I hate doing this… How should I cull my shrimp?

[TheSwissAquarist]

My cherry shrimp colonies have really taken off and I’ve noticed some brown ones which I really should cull. 

How do I do it humanely?

[Gannon]

Does clove oil work for shrimp like it does for fish? If so that would be my pick. 

[JettsPapa]

On 10/6/2022 at 11:08 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

My cherry shrimp colonies have really taken off and I’ve noticed some brown ones which I really should cull. 

How do I do it humanely?

I toss mine in one of the community fish tanks.  A few get eaten, but the rest find hiding places and establish a colony.  Do you have another tank you could put them in?

[Hally M.]

@JettsPapa is right. I feel like it's too hard to cull maybe just feed them to something so they're not wasted. Can you give them away to people for free somewhere maybe?

[meadeam]

A community tank with some fish that can prey on the eggs and shrimplets will keep them under control, even if the residents cannot eat a full size shrimp.  Feed the tank a little less on occasion.  

[JettsPapa]

On 10/6/2022 at 12:24 PM, meadeam said:

A community tank with some fish that can prey on the eggs and shrimplets will keep them under control, even if the residents cannot eat a full size shrimp.  Feed the tank a little less on occasion.  

What eggs?  Cherry shrimp females carry the eggs to term and release tiny, but fully formed shrimp.

[meadeam]

 

On 10/6/2022 at 1:39 PM, JettsPapa said:

What eggs?  Cherry shrimp females carry the eggs to term and release tiny, but fully formed shrimp.

It occurred to me shortly after posting it that I was probably mistaken about the eggs.  I haven't kept shrimp for very long.

[Guppysnail]

I’m with @JettsPapa  I dislike wasting life. I keep it in The food chain. My extras go in tanks for fish to eat. They start colonies there so my fish always have the environmental and dietary enrichment of live food to hunt. 

Edited October 6, 2022 by Guppysnail

[Chris]

One option is to start a puffer tank. I dislike the thought of simply killing a fish during a cull - so usually my culls turn into food unless they can be rehomed.

In the case of brown shrimp, I've usually fed them to my various puffers over the years. Deformed livebearers get fed to the larger cichlids. 

[lefty o]

On 10/6/2022 at 12:39 PM, JettsPapa said:

What eggs?  Cherry shrimp females carry the eggs to term and release tiny, but fully formed shrimp.

sometimes... i have had CPD's strip the clutch of eggs from a female. maybe strange, maybe rare, but has happened.

[TheSwissAquarist]

I expect I’ll feed them to my angelfish. 
Thanks everyone!

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/6/2022 at 9:17 AM, Gannon said:

Does clove oil work for shrimp like it does for fish? If so that would be my pick. 

The most humane way I've heard of is the freezer.  Supposed to be quicker than clove oil.  I have heard of people doing the oil, then the freezer.

On 10/6/2022 at 9:08 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

My cherry shrimp colonies have really taken off and I’ve noticed some brown ones which I really should cull. 

How do I do it humanely?

Honestly, If you're legitimately trying to remove bad genes, I would lean towards having either a cull tank or having a place to euthanize those that you want to cull.  Yes, its going to suck at first, and yes it's part of being a breeder and trying to sort for genes.  Once you get rid of the ones that are causing the bad genes, the logic dictates that it wont happen as often and then you're just sorting by grade. (how red is red, etc)  The difficult part of this process is sorting out which parents have the poor genes.  This is where being able to set up a few colonies comes in handy for "breeding setups".

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 10/7/2022 at 8:35 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

The most humane way I've heard of is the freezer.  Supposed to be quicker than clove oil.  I have heard of people doing the oil, then the freezer.

Honestly, If you're legitimately trying to remove bad genes, I would lean towards having either a cull tank or having a place to euthanize those that you want to cull.  Yes, its going to suck at first, and yes it's part of being a breeder and trying to sort for genes.  Once you get rid of the ones that are causing the bad genes, the logic dictates that it wont happen as often and then you're just sorting by grade. (how red is red, etc)  The difficult part of this process is sorting out which parents have the poor genes.  This is where being able to set up a few colonies comes in handy for "breeding setups".

I think I’ll try the freezer, just my dad might get a heart attack when he finds ‘brown prawns’ in his ice cream drawer!

[gardenman]

Once frozen you can toss them in a blender or food chopper and create some fresh food for your fish (and even the other shrimp) from their remains. Protein is protein. No need to waste it.

[JettsPapa]

On 10/6/2022 at 11:31 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

I expect I’ll feed them to my angelfish. 
Thanks everyone!

I think that's the best plan.  I see no need to euthanize them if you have an angelfish tank.  It's free fish food.

[Nyssa]

I think the angelfish is your best bet, they'll have fun hunting them so it's enrichment and food 😅 It's a big reason I put an angelfish in with my community tank with platys that I'm having trouble pulling all the females out of, the fry "suspiciously" go missing 🧐 free food!