View Full Version : What's wrong with the veggies?
fishorama
05-07-2008, 7:25 PM
I have tried feeding peas & zucchini (& something else?) to my shrimp, bee & cherry, MTS & pond snails. No takers except 1 pond snail that may have wandered on by accident.
Is it just because they prefer fish food? There isn't much visible algae but there's sure to be a bit, good enough? Shrimp newb overthinking?
LuxyBlue
05-07-2008, 8:05 PM
How long are you leaving it in the tank, and are you weighing it down for them?
emptywallet
05-07-2008, 8:09 PM
i left mine in for 48 ours and in the first 24 hours no takers then in a couple hours later the zuccine was gone and i searched around the whole tank no zuccine so it may take a while for them to find it or they might be waiting for it to soften up
jbowzer7
05-07-2008, 8:12 PM
My shrimp, snails and bristle nose pleco love green beans & spinach!
leighasnana
05-07-2008, 9:53 PM
I put a slice of zuchinni and a pea in my tank and the shrimp didn't go for it either. One checked out the zuchinni but wasn't too excited about it. I wondered the same thing about their need for vegetables. I was told that they get enough just from grazing on the plants. What they do love is leaves. I take a leaf off of my Amazon sword from another tank - let it dry out and then put it in with the shrimp. After it sinks and softens they go nuts and leave only the veins. I've read that in the wild they live off of the micro-organisms on the leaf litter and algae. I think in a tank the idea is to have plants for them to graze on and provide food with no copper - foods containing calcium are supposed to be a good choice. I'm new at shrimp. This is from asking questions and reading.
thebullit
05-08-2008, 4:02 AM
all my shrimp and snails love green veggies as soon as i plopp them in, its like a stampeed as they all try to get to it.
my crabs and shrimp go nuts for cooked broccoli
fishorama
05-08-2008, 9:07 AM
Thanks for the suggestions, I'll keep trying different kinds. I leave them in overnight. The first time for pea & for zucchini some inverts & fish checked them out a bit, enough to say "that's not a pellet".
I guess I'm stuck in a fish veg rut. My loaches, plecs & SAE love zuccini, romaine, peas & sometimes cucumber & cooked broccoli stems, so that's what I feed.
I had forgotten the dried (oak) leaves for shrimp but I'll try it now we don't have snow cover. Must be something about drying out or that new leaf taste, I have left old sword leaves for a while, mostly due to laziness, no takers.