What do you feed your cleaner shrimp?

[stieger]

Hi folks,
I've had him in the tank for 4 days, and he's already deposited an exo-skeleton once! Anyway, trying to determine how to keep him healthy and fed.
What do you guys feed your shrimp? Do they just scavenge and pick up what the other fish don't eat?
He seems to scurry around the tank when it's feeding time (frozen brine), so I'm not sure if he's super hungry and trying to catch whatever he can...
Thx for your help!
Stieger

 

[renogaw]

frozen brine is not a good food sourse.
my shrimp delight in the frozen mush that i make, plus i give them a nice chunk of scallop on occasion.

 

[05xrunner]

I dont feed my shrimp anything.
he feeds himself with floating cyclo, mysis, and stuff on the rocks and sand. he just gets the left overs that blow around.

 

[d0 thy d3w]

ive even seen cleaner shrimp at the lfs jump onto a fish passerby and attempt to clean it off!! the fish didnt even seem scared!! it was like as if it were a person taking his car through a car wash

 

[old_salt]

I don't target feed them, but I have a large one in my 46G that loves mysis shrimp. I've seen him crawl up on a large anemone and steal pieces of mysis shrimp. Yesterday I saw him destroy and eat an aptasia so he must not be getting enough leftovers. I thought only peppermints were supposed to eat these things.

 

[m0nk]

I feed my fish flakes in the morning and frozen Emerald Entree in the evening. My cleaner shrimp climbs up and will always sneak off with some of either. That's fine by me because I have a Peppermint shrimp who cleans up after the cleaner shrimp...it's pretty funny really. I do take care not to over/under feed, but the cleaner shrimp always seems hungry.

 

[d0 thy d3w]

Originally Posted by Old_Salt
I don't target feed them, but I have a large one in my 46G that loves mysis shrimp. I've seen him crawl up on a large anemone and steal pieces of mysis shrimp. Yesterday I saw him destroy and eat an aptasia so he must not be getting enough leftovers. I thought only peppermints were supposed to eat these things.
i wouldnt be complaining if i had a cleaner with a taste for yummy aiptasia..arent those the pest anenomes?

 

[reeffreakgeek]

Mysis shrimp and Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef.

 

[aztec reef]

mine eat any time my fish eat.in other words i don't specially feed them.

 

[teen]

i hand feed meaty food and flake. and sometimes just let him pick at my hands, he seems to like that.
he also cleans my lawnmower blenny everynight.

 

[zj4play]

I don't mean to jump in and start this post agian...but I just got my cleaner shimp and he is alone in the tank except for some snails and hermit crabs. How often should I be feeding it :notsure:
Thanks

 

[ci11337]

Mine will swim up to the surface and cling to the turkey baster like it's his bottle. BTW baster is full of mysis.

 

[azfishgal]

Originally Posted by zj4play
I don't mean to jump in and start this post agian...but I just got my cleaner shimp and he is alone in the tank except for some snails and hermit crabs. How often should I be feeding it :notsure:
Thanks

From what I understand cleaner shrimp are social, so add another cleaner shrimp. I had one shrimp for two weeks and then added another one. They are always together.

As far as what I feed them, my cleaner shrimp go bonkers over Omega One small pellets. My snails also come up out of the sand when I drop some in, it's like the invasion of the snails. It's fun to watch and I've seen my cleaner shrimp steal the pellets from the snails.

Oh, right now I feed once a day a very small amount, but will skip some days to make sure I don't over feed. When I add fish I won't make any "special" feedings for my shrimp.

 

[jesses89]

i have 2 cleaners... feed them once every other day.....
silversides
flakes
squid
and any uneaten angel formula, formula 1 , formula 2 that the fish dont eat....
and remember to add iodine to your tank... i add one teaspoon for every 50 gallons of iodine each week..... so adding iodine for proper molting is also good for your cleaner

 

[zj4play]

Cool, thanks for the tips guys