrimp lolly (disdain), fresh spinach ("huh what? Sorry this biofilm is talking to me. OH Hey! Your plant dropped a leaf...")

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

😂 I am glad you are able to keep your sense of humour about it 🦐

[@chngdbygrace]

@@FishKeepingAnswers I have a composting worm farm and used to think I had the James Deans of the worm world they were constantly escaping. The first couple of times the shrimp ignored food there was a part of me that panicked, was then indignant and then understood that the algae and biofilm was what they were eating, which they were definitely doing besides seeing them eat, you might see one poop, they are molting and I have seen a few really young shrimp that were not with the groups that I bought. I even have a picture of a Blue Dream seeming to look at a shrimp lolly while munching away on biofilm... With what I took as disdain. Like it wasn't going to even swim over to taste it or even get a closer sniff.

[@brianfpv623]

Please help me I’ve got a big planted tank but yesterday was given about 100 - 150 red cherry shrimp in a 20 ltr tank heating set at 72 , small filter agitating top of water- my question is how much do I feed a day ? Grateful for your knowledge- 😊😊

[@chngdbygrace]

@@brianfpv623 Richard would be far more qualified to answer that question, as I am just starting out... Essentially the rule of thumb I not to feed more than the shrimp can eat in 1-3 hours... If you listen long enough you will hear varying pieces of data... Things to consider is how new the tank is, mine has effectively been running for a year. I rescaped it but did what I could to preserve the biofilm that was established. I also had a solid layer of mulm built up that has been cleaned up significantly in last month or so, so my shrimp really did not care about anything extra I put in... Things that are animal based seem to release far more ammonia than plant based organic matter. I have never had any problems with leafs and the like breaking down in the tank, dead snails and food products with meat in them seem to hit the ball out of the park with regards to the ammonia spike they cause...

[@chngdbygrace]

@@brianfpv623 in my tank my shrimp were eating and pooping. I would put lollies and other things that I would see get swarmed on videos or with my past shrimp and this new group could care less they were in the tank. On your first feed chack it in 30 minutes if they haven't touched it give it another 30 minutes and then remove it. If it's gone in 30 than you know prior to feeding them they could of taken on more than what you put in. When you are starting out there are a lot of things you just don't know... Like how many pellets/ how much powder, etc. better to do several small feedings throughout the day that get devoured than one massive feed that may not get touched and break down. After a couple of feedings you should get a feel for how much your shrimp are scavenging from the tank and how much they are going to eat from what you put in and will be able to gauge your feedings. Some hobbyists and breeders will even do a skip day in which they intentionally do not feed....

[@JosephStealin]

My shrimp seem to spend all their time eating other stuff in the tank they seem to ignore any food I put in.

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

I’ve heard others same similar things. Funny how they can be so different.

[@natitougaku7912]

🥰

[@barbiebledsoe1504]

Those wafers killed my mystery snails and my nerite snails 😮😭 Edit: the wafers I'm referring to are the Hikari Tropical Algae Wafers. I used it only twice, both months apart and both times in seperate tanks. It was the wafers. I keep the packaging now so I don't buy/use them again

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

That is odd. First time I’ve heard of that happening 😔

[@justinzduniak6499]

I thought I was crazy bc its happened to me too!!! Every time I drop a Hikari in snails an shrimp are dead the next day. I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking I'm crazy

[@Cleeon]

​@@justinzduniak6499hmmm 🤔 what happened with hikari food? Guys, you and other stories make me worry about it, my shrimps not given hikari yet, but my fish daily food, one of it is hikari

[@justinzduniak6499]

@@Cleeon It left a very bad taste in my mouth so unfortunately I won't be buying any more of their products

[@leaeverlynjensen6800]

Bought a bag of moringa powder, found out I was allergic to the stuff, mixed it up with boiling water, flattened it out on baking paper, and cut it in little pieces - my cherry shrimps love it 💚🦐

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Glad you didn’t end up wasting it 👏🏻

[@leaeverlynjensen6800]

@@FishKeepingAnswers Hurried out into my garden and picked some spinach leaves after I saw your video. It is the first time I have seen 4 out of 5 cherries eating together and one of their little new born joined in. It is so nice to know I have food for them in my garden.

[@LMatRC]

Sir is there a way to sex shrimp?

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Yes. Females are generally larger and more colourful than males 👍🏻