# Feeding Shrimp During Vacation



## Yukiharu (May 3, 2014)

Please keep your questions in your own threads. It is rude to others who have their own questions.
You can try Bacter AE with alder cones and indian almond leaves. You can also try special foods for them, as mentioned in other threads.
If you want help with your 55g, please start a new thread.


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## aquarist (Aug 29, 2012)

You can try feeding them really well in the week leading up to your vacation, then get a couple nice fat zucchini and put them into the aquarium. Usually you want to boil the zucchini to break down the cell walls and make it soft enough for the shrimp to eat, but if you put it in there raw it will last much longer and will take around four days or so before the shrimp can eat the majority of it, and they will consume the entire zucchini, so if you put in a couple nice fat zucchinis it should last a while. You can also test this out before you leave by placing a raw zucchini in the aquarium later today and see how long it last them with no other foods until a couple days before you leave then you can start to "fatten" them up with some quality shrimp foods. Another option is to grow some algae, get some nice porous rocks (a big bag of lava rock at the hardware store is like $3.50) put them in a bucket, cover with water and put a light on it 24 hours a day till you leave, you can also buy some cholla wood (it's actually a cactus) and put that in there, your shrimp will eat that, cholla can take a while to become soft enough for your shrimp to consume it, sometime upwards to a month before it's soft enough so I would just boil it some to try and soften it up some before putting it into the aquarium. Another option is drift wood, new drift wood will grow this white stuff on it usually and shrimp tend to love it! Or do a combination of all of them all, get some cholla, a zucchini and grow some algae on a rock or a piece of drift wood. You can also start growing some biofilm by putting your hands into the aquarium everyday or better yet several times a day, I know this sounds weird but it really does help. 

In the aquarium hobby it is a great misconception that fish and shrimp need to eat everyday, let alone several times a day, your shrimp should be fine if you provide them with some zucchini. If you are super worried about it, perhaps have a friend, family member or someone you trust come over once or twice while you are away and but some more zucchini in the aquarium. If you are unable to get someone to come over once or twice while you are away, and are super worried you can go to the big box PET store and buy yourself an automatic fish feeder and put in some quality flake food, like Omega one or something similar, or if your interested I can send you some 100% veggie flake if you just pay postage. The flake food will float on top for a bit, but it will become water logged and quickly sink to the bottom where the shrimp can eat it. You will want to test out the feeder several times before you leave tho, you don't want to set it up the night before and leave the next morning, with most feeders you can adjust the amount of food that is dispensed and you should adjust it to what you believe you will need, I would recommend one big fat flake per 5 shrimp or so. You will also want to test the feeder out to see if it will continue to dispense food even when the food hopper is low.


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## epic guy (May 2, 2015)

aquarist said:


> You can try feeding them really well in the week leading up to your vacation, then get a couple nice fat zucchini and put them into the aquarium. Usually you want to boil the zucchini to break down the cell walls and make it soft enough for the shrimp to eat, but if you put it in there raw it will last much longer and will take around four days or so before the shrimp can eat the majority of it, and they will consume the entire zucchini, so if you put in a couple nice fat zucchinis it should last a while. You can also test this out before you leave by placing a raw zucchini in the aquarium later today and see how long it last them with no other foods until a couple days before you leave then you can start to "fatten" them up with some quality shrimp foods. Another option is to grow some algae, get some nice porous rocks (a big bag of lava rock at the hardware store is like $3.50) put them in a bucket, cover with water and put a light on it 24 hours a day till you leave, you can also buy some cholla wood (it's actually a cactus) and put that in there, your shrimp will eat that, cholla can take a while to become soft enough for your shrimp to consume it, sometime upwards to a month before it's soft enough so I would just boil it some to try and soften it up some before putting it into the aquarium. Another option is drift wood, new drift wood will grow this white stuff on it usually and shrimp tend to love it! Or do a combination of all of them all, get some cholla, a zucchini and grow some algae on a rock or a piece of drift wood. You can also start growing some biofilm by putting your hands into the aquarium everyday or better yet several times a day, I know this sounds weird but it really does help.
> 
> In the aquarium hobby it is a great misconception that fish and shrimp need to eat everyday, let alone several times a day, your shrimp should be fine if you provide them with some zucchini. If you are super worried about it, perhaps have a friend, family member or someone you trust come over once or twice while you are away and but some more zucchini in the aquarium. If you are unable to get someone to come over once or twice while you are away, and are super worried you can go to the big box PET store and buy yourself an automatic fish feeder and put in some quality flake food, like Omega one or something similar, or if your interested I can send you some 100% veggie flake if you just pay postage. The flake food will float on top for a bit, but it will become water logged and quickly sink to the bottom where the shrimp can eat it. You will want to test out the feeder several times before you leave tho, you don't want to set it up the night before and leave the next morning, with most feeders you can adjust the amount of food that is dispensed and you should adjust it to what you believe you will need, I would recommend one big fat flake per 5 shrimp or so. You will also want to test the feeder out to see if it will continue to dispense food even when the food hopper is low.


