feeding shrimp

[pussycat]

i have 2 peppermint shrimp and 3 damsels in a 75g tank. just has finished cycling, no real algae growth as of yet. i was going to get addition shrimp, crabs, and snails per bob fenners suggestions of getting your cleanup crew in three weeks b/4 your fish come in. how does this sound?

also, i figure i will need to feed them additionally. i bought some sinking pellet food for the shrimp. should i feed them at night after the damsels (and later the other fish) "fo to bed"? and just drop it and theyll find it on their own?

thanks,

pussycat

[BrianH]

I agree with getting your clean up crew first. This will give them a headstart on cleaning up the algae from your just finished cycle.

As for shrimp feeding, I wouldn't feed any extra for them. They should get enough from the food your feeding the damsels.

Brian

[pussycat]

thank you for your reply. could you explain to me your answer? i just dont understand (im such a newbie!) how they get food from my feeding the damsels or anything else. and can i get my whole cleanup crew installed before my tank is loaded with my other fish? surely there wont be enough food left over for them. ??

thanks,

pussycat

[mogurnda]

Peppermint shrimp are excellent scavengers, and will find anything that the damsels drop. I tend to feed mine, and my cleaner shrimp, directly, though. For one thing, it's unavoidable with the cleaners, because they are up at the surface grabbing it. Also, the shrimp, especially the peppermints will steal from other, less mobile, animals, like the corals and serpent star, if they don't get fed first. One more thing is that more food keeps their egg production up, making more zooplankton for the tank.
The tank gets a little flake in the morning, and all of the shrimp dance on the surface to grab what they can. At night they get formula one or mysis or brine shrimp. Whatever it is, they'll eat it.
Most of the cleaning crew should be grazers, so they should not depend on being fed. If you have algae starting to grow, then it's time for the cleaning crew. IMO, more snails, few crabs.