Bailey Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 Hello, I just bought 5 assorted blue shrimp and a nerite snail from my LFS on Saturday to go in a 5 gallon planted tank as the only live stock. (Added photos just for fun) These are my first shrimp. I bought Hikari Shrimp Cuisine and Hikari Mini Algae Wafers for them. I haven't fed them yet as I'm letting them clean up some of the algae that's taken over some spots in the tanks I have two questions. The first is the food seems to contain copper sulfate. I was under the impression copper was toxic to shrimp, but both of these are marketed as shrimp food. So do I feed this food or return it for something else? I'm not planning on feeding much of anything for the first little bit so that they clean up the tank a bit, and I am planning on giving them blanched zucchini on occasion, so the pellets would really just be for variety. Secondly, I have already found 3 molts since Saturday, but I was under the impression that shrimp only molt every 3-4 weeks. Is this just coincidental or something to be concerned about? They seem active and eating well, although I can typically only find 3 or 4 at a time, but I believe they're all still alive. Thanks for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 When I first bought shrimp the store recommended Crab Cuisine and that’s the only prepared food I feed in shrimp only tanks. It’s copper free. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 some types, and small amounts of copper are actually needed in their diet. large amounts of copper though will surely kill them fast. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 Shrimp molt due to stress. Moving them new water params etc. it’s is a good sign they will do fine. Only ones I had trouble with did not molt right away. All living creature need a certain amount of copper. Shrimp utilize copper to reproduce blood unlike humans who use iron. When it’s the wrong type or too much is the problem. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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