It's annoying...

[Critterstruck]

I got a new piece of driftwood in, and set it up the only place I could: on the filter side of the tank (that is, unless I ruin the aquascape I have finally have going where I want it, or tear my Anubias up out of the sand, which is out of the question given how long it took to put itself there...got a runner going for a new plant and everything). So I decide I want to add some dimension to the tank, and I sit it sideways between the heater and filter intake. Rather than sitting at the bottom where food flows down, my Bamboo Shrimp comes out after dark and sits at the very top, where there will never be any food short of sticking an autofeeder onto the filter itself to periodically dispense food. I fear it is going to starve. I guess I should move the driftwood back down. It's just annoying. :p

I like where the tank is going, though. :hmm3grin2orange: I ordered some new plants that I hope will turn out really well! And it's an awesome shrimp. I'm sure part of its problem must be the stress of importation. I thought of leaving the light off for a day or two, but it doesn't really make a difference. It still doesn't come out until after dark, although it did come out earlier today. Hunger-driven, no doubt.

[DylanisHawttt]

So you fear that it's going to starve? My Amano Shrimp used to hide in one of the cracks of the driftwood and I would never see him (except the few times I was messing around in the tank) and he hid for a month or two and my roommate and I always wonder if he was alive. He's obviously getting enough food because he's molted several times and he's a lot more active now that I changed the aquascape.

Throw some shrimp pellets (that what mine eats:hmm3grin2orange: ) or some sinking algae wafers, he'll get to it. You'll be surprised what some animal will do to survive.

[Brhino]

I'm pretty sure the shrimp will be smart enough to position itself where it can filter food. If it doesn't have any luck there, it will move to wherever the food is.

[Trillianne]

Ditto what Brhino said.

Unless its stuck somehow.... if it got up there, it can get down from there.

[AmyLynn]

That is probably where the water flow is the highest.

Excerpts from theshrimpfarm.com...

Bamboo Shrimp Diet
Bamboo Shrimp are filter feeders and because of this they require a specialized food source. A small number of Bamboo Shrimp can be maintained in a very well established aquarium of 55 gallons or more with no extra supplemental feedings. If you need to supplement the foods for Bamboo Shrimp powdered algae and foods intended for filter feeding invertebrates are suggested.

Bamboo Shrimp Behavior
A happy and healthy Bamboo Shrimp will be found in a high flow area of the aquarium filtering food out of the water. They will stay in the same position for hours. If the Bamboo Shrimp feels threatened or has just molted it will find a suitable hiding space. If a Bamboo Shrimp is observed picking at the substrate this is a sign that the shrimp is not getting enough food. This is stressful to the Bamboo Shrimp and should be avoided.

[Critterstruck]

DylanisHawttt - You know, I forgot I had a whole container of shrimp pellets. Those might be helpful. :) Changing the aquascape does help. The driftwood gives it more places to hide, and hopefully the new plants will help, when they get here.


If you need to supplement the foods for Bamboo Shrimp powdered algae and foods intended for filter feeding invertebrates are suggested.

If the Bamboo Shrimp feels threatened or has just molted it will find a suitable hiding space. If a Bamboo Shrimp is observed picking at the substrate this is a sign that the shrimp is not getting enough food. This is stressful to the Bamboo Shrimp and should be avoided.
That's good to know! I'm hoping it will start trying other places. I have a cave in the opposite corner of the tank where it hides during most of the day, and it first started coming out to pick at the sand for food. Good to see it coming out to sit in the filter flow before dark, now! I guess that's a good sign, and I'll see if I can't pick up some additional food for it that it can filter out of the water. thumbs2:

[AmyLynn]

Good luck with it. thumbs2:

[Dave66]

You can see what you need to buy here (http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/1150/Spirulina). What you do is use an eye dropper, syringe or similar, put some tank water in, a little powdered Spirulina 'til the water is medium green, then gently squirt it into the filter flow. Do so a couple times a day. Make sure the spirulina powder is dissolved before adding it.

Benefit is the shrimp can eat the Spirulina, and the presence of it will result in a rotifer population that the shrimp can also eat.

Little work I know, squirting Spirulina two or three times a day, but if you keep a filter feeder, it's a have to.

Dave

[Brhino]

Dave, do you see that as a requirement for any tank housing a filter feeder, or just for smaller ones? Just wondering your opinion of the conventional wisdom that in a large planted tank they'll be able to find food without much intervention from the keeper.

[Dave66]

I culture and keep a lot of filter feeders. I actually use live phytoplankton myself, but powdered spirulina would work too.

Primarily herbivores like that shrimp need a LOT of food to live. It's possible that a large enough (50 gallons plus) planted tank that's been established for a least a few months would have a sufficient number of micro-organisms to keep a bamboo shrimp fed, but I'd still feed it to make sure.

For an example, I culture Daphnia in large vats. Every day I use a turkey baster filled with live phytoplankton to tint their water medium green. I do that twice a day because the little filter feeders clear the tank within six hours.

Should show you how much food something like a bamboo shrimp needs.

Dave

[Critterstruck]

Dave: For the moment, I have a veggie-based Tetra flake food. I'm thinking of crushing it up into a powder and feeding with a turkey baster in the way you suggest. Would that suffice? I tried something like that yesterday with tubifex. ^_^ I don't mind the extra work as long as the critters get fed.

[Dave66]

Depends on the ingredients in that Tetra food. Google the preservative in it.

The powdered Spirulina is pure Spirulina, no additives.

If you hunt, you can find Spirulina flake food. Is what I use for black worm culture.

Dave