# Fed my Guys Shrimp



## rosecityrhom (Feb 3, 2003)

I fed my 9 reds some shrimp I bought at my local market and they ate it after a few nibbles to see what it was. The only problem is they're now huddled up together and extremely skittish. Is this normal behavior when adding new food to their diet...is this just their digestive system adjusting? If they're like this in the morning I don't think I'll be feeding them anymore shrimp unless you think this is normal.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

My reds' staple diet is salad shrimp: at first they were a bit reluctant to accept it, but now they absolutely love that stuff, and it also works miracles for their coloration (I guess: my reds really turned red after I started feeding them shrimps, but perhaps that's just because they're maturing...)

And don't worry: it sometimes takes some time before they readily accept new food items, so just give them some time: it really pays off!

Good luck


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## Natural.Playboy (Jan 22, 2003)

today was also my first day feed my rbps salad shrimp, as soon as one started eating it they all went for it... and they loved it especially my smaller rbps they just seemed to devour it until they would not eat anymore it was awesome... and not to mention how cheap a bag of salad shrimp is!


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## bobme (Feb 17, 2003)

yea they are ok dont worry


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## rosecityrhom (Feb 3, 2003)

Sorry for not osting the results sooner...just remembered I had this thread open still. My guys are doing fine just like you said...still a little timid about eating it right away but they end up taking care of everything I place in the tank. Glad I put this into their diet anyway...this way I'll have more options to choose from for their feeding.


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## Outie (Feb 19, 2003)

salad shrimp owns.


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## SnowCichlid. (Jan 10, 2003)

You should be fine, it should just be a quick phase we hope


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## bobme (Feb 17, 2003)

Just as a question, to you de-shell them?


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## Black Piranha (Feb 1, 2003)

The shrimp ive used are MYSIS Shrimp. you can buy them at you LFS, (not petco or petsmart)


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## SteelGluer (Feb 20, 2003)

Mine are nuts over any kind of seafood shrimp, clams, etc... They love it


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

bobme said:


> Just as a question, to you de-shell them?


 I don't: straight from the package into the tank...


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

I get the large packages of large shrimp from the grocier and I do peal them, dont know if I need to but I do. I dont want pieces of shell laying around my tank if they dont eat theml.


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## bobme (Feb 17, 2003)

grosse gurke said:


> I get the large packages of large shrimp from the grocier and I do peal them, dont know if I need to but I do. I dont want pieces of shell laying around my tank if they dont eat theml.


 good point, maybe ill take the time to shell them


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## xjfella95 (Feb 6, 2003)

Judazzz said:


> My reds' staple diet is salad shrimp: at first they were a bit reluctant to accept it, but now they absolutely love that stuff, and it also works miracles for their coloration (I guess: my reds really turned red after I started feeding them shrimps, but perhaps that's just because they're maturing...)
> 
> And don't worry: it sometimes takes some time before they readily accept new food items, so just give them some time: it really pays off!
> 
> Good luck


 The way i see it is. Have you ever seen a White flamingo? no! know why? because they eat shrimp...and thats all they eat. that's where they get their pink color.

So i think that feeding shimp to a red belly would really bring out the red color.

Just my oppinion.


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## rosecityrhom (Feb 3, 2003)

Flamingo's and Piranha are two completely different animals.







So far mine have not improved their coloration as they already were showing great color. So I can't really use that as a reason to feed them shrimp other than the fact that they should have a variety in their diet.


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## xjfella95 (Feb 6, 2003)

rosecityrhom said:


> Flamingo's and Piranha are two completely different animals.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 what i'm trying to say rosie. is that if the flamingo was fed anything but shrimp, its a proven fact that it would be white.

Now i know from looking at alot of the pics on this sight that there are alot of ginetic differences. But if you have to have a better chance of providing you're fish with a brighter color, give it a shot. I would bet that it helps a good bit.

just a suggestion, thats all.


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## rosecityrhom (Feb 3, 2003)

Where did you see that its a proven fact that if they were fed something other than shrimp they would not be pink? I've never even heard about this.


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## rosecityrhom (Feb 3, 2003)

Or just never cared...but now I'm interested to see the facts.


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## rosecityrhom (Feb 3, 2003)

I understand trying anything to give a better chance at nicer color but I think there might also be a little bit of psychology involved in believing their color is improving because they're convincing themselves of it. I don't know if this is true as I have not fed shrimp to my piranha's for a long enough period of time yet to determine whether it does indeed do it or not. I'm interested to see if it does improve. They're already pretty red as it is.


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## xjfella95 (Feb 6, 2003)

rosecityrhom said:


> Where did you see that its a proven fact that if they were fed something other than shrimp they would not be pink? I've never even heard about this.


 go to a zoo, the flamingos there are more pale then in the wild. due to the fact that the zoo has trouble reproducing the salinity level that which the flamingoes feed.

If you go to bonair...an island off the northern coast of south america. The Islands main income is from their salt farms. they take shallow....1ft -2ft pools bout 2 acres. and pump salt water into them. as the water evaporates the waters salinity increases. and so does the shrimp population in those pools. and the salinity of those shimp is what makes the flamingoes pink.

Everyone that i've seen when i was there was a solid pink, close to red. Houndreds of thousands of them.

I bet if you searched the internet for Bonair. you can find pictures of these salt farms. And their flamingo flocks. Bonaire by the way is one of the major importors of the americas highway salt

gotta go fill up my nacho dip bowl now.


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## rosecityrhom (Feb 3, 2003)

then if that was takin into play with our piranha's...just about any shrimp we purchase from a local store would not have enough salinity to adjust the coloration of our piranha's if indeed it goes hand in hand with any species.


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## xjfella95 (Feb 6, 2003)

but the salinity of shrimp compared to blood worms, beefheart, and smelt would be much greater. Don't you think?


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## rosecityrhom (Feb 3, 2003)

I'm simply stating that because of the low salinity in local shrimp the coloration of local flamingo's is faded compared to wild ones correct? Then this would associate to piranha's as well if that were true that it could/would affect their coloration as well. Meaning that if shrimp can affect our piranha's color then our local shrimp lacking the salinity would not help out our p's colors as much if at all. We would have to have the kind of shrimp the wild flamingos get to have such rich color. Agree to an extent?


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## xjfella95 (Feb 6, 2003)

rosecityrhom said:


> I'm simply stating that because of the low salinity in local shrimp the coloration of local flamingo's is faded compared to wild ones correct? Then this would associate to piranha's as well if that were true that it could/would affect their coloration as well. Meaning that if shrimp can affect our piranha's color then our local shrimp lacking the salinity would not help out our p's colors as much if at all. We would have to have the kind of shrimp the wild flamingos get to have such rich color. Agree to an extent?


 I totally agree with what you are saying.

But the shrimp are much more salty then the beefheart... thats what im getting at.

i would like to see a test done on two same aged same sized P's one fed shimp as a main staple. and the other something else non salty.

I think the outcome would be more then obviouse


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