# How fast does a group of shrimp eat 1 dead shrimp



## freph (Apr 4, 2011)

I've had 5 eat 1 overnight. I'm guessing a larger colony could devour one in a couple hours or so.


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## triumph1921 (Jan 27, 2008)

I have had shrimp that looked dead but could see the tiniest bit of movement in the legs..........overnight he had disappeared and found him dead 3 days later . Point is it can happen..........


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

i have an army in my 10 gallon. when one dies of old age. they devour it in about 3 hours

edit: the aren't hungry either, their poopers are full and i feed them everyday. usually a tad more than they need but they alreasdy have the tank picked clean


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## garfieldnfish (Sep 25, 2010)

I rarely ever find a dead shrimp in my RCS tanks and I know there have to be some sometime. I had the oldest one for over 2 years. The larger the colony the faster a dead shrimp disappears. I am pretty sure it can happen in the span of a couple of hours.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Mine can devour a dead shrimp in half a day....all that's left over is just the exosceleton so it looks like a shrimp's molt.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

You shouldn't really bother taking out dead shrimp unless there's something wrong with it (like the dead one is bacterial infected, has a parasite) and you don't want the other shrimps eating it.


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## jasonpatterson (Apr 15, 2011)

My shrimp generally don't seem interested in dead shrimp. The microcrabs go nuts for them, and I find the corpses dragged under plants and rocks with a pile of crabs chowing down though. Heck, my ghost shrimp, which are naturally scavengers, don't even eat the corpses in their tank.

I wonder if it has to do with the diet that the shrimp are fed. I offer them a relatively high protein diet (fish food, occasional sinking crab pellets, things like that) so they really don't need to go cannibal.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

Doesn't take long, as ya, might as well leave them in if it was just an old age thing, let them get a source of natural protein. In the wild, they would eat dead ones all the time.


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

If there are any snails in the tank I'm sure they help the process along.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

Fishly said:


> If there are any snails in the tank I'm sure they help the process along.


Yup, snails do it even quicker. I see 4 or 5 snails in a group, I know they're on a dead shrimp. lol.


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## james0816 (Jun 26, 2008)

Definately a couple hours at most. They are usually on the carcass like stink on poo. I used to pull them out but now let the clean up crew do what is naturally for them.


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## shrimpzoo (Sep 27, 2011)

thanks for all the posts guys, good to information to know lol.

may my deceased shrimp uhhh... rest in piece(HAH)s in the stomach of his fellow comrades ._. ...


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## YukonCaper (Jan 17, 2012)

*Lobsters*

Continuing along this idea of feeding, can someone help me understand how often and how much I should feed my small lobster, that I just got for my tank? The lobster are just over 2 inches long and they live in a tank with a load of guppies. I have krill pellets and feed twice a day but I think the guppies are eating them before the lobster get to them.

Should I feed just before I go to bed and turn the lights out? 
What other foods would these lobster eat? Do they eat plants, can I add a piece of cabagge or letitce? In truth, I am lost with how to feed these guys. If they grab a guppy or two, I am sure I would never notice, as every time i turn the lights on, there seems to be more guppies..

Sorry, if this post seems like I am hijacking the thread, but I need input from the experts.
YukonCaper


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

YukonCaper said:


> Continuing along this idea of feeding, can someone help me understand how often and how much I should feed my small lobster, that I just got for my tank? The lobster are just over 2 inches long and they live in a tank with a load of guppies. I have krill pellets and feed twice a day but I think the guppies are eating them before the lobster get to them.
> 
> Should I feed just before I go to bed and turn the lights out?
> What other foods would these lobster eat? Do they eat plants, can I add a piece of cabagge or letitce? In truth, I am lost with how to feed these guys. If they grab a guppy or two, I am sure I would never notice, as every time i turn the lights on, there seems to be more guppies..
> ...


You should really make your own thread so people can see it as thr first post. I can't help you though


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