Feeder tanks

[rrtanton]

Hello all...

I'm kind of stalling on getting my next octo, but hopefully I'll have time for him pretty soon. I'll be ordering Tonmo's live shrimp for him, of course. This had me contemplating feeder tanks. I do have a 12 gal feeder tank now. But of course, ordering more shrimp means better bang for the buck. I have a 20 gal or so sump...is it a bad idea to use the sump as a feeder tank?

I can imagine some drawbacks...a separate feeder tank also quarantines the live food from the main tank, as that population might be more likely to carry disease. Also, perhaps the octo would smell or otherwise somehow sense the shrimp in the sump (being the same system) and become determined to get in there somehow?

Any ideas on this? It would be nice to be able to take on that many more shrimp in one order.

rusty

 

[Nancy]

I have a lot of those shrimp living in my overflow. Although I have a net covering on the overflow holes, some smaller shrimp escaped and have been living happily there (with their amphipod friends) for some time. That wouldn't be much different than in the sump, only harder to catch!

A 1" shrimp is not very large. I'd like to know how many could live in a 12-gallon tank. I've kept 50 small shrimp in an ordinary mixing bowl, changing the water every day, with success. (Of course, the way Ollie loves shrimp, I didn't have to keep them too long.)

Is anyone out there keeping a feeder tank with shrimp?

Nancy

 

[corw314]

My feeder tank is only a 5 gal run by a mini internal and a box filter. Right now I have about 10 good size killie fish. They seem to do ok as I've had them in there about a week now. I used to have a 15 gal set up and may return to that as the weather gets better cause I can collect lots of different food options here! I have found the tank does fine with just the box and a powerhead run undergravel, so nothing fancy!

The 5 gal was originally for the shrimp and they did wonderfully in it! Only fed them flake food. I don't think Ink was thrilled with the shrimp, although they did all disapear in his tank. He seems to love the Killie fish!

Carol

 

[J.Scott]

I manage to keep 3,500 one inch feeder shrimp in 55 imperial gallon tank for up to two weeks. This is equipped with a large protein skimmer, chiller, UV and internal powerfilter. There are some losses, but these are minimal when compared with the quantity of shrimp.
The key factor is to keep them cold, mine are caught from the Thames esturary in the UK. I guess the requirements would be similar to those caught in North America.

J.Scott

 

[Nancy]

These are certainly two extremes in tank sizes! But, since I'm thinking of setting up a feeder tank, they're very useful. How many shrimp did you keep in your 5 gallon tank, Carol?

It would be so convenient to go out and collect octo food (fun, too), but those of us who live far inland will have to resort to having crabs and shrimp shipped to us. As you know, it's much more economical to place a larger order. Of course, once they arrive, they don't last long!

Nancy

 

[corw314]

Hi Nancy!

The shrimp, I think were the 25 original shipping experiment Tony did. They probably would have lasted more than 2 weeks had I remembered to feed them Oopps!!!

Spring and Summer time, I can catch as many local shrimp as I want! I am planning to set up my 15 gal again. Last summer, I had about 30 snails, probably 30 shrimp and maybe 10 crabs, with a seahorse thrown in and it did very well with just an undergravel and a box filter. My little 5 gal will be the culture for the 15. Works very well!!! My old 15 is now my 28 gal hex!!! Always had great success with this! And no cycling to wait on!!!

Don't know it's the best method, but it has worked for years for me!!!

Carol