Do i need to feed my shrimp and hermit crabs?

[BuddyBonButt]

I picked up a bit of CUC to clean my tank of diatoms.

Do hermits and shrimp eat that? I was told they do but I haven't seen them actually eat any of it. My Mexican grazing snails, conch, and urchin are doing almost all the work.

When I feed Flakes I feed just for my fish but when I feed Flakes the shrimp and hermits go INSANE. They don't hide prior. Just roam around and sway in the water. But when I feed the fish they are literally in the water colum chasing after Flakes. Should I target feed them too? I feel I'm starving them.

90 gallons. Tons of rock and diatoms.
2 clowns
1 blue sapphire damselfish
1 neon blue goby

10 hermit crabs
5 Mexican grazing snails
4 cleaner shrimp
2 strawberry conch
1 blue tuxedo urchin

 

[Chrisv.]

You should make sure they get food, especially the shrimp. They will eat leftovers, but if it's a new tank with few fish, just make sure the shrimpies get some. When you get more food they will go for the leftovers. Most snails are herbivores. Hermits are omnivores.

 

[Dan_P]

I picked up a bit of CUC to clean my tank of diatoms.

Do hermits and shrimp eat that? I was told they do but I haven't seen them actually eat any of it. My Mexican grazing snails, conch, and urchin are doing almost all the work.

When I feed Flakes I feed just for my fish but when I feed Flakes the shrimp and hermits go INSANE. They don't hide prior. Just roam around and sway in the water. But when I feed the fish they are literally in the water colum chasing after Flakes. Should I target feed them too? I feel I'm starving them.

90 gallons. Tons of rock and diatoms.
2 clowns
1 blue sapphire damselfish
1 neon blue goby

10 hermit crabs
5 Mexican grazing snails
4 cleaner shrimp
2 strawberry conch
1 blue tuxedo urchin

Feed them. They are healthier, work better and live longer if they are not on a starvation diet.

 

[BuddyBonButt]

You should make sure they get food, especially the shrimp. They will eat leftovers, but if it's a new tank with few fish, just make sure the shrimpies get some. When you get more food they will go for the leftovers. Most snails are herbivores. Hermits are omnivores.

So feed a little extra/target feed? How often do you think I should feed? I have A LOT of diatoms

 

[BuddyBonButt]

Feed them. They are healthier, work better and live longer if they are not on a starvation diet.

Ok so I do need to feed them? Dang I feel bad. I've had them for a few days now and haven't tried to feed them. What do you recommend I do? I have a 90 gallon tank so it's kind of hard to reach the bottom where they're at.

 

[Chrisv.]

So feed a little extra/target feed? How often do you think I should feed? I have A LOT of diatoms

Yeah, they can starve. If it's a new tank, never fear, diatoms will subside. Keep an eye on your nutrients and add more snails as appropriate. I strongly suggest getting some stomatella snails from someone. They reproduce in your tank but hide by day. They will reach a carrying capacity in your tank.

 

[BuddyBonButt]

Yeah, they can starve. If it's a new tank, never fear, diatoms will subside. Keep an eye on your nutrients and add more snails as appropriate. I strongly suggest getting some stomatella snails from someone. They reproduce in your tank but hide by day. They will reach a carrying capacity in your tank.

How do you suggest I feed the shrimp? Course they don't get as much as the fish and with a 90 gallon tank it's a little too deep for me to reach down there. Should I just feed a little extra so the fish can't get all of it? If shrimp are clean up crew then why do I have to feed them? I am new so this is just a question not a rant. I'm genuinely curious what their purpose is as clean up crew

 

[flashsmith]

I feed my inverts sinking pellets a couple times a week. I feel overfeeding will make them freeloaders. lol

 

[BuddyBonButt]

I feed my inverts sinking pellets a couple times a week. I feel overfeeding will make them freeloaders. lol

Ok I need to take a trip down to my lfs. Talk about problems and buy some solutions it seems OH WELL! NOTHING I CAN DO! I HAAAVE TO GO THERE! Not my fault. Can't judge me this time

 

[Chrisv.]

Ok I need to take a trip down to my lfs. Talk about problems and buy some solutions it seems OH WELL! NOTHING I CAN DO! I HAAAVE TO GO THERE! Not my fault. Can't judge me this time

Haha there are worse ways to spend a Saturday. While you are there, pick up some Hanna checkers for phosphate and nitrate, your diatom bloom will thank you.

 

[Dan_P]

Ok so I do need to feed them? Dang I feel bad. I've had them for a few days now and haven't tried to feed them. What do you recommend I do? I have a 90 gallon tank so it's kind of hard to reach the bottom where they're at.

My preference is portable feeding stations that can loaded and placed anywhere, but nothing fancy or complicated. For example, use a rubber band on a small aragonite stone to hold food in place. If the tank is deep you will need a way to extract the feeding station. Snails are more active at night so your feeding station for them does not need to be beautiful. I use four of these to feed plum size Mexican turbos every evening. Feeding stations are not a perfect solution because the food item might be torn apart and float away, though eventually it will be eaten.

 

[BuddyBonButt]

My preference is portable feeding stations that can loaded and placed anywhere, but nothing fancy or complicated. For example, use a rubber band on a small aragonite stone to hold food in place. If the tank is deep you will need a way to extract the feeding station. Snails are more active at night so your feeding station for them does not need to be beautiful. I use four of these to feed plum size Mexican turbos every evening. Feeding stations are not a perfect solution because the food item might be torn apart and float away, though eventually it will be eaten.

