# Fairy Shrimp Raising



## Amie (Sep 15, 2010)

So, I ordered Fairy Shrimp eggs off ebay. They have arrived and the have hatched. I killed most of them a few days after they hatched. I had them in a juice jug which had a very small surface area and they were all staying at the top and I was worried that they were all trying to get to the surface so I put them in a lasagna tray so they would have a larger surface area but I killed a lot of them in the process. So, for the ones that are remaining I am looking for some advice and help.

The ebay page said to feed them on yeast soup which is a mixture of brewers yeast, sugar and fish flakes stored for frequent use. It said they are filter feeders which I assuming means they feed on bacteria and such. I was wondering if it would be possible to feed them on anything else. Perhaps tank water would have the right food in it for them? 

How long will it take to see some significant growth in them? And about what age should they reach full growth? 

About what size and age is good to feed them to fish? Fry and full grown fish? I added a light for them. The ebay page just said that putting them somewhere with natural light coming in through the window would be fine but I read somewhere else that a 100watt bulb for them works better and would help them grow faster. 

Any suggestions on any of this or anything else that I should/should not be doing would be greatly appreciated!!*c/p*


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Amie said:


> The ebay page said to feed them on yeast soup which is a mixture of brewers yeast, sugar and fish flakes stored for frequent use. It said they are filter feeders which I assuming means they feed on bacteria and such. I was wondering if it would be possible to feed them on anything else. Perhaps tank water would have the right food in it for them?
> 
> How long will it take to see some significant growth in them? And about what age should they reach full growth?
> 
> ...


Filter feeders mean they strain organic matter like algae, the soup mixture you mentioned, or other detritus out of the water. Green water is great for these guys, as is the soup mentioned.

I have no experience with fairy shrimp but if they grow anything like my RCS, you'll want to feed them while they're still tiny (depending on the size of the fish - my tetras won't touch them when they're big enough to be visible, while an angel I used to have ate full grown RCS).

Tank water will only nourish them if it is full of organic matter. If your tank has bio-film on the surface, you could skim that and feed it to them, but otherwise I would stick to the soup.


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## Amie (Sep 15, 2010)

What exactly is green water? I have a general idea that it's water that is greenish tinted from algae. 

What about plant debris or green or black algae from one of my tanks? 

How big will they get? Right now they look like tiny little specks that move. Like little fleas or something.


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