I just got some (18) Red Cherry Shrimp about a week ago. According to the breeder, they're about 3 weeks old, the largest is about 1/2 inch, there are several less than 1/4 inch.
Once they got over the stress of travelling, and I dropped the temp of the water from 82 down to 77, they colored up nicely and seem to have fun exploring my fry tank. It's a bare bottom tank with floating duckweed, floating anacharis and a 4"X4" square of java moss loose on the bottom of the tank for them to hide out in.
I did the reading I could on RCS, and thought they'd be pretty happy in the fry tank. It had a thin carpet of brownish algae when I put them in there, and patches of algae on the wall. There are 71 guppy fry in a 10 gallon tank, so I routinely overfeed just to make sure they all get a shot at food, but I do twice weekly water changes, and there's quite a few plants for a 10 gallon, so nitrates stay well within acceptable limits. Also, more than 1/2 my feedings are microworms, which seem to all get eaten between meals.
I scrubbed up the algae a few days after introducing the shrimp, but left it loose in the tank for them to chow down. I'm hoping the duckweed cover plus the shrimp keep the algae under control, since regular scrubbing of a tank full of fry and tiny shrimp seems bound to result in squished critters.
So here's my question -- I've tried frozen spinach, blanched spinach, cooked zucchini, raw zucchini, algae wafers, and a cooked green bean leftover from my supper one night. They're not interested at all. They completely ignore it. I've always fished it out after a day or so, but I walk by there all day long, and they're never eating what I give them.
If they're nicely colored and wandering around and seem to be happy, should I worry about them eating? Or is it a sign of trouble that they're not attacking the things I throw in for treats?
Once they got over the stress of travelling, and I dropped the temp of the water from 82 down to 77, they colored up nicely and seem to have fun exploring my fry tank. It's a bare bottom tank with floating duckweed, floating anacharis and a 4"X4" square of java moss loose on the bottom of the tank for them to hide out in.
I did the reading I could on RCS, and thought they'd be pretty happy in the fry tank. It had a thin carpet of brownish algae when I put them in there, and patches of algae on the wall. There are 71 guppy fry in a 10 gallon tank, so I routinely overfeed just to make sure they all get a shot at food, but I do twice weekly water changes, and there's quite a few plants for a 10 gallon, so nitrates stay well within acceptable limits. Also, more than 1/2 my feedings are microworms, which seem to all get eaten between meals.
I scrubbed up the algae a few days after introducing the shrimp, but left it loose in the tank for them to chow down. I'm hoping the duckweed cover plus the shrimp keep the algae under control, since regular scrubbing of a tank full of fry and tiny shrimp seems bound to result in squished critters.
So here's my question -- I've tried frozen spinach, blanched spinach, cooked zucchini, raw zucchini, algae wafers, and a cooked green bean leftover from my supper one night. They're not interested at all. They completely ignore it. I've always fished it out after a day or so, but I walk by there all day long, and they're never eating what I give them.
If they're nicely colored and wandering around and seem to be happy, should I worry about them eating? Or is it a sign of trouble that they're not attacking the things I throw in for treats?