The automatic feeder dispose TOO much food. It is suitable for fish but for me, I just usually drop in 1-2 algae wafers or a piece of boiled carrot and zucchini. I don't have anyone that can come over to my house. Do you know somewhere that sells food really big that lasts for a month in my aquarium? :iamwithst


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## aquarist (Aug 29, 2012)

You can adjust the amount of food that comes out of the automatic feeders usually by glueing a piece of index card or plastic o cover the opening, this can greatly reduce the amount of food that comes out. You can try the weekend feeders, they make some that last a week and I would figure they would last much longer for shrimp but I am not sure what all are in them.


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## epic guy (May 2, 2015)

aquarist said:


> You can adjust the amount of food that comes out of the automatic feeders usually by glueing a piece of index card or plastic o cover the opening, this can greatly reduce the amount of food that comes out. You can try the weekend feeders, they make some that last a week and I would figure they would last much longer for shrimp but I am not sure what all are in them.


can you give me a link to where to buy those automatic feeders and the weekend feeders that last a long time? Then I can put 4-5 of them in to last my shrimp a month.
Thanks!:help:


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## phluid13 (Mar 24, 2015)

Doing a Google search for "aquarium automatic feeder" comes up with many links that can help you decide. That way you can browse ones that have reviews and make the best decision. 


pHluid13


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## mach_six (Sep 12, 2005)

Seeing how you're not in the US, you may want to go to your LFS and see what they have available for your situation...


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## plamski (Sep 25, 2009)

Mosura Snowflakes. They won’t spoil the water like food mention above.
Lava rock with algae is very good advice too. Prior doing that .Put rocks in the bucket with water and pour bottle of hydrogen peroxide and leave it under the sun for 3-4 hours. That will insure you that rocks are clean and ready for your tank. Rinse the rocks with water and then precede with algae growing.


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## epic guy (May 2, 2015)

plamski said:


> Mosura Snowflakes. They won’t spoil the water like food mention above.
> Lava rock with algae is very good advice too. Prior doing that .Put rocks in the bucket with water and pour bottle of hydrogen peroxide and leave it under the sun for 3-4 hours. That will insure you that rocks are clean and ready for your tank. Rinse the rocks with water and then precede with algae growing.


So algae grows fast on lava rock? And also so you have experience about the mosura snowflakes? Just checking to make sure. 

Bump:


aquarist said:


> You can adjust the amount of food that comes out of the automatic feeders usually by glueing a piece of index card or plastic o cover the opening, this can greatly reduce the amount of food that comes out. You can try the weekend feeders, they make some that last a week and I would figure they would last much longer for shrimp but I am not sure what all are in them.


Can you give me a video of how to do that for reducing the amount that comes out of the auto feeder?


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## phluid13 (Mar 24, 2015)

Epic, did you do a search for auto feeders? Some of them have this feature built in where you can adjust the amount of food that is fed. 


pHluid13


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## inthepacific (Oct 21, 2012)

don't do auto feeders food that isn't consumed will cloud the tank. They'll be fine with leaf litter and will find plenty of food from that while you're gone. Indian Almond leaves are really good source for them.


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## garfieldnfish (Sep 25, 2010)

That is a lot of shrimp in a 20 gal without biofilm. They will not be able to live on what they find in the tank. I would add about 5 large Indian almond leaves to the tank. Shrimp eat the leaves, they do not spoil the water and 5 leaves should last your shrimp one month. Right before you leave put in some fresh (sliced lengthwise) green beans, maybe 4 or 5 1 inch pieces. They also take several days before they would foul the water but by then they should have been eaten and that will give your shrimp enough until the Indian almond leaves start to break down and become edible.


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## 35ppt (Feb 24, 2014)

I am not sure how much nutrition you get from Indian almond leaves, but it certainly would not hurt. if you try the automatic feeder or as suggested green beans, ideally you should test the operation of those first. However in your case, it sounds like you don't really have time to do a good test.. I do agree that I have heard snowflake makes a very good food for when you will not be able to feed for some time. Not entirely sure how long that would last. Again a test would be useful.


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## epic guy (May 2, 2015)

My holiday got delayed so I still have 15 days left until I have to leave. Anyone have anything against Indian Almond Leaves? I think I will use them during my vacation.


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## shrimpletess (Jun 1, 2014)

Almond leaves, oak leaves..either or both will do the trick.
Make sure you put a lot of them inside. They won't foul the water.


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## Entomologist210 (Nov 16, 2013)

I put two 1inX1in pieces of watermelon rhind in my specV a week and a half ago and my cherries are still swarming all over them. Haven't fed anything since then and the water is still clear.


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## 35ppt (Feb 24, 2014)

Entomologist210 said:


> I put two 1inX1in pieces of watermelon rhind in my specV a week and a half ago and my cherries are still swarming all over them. Haven't fed anything since then and the water is still clear.


Do you use the outer green rind plus all the white flesh? Or cut some of that off?


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## Entomologist210 (Nov 16, 2013)

The green plus the white and a thin layer of red.


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## harrythebat (Sep 30, 2012)

I've been away for a month and a half on holidays and I've added 3 indian almond leaves to my 40 gallon which holds around 200 yellow shrimps and they did fine with no death.
Hope it works for you.


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