Feed shrimps, crayfish, snails & mussels correctly

Feed? Yes please!

Feeding shrimp, crabs, snails and mussels is no longer controversial. While some invertebrates in the community aquarium can live on the leftovers that the fish leave for them, in the species tank they often need targeted feeding - or they are animals that always need to be fed because leftovers are not enough for them or because they have special food requirements. Many types of food are not so convenient to administer at first glance, but they have a high nutritional value for the animals and are exactly adapted to their feeding needs. Therefore, one should not refrain from feeding them out of convenience. Here we would like to share with you a few simple tips and tricks on how to provide our invertebrates with their beloved food, without a large portion either rotting away out of reach or disappearing into the filter.

Dust food

Let's start with dust food. Essential for filter feeders like clams, fan shrimp, and filter feeding snails like the piano snail, Hercules sn ail, and others, but also valuable food for sessile baby shrimp that are not yet actively going to feed and therefore will starve if they don't have enough food within reach. These sessile baby shrimp include especially those of the species Caridina logemanni(bee shrimp), Caridina mariae(tiger shrimp) and their variants and hybrids (Tibee, Taiwanese and so on).

Unfortunately, dust food has the characteristic to lie on the surface for a long time and then to disappear in the sinking in the filter, where it feeds the filter bacteria - but we did not want to supply them actually! From time to time we hear the tip that the filter should simply be turned off during feeding. However, this bears the risk that you will forget to turn it on again afterwards. If you do not have a flow pump in a fan shrimp aquarium, the fan shrimp cannot eat the sinking food, because it is not flushed into their fan hands.

It would be better to bring the dust food directly to the place where it is needed. All we need is a syringe without a needle with a thin air tube that fits on the spout, or a pipette right away (store link). The dust food is measured out and mixed well with some water in a small bowl. Then draw up the suspension with the syringe or the pipette and spray the mixture where it is needed, for example into the current where the fan shrimp are sitting, in the direction of the snail or mussel (be careful not to get too close to the mussels, so that they don't feel disturbed and close their shells) or simply into a clump of moss where many baby shrimp are. You can also spread the mixed dust food all over the bottom, so that all baby shrimp get some. This prevents the food from floating on the surface forever and starting to rot or being sucked in by the filter before it reaches the place where it is actually needed.

FD food

Freeze-dried insects and aquatic animals such as gammarus, silkworms or grasshoppers are a very valuable food especially for tank-building invertebrates such as crayfish, crabs, hermit crabs and shrimp. They contain not only chitin, which the animals need to build up their shells, but also the important moulting hormones and physiologically very valuable protein. Of course you can also use food in which these animals have been processed(Natureholic Proteinfeed, Natureholic Proteinpudding), but every now and then our invertebrates also like to nibble on the original. Unfortunately, freeze-dried feeds contain an extremely large amount of air and therefore float on the water surface for a very long time. While this is not a big problem for the small, light shrimps, it can drive a crayfish almost to despair, if the tasty food smells at the water surface, but it has no possibility to reach it. So what to do?

We need to remove the air from the insects and replace it with water to make them sink. To do this, we need a simple syringe. The plunger is pulled out, the FD food is put in. Then the plunger is carefully pushed back in and pushed forward without force until it reaches the FD lining. Then we draw up some aquarium water with the syringe until it is about half full, hold the opening of the spout closed with the thumb and pull the plunger further. The resulting vacuum draws the air out of the insect, and the water contained in the syringe flows in. Repeat as many times as necessary until the feeder sinks on its own.

Brown leaves

Brown autumn leaves are extremely beneficial for invertebrates, and the well-known and popular sea almond tree leaves and banana leaves also belong to this category. A biofilm layer forms on the foliage, which is enthusiastically grazed. Over time, the foliage decomposes and is then also ingested by smaller invertebrates such as shrimp. Crayfish will eat foliage even when it is not quite so friable. In addition, brown foliage provides shelter and cover for juveniles, and it contains humic substances that are good for water quality and for the animals' mucous membranes. Unfortunately, the foliage floats on the water surface for quite a long time. If you want to avoid this, you can briefly scald it with boiling water. Hard, thick leaves such as almond leaves and banana leaves are left in the hot water for a little longer so that they can soak up.

However, if the leaves are brought in mainly because of the humic substances they contain, you should either add the scalding water to the aquarium or live with the leaves floating on the surface for a few days. Alternatively, sea almond leaves, for example, can also be clamped under water with a stone or similar.

Vegetables

Also fresh vegetables like zucchini, tomato, pumpkin or cucumber (please pay attention to organic, grow them yourself and in any case wash them well and peel them if necessary) are gladly fed, but often do not even sink after hours in the aquarium. Especially with vegetables this is a big problem, because the contained sugars can strongly affect the water quality. These snacks can be easily weighed down or stuck in the substrate with a food hook or a shish kebab. Vegetables and green food should therefore be removed after a few hours and never left in the aquarium overnight! Many aquarists leave it in the tank until it is eaten - this can go well, but it always leads to very unpleasant bacteria blooms and thus to oxygen deficiency and dying animals. This should not be risked.

Green leaves and other green food

Green food in the form of nettles, dandelion or green foliage such as mulberry, raspberry blackberry or hazelnut is not only very popular with shrimp, crayfish and co, but it is also very similar to what they find in nature in the streams. But even here we often have the problem that the food does not sink well.

Fresh food

Fresh feed such as nettles or dandelion is collected in nature on unfertilized, unsprayed meadows far from highways and industry, spinach bought in organic quality or grown right away. This forage is best scalded and left in the scalding water for about five minutes. This washes out the water-soluble nitrate, which can be present in high concentrations in nettles or spinach, for example, depending on the location. Of course, the scalding water is not added to the aquarium! Leaves treated in this way perish, and since the hot water cracks the cell structures of the plants, the food is immediately usable by shrimps and snails. In addition, the heat destroys the nettle cells in nettles - which also makes life much easier for the feeder.

Dried green food

Dried green food can also be scalded so that it sinks immediately. Whole leaves can be weighed down with a feed hook or a small stone, for example. Chopped leaves are best stuffed into a short piece of air tube or a clay tube, where the shrimp and crayfish can simply pluck them out.