I have a new-ish 5.5 gallon planted aquarium - with shrimp, no fish

[Julie Monday]

I don't have a problem!  Just questions about Neocaridina.

I'm a fish keeper.  Never done pretty little shrimp until this April - only Amanos as functionaries.

I have had a good experience so far with what I have purchased for this aquarium, having no experience with neo shrimp.

History -  set up the aquarium in April and cycled with plants. Plants are doing well.  Ordered online and got a batch of 5 (5 plus 1 or two) and I think babies were in the bag because they have either multiplied very quickly or there were babies in the batch.  Any of the ways....I have a s-load of shrimp (15+) in 45 days after introduction.  These are nothing special - they are a neocaridina color mix.  I've seen a few molted exos. 

My question - how much and often do I feed more shrimp that i thought I'd have, and also, is there some fresh veg or something they'd like?  I'm happy to purchase what I don't have.  I've been providing botanicals, feeding regular flake, nano pellets, and crushed up Bug Bites (for fish in my other aquarium), .  Is there maybe a standard nutrient balance that you guys have used?  

I'm not interested in breeding (though it's probably gonna happen).  I just want to get these guys in good condition and color (orange, red, blue).

Included here is their aquarium, but you obviously can't see them.

Edited June 5 by Julie Monday

[clownbaby]

I do not personally have shrimp, but I will give some insight here. I don't have shrimp though, listen to others who do ( @Whitecloud09, @GoofyGarra !! , @AllFishNoBrakes ,  are some potentially good sources! )

I know that water quality is important for shrimp, but if yours are molting, that's probably a great sign! Just like how fish will be brighter colors and in better health with ideal water quality, shrimp need this too. I know for my snails they need harder water with calcium and minerals high. I believe shrimp is the same -- as they are crustaceans and would benefit from calcium to help them molt and grow. I don't know about veggies, perhaps just experiment and see! I make snello (lots of recipes online) for my two mystery snails, and my fish love it, and I have heard that shrimp love it too. Super easy to make and economical, as I just used veggie scraps that I had saved for a month and I've had the same snello batch in my freezer for 4 months. Zucchini, cucumber, cooked greens, peas, green beans, watermelon... etc. My snails love cucumber and green beans. I've added those leafy parts of celery as well and they like those. Just experiment! You can attach the food with a fork or clothes-pin for easier removal. 

I've heard shrimp minerals is a great additive (again, no personal experience, but I've heard good things - ask around): sometimes things like this can be kind of a scam or you can easily achieve it for cheaper (e.g., eggshells, crushed coral, botanicals [not saying this is good for shrimp. I have no clue. But ask around with those who know this stuff, eggshells or crushed coral may be good additions, but I have no idea.) I believe Wonder Shell and Seachem Equilibrium are great additions to water quality for shrimp. Also, could be wrong, but I do think it is best to leave the molted exoskeleton in the aquarium. In the wild often many reptiles and birds will eat their eggs after hatching -- it is kind of the same concept, I know lots of shrimp species eat their molts to gain calcium and other nutrients. 

Other than that... I know they like cholla wood and marimo, as these both grow lots of algae and biofilm. I also know spirulina brightens color for many fish -- I don't know if this would do so for shrimp, but you can easily buy spirulina powder and add it into snello if you decide to make some.

Maybe these articles can be helpful? I skimmed them and they seemed very informative

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/cherry-shrimp-care

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/shrimp-food

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/keeping-and-breeding-cherry-shrimp-neocaridina-davidi

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/breeding-red-cherry-shrimp

 

Hope I helped a little. Would love to one day own shrimp, but not there yet !! Good luck my friend!

P.S. - your floaters made my jaw DROP. Wow. Those are stunning! Is that salvinia? whatever it is i am amazed by it, way to go!

[GoofyGarra]

My shrimp love to eat blanched zuchini, I wrap a plant weight through the middle to sink it and just watch them swarm over the next hour.

 

[Whitecloud09]

Shrimp LOVE vegetables.  squash or zucchini are usually favs. Calcium is beneficial for your shrimp so some crushed coral or wonder shell can work good. Seachem Equilibrium can help as well. Cucumber, etc. for the fruit. Since you have a sponge filter, for crushed coral add it to your gravel. I like crushed coral, it can help with calcium and raising kh.

[Julie Monday]

On 6/7/2024 at 4:14 PM, GoofyGarra said:

My shrimp love to eat blanched zuchini, I wrap a plant weight through the middle to sink it and just watch them swarm over the next hour.

 

Nice!!  I put blanched zucchini on a fork in the big tank for the otos.  Will do for the other aquarium :)  Thank you!!

[Julie Monday]

On 6/7/2024 at 6:22 PM, Whitecloud09 said:

Shrimp LOVE vegetables.  squash or zucchini are usually favs. Calcium is beneficial for your shrimp so some crushed coral or wonder shell can work good. Seachem Equilibrium can help as well. Cucumber, etc. for the fruit. Since you have a sponge filter, for crushed coral add it to your gravel. I like crushed coral, it can help with calcium and raising kh.

I'm going to add zucchini tonight and I also usually keep cucumbers  :)  I do use wonder shells.  And in early May I added about 1/4c crushed coral in a little bag in the HOB..  I think this aquarium needs more of that.

Okay.  I feel a little better about feeding them.  Thank you all  :)