Interesting. So I need to feed my 5 Mexican grazing snails? Are diatoms not enough? Also how about my urchin And conch?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Theyre scavengers and will always find something. Over nori, this is a better choice for both:

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Interesting. So I need to feed my 5 Mexican grazing snails? Are diatoms not enough? Also how about my urchin And conch?

Diatoms are a good place to start for the snails and conch (and you may want to consider dosing some of the diatoms available on the market - such as Isochrysis galbana or Chaetoceros gracilis, which are used for conch breeding/rearing - later on), but for both them and the urchin, you'd probably want to offer them some algae too. As mentioned, diatoms typically don't last very long in new tanks, so I wouldn't expect this stage to go on indefinitely. For snails, a lot of people offer them algae pellets, and for urchins a lot of people just rubber band nori to a rock. For the hermit crabs and shrimp, you'd probably want to go with something more omnivore/carnivore oriented, but I'd think some kind of sinking pellet (as was also mentioned above) would be a good idea there too.

 

[BuddyBonButt]

Diatoms are a good place to start for the snails and conch (and you may want to consider dosing some of the diatoms available on the market - such as Isochrysis galbana or Chaetoceros gracilis, which are used for conch breeding/rearing - later on), but for both them and the urchin, you'd probably want to offer them some algae too. As mentioned, diatoms typically don't last very long in new tanks, so I wouldn't expect this stage to go on indefinitely. For snails, a lot of people offer them algae pellets, and for urchins a lot of people just rubber band nori to a rock. For the hermit crabs and shrimp, you'd probably want to go with something more omnivore/carnivore oriented, but I'd think some kind of sinking pellet (as was also mentioned above) would be a good idea there too.

Yeah I'm going to my lfs to get some sinking pellets. Now for my urchin, how often should I feed nori? It's a very young urchin so it's very small. so i don't think it'd need a lot.

For my hermits and shrimp, I'll sprinkle a little amount of pellets while I feed Flakes to my fish to distract them.

Grab some algae wafers for the 5 Mexican grazing snails and conch.

So couple of questions if you're willing:
1 Does this sound good?
2 should I consider the wafers *AFTER* the diatoms are low or during the diatom bloom.
3 where should I put the wafers for the snails If I do need to feed them. Sandbed or rock
4 how often should I feed these creatures (snails, shrimp, urchin, conch, hermits) using these methods

 

[Dan_P]

Interesting. So I need to feed my 5 Mexican grazing snails? Are diatoms not enough? Also how about my urchin And conch?

Yes, feed the Mexican turbos. They are big eaters, and feeding them does not stop them from eating other things. They are like dogs, they can eat all day long, though mine tend to ”sleep” during the day, the snails that is. The dogs alternate between sleeping and eating.

Feeding the clean up crew seems like the most ignored subject in this hobby, just “chuck the beasts in“ is the typical advice. What everyone fails to appreciate is how much food is needed by these beasts and how little there is in an aquarium, especially new ones, or how poorly we are at judging how much food exists in an aquarium for them.

 

[G Santana]

Feed them, otherwise they (hermits) we murder your snails...

 

[BuddyBonButt]

Yes, feed the Mexican turbos. They are big eaters, and feeding them does not stop them from eating other things. They are like dogs, they can eat all day long, though mine tend to ”sleep” during the day, the snails that is. The dogs alternate between sleeping and eating.

Feeding the clean up crew seems like the most ignored subject in this hobby, just “chuck the beasts in“ is the typical advice. What everyone fails to appreciate is how much food is needed by these beasts and how little there is in an aquarium, especially new ones, or how poorly we are at judging how much food exists in an aquarium for them.

Ok I can do that

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Yeah I'm going to my lfs to get some sinking pellets. Now for my urchin, how often should I feed nori? It's a very young urchin so it's very small. so i don't think it'd need a lot.

For my hermits and shrimp, I'll sprinkle a little amount of pellets while I feed Flakes to my fish to distract them.

Grab some algae wafers for the 5 Mexican grazing snails and conch.

So couple of questions if you're willing:
1 Does this sound good?
2 should I consider the wafers *AFTER* the diatoms are low or during the diatom bloom.
3 where should I put the wafers for the snails If I do need to feed them. Sandbed or rock
4 how often should I feed these creatures (snails, shrimp, urchin, conch, hermits) using these methods

I'm honestly not sure. I've been researching hard to get a decent amount of theoretical/technical knowledge for reefing, but, as I don't have a tank yet, I'm lacking in hands-on knowledge/experience. So, hopefully someone with more hands-on experience can answer those questions for you to help you figure out how much to feed and how to feed it to these little guys.

 

[homegrowncichlid]

I do not believe there is such a thing as too many hermit crabs, since they will flip to dry food when algae is gone. Then when algae grows back in, the crabs can live off of both the growing algae and dry food. If you didn't feed them, they would starve out and start eating each other. Snails on the other hand, can only eat algae and will starve out when the aquarium is too clean, so if you have too many snails, they will crash and you may lose all of them.
So yes, go light on snails, but heavy on crabs, and feed the crabs just enough so they don't hunt the snails, but will still eat the algae. There are a couples of species of snails that will graze off diatoms.