Shrimp refusing Mulberry and Grape leaves

6929 Views 25 Replies 11 Participants Last post by ravensgate, Aug 28, 2012

rodcuda

Discussion Starter · Aug 26, 2012

Has anyone else had their shrimp refuse fresh leaves? What di you do to turn them on to them?

I have had green Mulberry and Grape leaves in two tanks with Fire Red Neos for three days with no other food and they are ignoring them.

I sure would like them to take interest in these.

1 - 20 of 26 Posts

ravensgate

· #2 · Aug 26, 2012

Did you freeze them or anything before you put them in? I've found if you freeze things for about oh, 20-30 minutes before you put it in it helps. It breaks down the cell walls or something along those lines. I got in fresh mulberry leaves a week or so ago, and wanted to feed one right away. I put it in the freezer for 15 minutes, then put it in the tank. They were on it within 2 minutes. Other than that, they may just not like them. Like people they can have different tastes. Or if you're feeding a high protein food they may be less likely to go for it.

rodcuda

Discussion Starter · #3 · Aug 26, 2012

I am offering them to two seperate unrelated populations in different living conditions. I have some in the freezer now, so I will see if it helps. I was just looking for some input as it seems some feed them green. Maybe after they get a taste for them after being frozen they will eat them green.

I offer some high quality shrimp pellets every couple days, but not very much and they don't even go crazy over them. A couple will feed at a time while the others continue to graze for algae.

DubSmacks

· #4 · Aug 26, 2012

I feed mine grape leaves and for the first 5 days they did nothing. Then, I geuss when the detritus was all sifted through, I saw 10 on one leaf. I geuss yours just have other food to eat. If I put some barley food in there too it is the same result. They don't touch it for a while, then they mob it.

ravensgate

· #5 · Aug 26, 2012

Like I said, I feed mine green but freeze them for 20 minutes before I feed. I don't know if people go yank them off a tree and plop them in a tank without doing anything to them if that's what you mean by 'feeding them green'.

I also don't know what 'high quality shrimp pellets' are. If it's something like Hikari Shrimp Cuisine then yes, it's high in protein. If your shrimp aren't going crazy over any food stuff then perhaps there is just enough algae and biofilm in the tank and they don't care about extras.

rodcuda

Discussion Starter · #6 · Aug 26, 2012

Yes some feed them green right off the tree. And yes I do mean Hikari Shrimp Cuisine but I feed it sparingly. I do have algae and biofilm as the tanks are mature and there are few snails and no Otos or anything to compete. They do like IALs and will make a skeleton out of them. But there are none in those tanks right now. Sounds like it will just be a matter of time and I think the frozen ones will be more enticing.

somewhatshocked

· #7 · Aug 26, 2012

Sometimes it takes a week or two for a leaf to start breaking down to the point where inverts will begin eating it. And even then they may not start eating much of it if there's other tasty stuff in the tank like biofilm and food crud.

Bananariot

· #8 · Aug 26, 2012

somewhatshocked said:
Sometimes it takes a week or two for a leaf to start breaking down to the point where inverts will begin eating it. And even then they may not start eating much of it if there's other tasty stuff in the tank like biofilm and food crud.

+1, my IAL arent munched on till they start breaking down which happens 2 weeks after.

Some of my shrimp didn't crowd veggie diets in the beginning because they were used to protein but after some starvation and more regular veggie diets, they started to eat veggies more actively.

Senior Shrimpo

· #9 · Aug 26, 2012

I thought people blanched the leaves first before giving them to shrimp? It makes them softer and all that so shrimp can tear them more effectively.

The leaves might be too tough for them to break off and eat.

ravensgate

· #10 · Aug 26, 2012

Senior Shrimpo said:
I thought people blanched the leaves first before giving them to shrimp? It makes them softer and all that so shrimp can tear them more effectively.

The leaves might be too tough for them to break off and eat.

Freezing them does the same thing

rodcuda

Discussion Starter · #11 · Aug 26, 2012

I think both of these groups are used to the processed foods more. They do like the IALs of course, as soon as they build a bio film. I pre soak them to give them a head start.

Some people are feeding them right off the tree and their shimp are eating them to nothing in 3-4 days.

ravensgate

· #12 · Aug 26, 2012

If you've got some already in the freezer why don't you just break off a piece and put it in to see if there is a difference to how they respond?

As for the threads that have been going on this week I only read one person post that sounded like they may have just put it into the tank straight after picking it. People saying they feed them green, doesn't necessarily mean they are getting them straight from the tree and plopping them in. I feed them green but I'm talking specifically green vs. dried out. Mine are green when they go into the freezer and when they come out to be fed. Also, their shrimp could already be used to leaf litter as well so they might not have to do much enticing

rodcuda

Discussion Starter · #13 · Aug 26, 2012

I replaced the ones I had in there with the ones that had been frozen, I know they will eat them sooner or later, definately as they get a film and break down. I was just curious what results others have had. Not like this is a feeding emergency or anything, just curious.

ravensgate

· #14 · Aug 26, 2012

If it helps, my babies found the mulberry leaf first and then the adults went to it. Same for the cherry leaf..and it looked somewhat untouched for a few days (though I saw shrimp on it) and then I woke up one morning and all that was left was stem. As a side note, the leaves are an awesome way to catch seed shrimp. Dumb things won't jump off but the shrimp will. I yank out a stem and have about 50 on them. Mwuahahahaha.

They aren't avoiding the leaves, like not going near them right? If they are staying far away from the leaf, that may be a sign there is a chemical on it or something wrong. If they just aren't eating it, I'd give it a couple more days to let it soften and break down. This is really no different than people introducing fresh veggies for the first time (like spinach or kale) and having shrimp ignore it. Sometimes it just takes a little patience and once they get the taste, there's no stopping them! LOL!

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rodcuda

Discussion Starter · #15 · Aug 26, 2012

That is a good note on the seed shrimp, they can really populate a shrimp only tank!! They are not avoiding them and I am confident the mulberry leaves are chemical free and 100% sure the grape leaves are as they are wild on my property and I picked young leaves. Not that there is any fertilizing or pesticides used anyway. And I am very rural.

ravensgate

· #16 · Aug 26, 2012

Wanted to post this for you. This is only the second time they've ever had a mulberry leaf. I timed this, this was 2 minutes and 17 seconds after drop in

Hard to see cause of crappy phone pic but there are about 7-10 babies on the side you can see and another 7-10 more on the bottom side.

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CPD

· #17 · Aug 26, 2012

I tried just putting freshly washed/ plucked from the garden, grape leaves into my tanks and they went even slightly interested. I just put frozen leaves in and it was like ringing the dinner bell.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

rodcuda

Discussion Starter · #18 · Aug 26, 2012

Mine showed an initial interest also and then mostly left it alone. I am sure they will get the hang of it!!

dmagerl

· #19 · Aug 26, 2012

I put a dried brown hickory leaf and a fresh green mulberry leaf in the tank and they were all over the hickory and totally ignored the mulberry.

rodcuda

Discussion Starter · #20 · Aug 26, 2012

Did they go for the mulberry later? Or did you remove it?

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