# Fish eating shrimp food



## Spladle160 (Jan 17, 2014)

I have 4 tetras in my 5 gallon nanotechnology along with a lonely oto and 10 crs. There is quite a bit of detritus and algae for the shrimp but I'd also like to be able to feed them a bit of packaged shrimp food occasionally. The problem is the tetras steal it all. Does anyone else have this problem? Are the partially covered dishes somewhere? I may make a ceramic one of not, kinda of mix a feeding dish and one of those little shrimp huts.


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## Kat12 (Aug 11, 2013)

a 5 gallon is not big enough for 4 tetras, and shrimp do not eat poop.


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## Spladle160 (Jan 17, 2014)

Uh... thanks? Any thoughts on the food stealing issue? Who said anything about poop?


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## greenteam (Feb 8, 2012)

I agree shrimp don't eat poop


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## Spladle160 (Jan 17, 2014)

Is detritus being mis interpreted as feces instead of dead plant matter or do you feel the 5 gallon is to small for the tetras that are trying to breed?


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## greaser84 (Feb 2, 2014)

You can try Breaking up the shrimp food into really small pieces and scattering it throughout the tank, Feed the tetra their normal food in one corner and while they are distracted drop the shrimp food. do you have a spot in the aquarium where you can put the food so only the shrimp can get to it? Like a piece of cholla wood.


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## Spladle160 (Jan 17, 2014)

I'm not crazy about food on the substrate but a small piece of cholla in the feeding dish might work. Thanks for the idea


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## Yukiharu (May 3, 2014)

Make a really small "shrimp trap" like a lobster trap so they can get to the food and the tetras can't. Then just let them go or something.
Completely serious, I'm trying to make one to make getting them out of my 5 gallon easier.

Bump: You could make a cage that's big enough for the shrimp to get in and out, then put food into it and have an open bottom so you can move it easily or something.


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## Tshavo (Sep 1, 2014)

I disagree. Dogs eat poop so shrimp probably eat poop too.

A 5 gallon tank is probably too small for tetras, but only because it doesn't provide a good length of swimming space. The water quality will be just fine.

On the actual topic of the thread, "how to feed shrimp without the tetras stealing their food", you could try feeding the fish, and then after the fish are full, drop in the shrimp food. You could also make a little enclosed area for the shrimp and place the food in there (a tic tac box, maybe?). As greaser said, you can break the shrimp food into smaller pieces. My fish don't go after the smaller pieces as they like to choke on their food.


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## dzega (Apr 22, 2013)

i dont see how tetra can get shrimp sinking pellet in mouth.


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## FatherLandDescendant (Jul 24, 2014)

dzega said:


> i dont see how tetra can get shrimp sinking pellet in mouth.



They don't need to get the whole thing in their mouths, none of my current stock can fit a pellet in their mouths but they pick away at it until it's gone


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## Tshavo (Sep 1, 2014)

FatherLandDescendant said:


> They don't need to get the whole thing in their mouths, none of my current stock can fit a pellet in their mouths but they pick away at it until it's gone


Agreed. None of my fish can fit a shrimp in their mouth, but they pick away at them until they're gone.


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## Spladle160 (Jan 17, 2014)

I do actually break the shrimp food up into roughly 1-2 mm cubed pieces. The tetras really appreciate that since they can pick it up and carry it away from the shrimp. Something like a tic tac box seems like a good idea.I wouldn't buy them and put them in there again but the length of the fluval spec v is very similar to a 10 gallon (actually hangs off the sides of the 10 gallon stand) and my water parameters are pretty decent. 0 ammonia 0 nitrites 10-20 nitrates, 4 on the phosphates 5 degrees gh 1 degree kh and 74 degrees f constantly. For filtration I actually added a finnex px-360 that draws through the stock spec v sponge loaded with purigen and ceramic cylinders and goes out through an inline atomizer then an external reactor with ph controller. It's kind of a high tech little tank.


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