[52149]

Does anyone know if this can just be lefted in the tank? Hard to keep siphoning out the debri

 

[orhunterfisher]

Yes, as long as it is used sparingly it is fine to leave in the tank. I feed one every other week or so and then don't feed the shrimp other food for a day or two. Just don't put too much in. I use a small pellet fr my tanks and I have lots of shrimp

 

[52149]

I figured it act almond leaves and driftwood so hydras or plantar don't come around. Is this true?

 

[Shremph]

Yes, as long as it is used sparingly it is fine to leave in the tank. I feed one every other week or so and then don't feed the shrimp other food for a day or two. Just don't put too much in. I use a small pellet fr my tanks and I have lots of shrimp

What constitutes lots of shrimp for you? 500? 30?

 

[pink4miss]

i leave it in my tanks, i feed it once sometimes twice a week. i have never noticed a water quality issue from it. but every tank is different. if your in question test your water. its the only real answer.

 

[Julianzh]

barley straw pellet can be left in the tank. it buffer ph and be can used as water conditioner. i feed it almost daily.

 

[orhunterfisher]

What constitutes lots of shrimp for you? 500? 30?

Most of my tanks have 100-200 and others have 500-800 (my Taiwan bee red colony)

 

[jmhk]

Barley straw is added to ponds on purpose to control algae and improve water clarity. Seems like it could be good for tanks as well...

 

[Soothing Shrimp]

Mord had an interesting take on this very subject: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showpost.php?p=3005618&postcount=5

 

[orhunterfisher]

Mord had an interesting take on this very subject: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showpost.php?p=3005618&postcount=5

I +1 Mord on this
I use them in both tank and pond applications and see both different cycles occuring. The left over barely pellet breaks into individual pieces and "time release food" just like the SnowFlake pellets (although very different products). As long as you feed sparingly, leaving some small "patch" of debris is fine as long as it is gone within a day or two (IMHO). If you have lots of babies, you will notice that they swarm the "patch" the day after the other shrimp get done with it. Pretty cool.

 

[52149]

Barley pellets can be found the rabbit section of lfs right?

 

[randyl]

Barley pellets can be found the rabbit section of lfs right?

Rabbit pellets contains different ingredients, same manufacturing process. And yes it's okay to feed them those pellets too.

My experience with barley straw is they will stay in the tank for a long long time, but snowflakes disappear completely after a while?

 

[Soothing Shrimp]

yepper. I *hate* barley because it seems to last forever while my shrimp won't touch it.

Snowflake on the other hand, they'll continually pick at until it is gone.

 

[bostoneric]

yepper. I *hate* barley because it seems to last forever while my shrimp won't touch it.

Snowflake on the other hand, they'll continually pick at until it is gone.

Yup barley tends to sit around for ever, while snowflakes disappear in a couple days.

 

[orhunterfisher]

hmmm...barley never lasts long in my tanks at all but it may be that I bought organic barley straw pellets directly from the farmer in the Mid West...and not from a store or commercial. I do have lots of shrimp though. I still tailor the pellet size to the number of shrimp in the tank as well

 

[Shremph]

hmmm...barley never lasts long in my tanks at all but it may be that I bought organic barley straw pellets directly from the farmer in the Mid West...and not from a store or commercial. I do have lots of shrimp though. I still tailor the pellet size to the number of shrimp in the tank as well

Same here.

My barley is gone in a day when feeding 2 medium pellets to a population of 500ish. My Amano like it too so that may contribute also.

Feeding Borneowild Barley at the moment.

 

[52149]

+1 my barley gone in about 2 hours or most of my 10 gallon 1-2 days. Is snowflake food reasonable to leave in. Wanna try foods to fit my needs. My micro feast high in protein and omega 3 I feed once weekly it's a powder the shrimp to crazy for it.

 

[randyl]

I'm not sure how you feed barley straw pellets and/or snowflakes. If you leave them in the tank bottom once shrimps have destroyed it enough, water current may just spread the leftover to make it seem they disappear. That's what happened to me when I fed my shrimp barley straw pellets.

Now I use feeding net, and it's obvious to me now that if I use barley straw pellets in there then they will last much longer and there seems to be always the last bits that get left, while if it's snowflakes then they disappear completely.

 

[deedee71]

the shrimp food by a polish company called shrimp nature, called barley, has an English translation on the back of the pot. it says;

barley supplementary shrimp food
barley is barley straw which is an excellent food for the adult and young shrimps
uneaten crumbs help improves bacterium activities and prevents development of black mould

I have about 30 adults and 10 tiny babies and after 2 hours I can only see the odd piece of actual straw fibre here and there, I guess they adore it. It looks just like the sawdust kitty cat toilet litter lol, I only put in a piece 2mm long, it is about 3mm wide and it expands a lot.

 

[frontosa88]

Barley straw pellets are good for shrimp. Just don't let it accumulate too much in your tank. If they get under your moss pads it will cause problems.