-
Welcome to TONMO, a community of cephalopod experts, hobbyists and enthusiasts. Established in 2000, we are the founders of TONMOCON, and birthplace of World Octopus Day and Cephalopod Awareness Days. ...You can register here, and Introduce Yourself. To rid yourself of ads and enjoy other perks, become a Supporter for just $25/year. (Now accepting bitcoin & other crypto!) ...Follow us on Twitter and YouTube for more cephy goodness.
-
Looking to buy a cephalopod? Check out Tomh's Cephs Forum, and this post in particular shares important info about our policies as it relates to responsible ceph-keeping.
krill or shrimp?
- Thread starter SandV
- Start date
Collin,
I am glad you made the distinction as I have been meaning to ask WHY is cooked a no-no? Specifically, I have seen post that say not to buy frozen crab because it is cooked but why is that bad? Would it be acceptable as an emergency food?
Edit 2017 The article referenced here gives some evidence why cooked is less acceptable than raw
I am glad you made the distinction as I have been meaning to ask WHY is cooked a no-no? Specifically, I have seen post that say not to buy frozen crab because it is cooked but why is that bad? Would it be acceptable as an emergency food?
Edit 2017 The article referenced here gives some evidence why cooked is less acceptable than raw
Last edited:
Hi D
As an emergency; frozen food and pre cooked food is fine and I have broken a few of my own 'rules' on more than one occasion, but *ideally* the food should be uncooked and unfrozen.
Cooking a food and freezing a food denatures some of the essential vitamins, proteins etc that is found in the food. Okay, I am no nutritionist but its a fact that, even for humans, the best way to eat a food is raw. Perhaps googling for human foods and freezing/cooking will be helpful?
SanV - yeah the krill from a shop is raw but frozen. Ideally, cephalopod food should be fresh and raw, do you have a seafood shop near you?
cheers
Colin
As an emergency; frozen food and pre cooked food is fine and I have broken a few of my own 'rules' on more than one occasion, but *ideally* the food should be uncooked and unfrozen.
Cooking a food and freezing a food denatures some of the essential vitamins, proteins etc that is found in the food. Okay, I am no nutritionist but its a fact that, even for humans, the best way to eat a food is raw. Perhaps googling for human foods and freezing/cooking will be helpful?
SanV - yeah the krill from a shop is raw but frozen. Ideally, cephalopod food should be fresh and raw, do you have a seafood shop near you?
cheers
Colin
SandV,
I am not sure that this observation is anything but anticdotal but my Mercs would catch shrimp in their breeder nets quite easily but once lose in the the tank either would not bother (I have seen them swatted away) or just give up the chase because I feed fresh kill by hand along with their favorite zooplankton. I have been thinking that the dwarf species in general may be more scavenger oriented but it may be that they become lazy with the plentiful food and hand feeding. My survival rate has been good so far with this method and I always leave live in the tanks (shore shrimp and crabs) in case I miss a day or have to be away but I am never quite sure if they will be able to catch their own. I suspect that if they are hungry enough they would (MIA probably does most of his feeding this way but my other 4 prefer the to be hand fed) but I enjoy feeding them nightly so I just don't worry about it.
Another consideration about krill vs shrimp is simply, which will your little guy eat? The Mercs won't touch snails (live), hermits (live), krill (frozen) or clam meat (frozen). I have seen evidence that they may have investigated some very small bivalves in the live rock but have not been able to find anyone that can ship them (or barnacles) to see if there is an interest in stationary food (the clams I did find are not disturbed and help clean their sand bed but are too large for them to open).
If you are concerned about your little guy not getting enough to eat, you might try a large zoo plankton along with his dead crab. If you see him "twirling" his arms with the zooplankton (animal - NOT plant based) you will know he is eating it. I have had very good success with FROZEN Cyclop-eeze, if you can find it. If yours eats it now, he may stop eating it as he grows but the Mercs have eaten it all their lives.
I am not sure that this observation is anything but anticdotal but my Mercs would catch shrimp in their breeder nets quite easily but once lose in the the tank either would not bother (I have seen them swatted away) or just give up the chase because I feed fresh kill by hand along with their favorite zooplankton. I have been thinking that the dwarf species in general may be more scavenger oriented but it may be that they become lazy with the plentiful food and hand feeding. My survival rate has been good so far with this method and I always leave live in the tanks (shore shrimp and crabs) in case I miss a day or have to be away but I am never quite sure if they will be able to catch their own. I suspect that if they are hungry enough they would (MIA probably does most of his feeding this way but my other 4 prefer the to be hand fed) but I enjoy feeding them nightly so I just don't worry about it.
Another consideration about krill vs shrimp is simply, which will your little guy eat? The Mercs won't touch snails (live), hermits (live), krill (frozen) or clam meat (frozen). I have seen evidence that they may have investigated some very small bivalves in the live rock but have not been able to find anyone that can ship them (or barnacles) to see if there is an interest in stationary food (the clams I did find are not disturbed and help clean their sand bed but are too large for them to open).
If you are concerned about your little guy not getting enough to eat, you might try a large zoo plankton along with his dead crab. If you see him "twirling" his arms with the zooplankton (animal - NOT plant based) you will know he is eating it. I have had very good success with FROZEN Cyclop-eeze, if you can find it. If yours eats it now, he may stop eating it as he grows but the Mercs have eaten it all their lives.
I have feed the cyclop-eeze and he doesn't seem to care about it and the zoo doesn't even catch his attention. I am not worried about the amount he is eating but I just wanted to feed him the best for him. I have LARGE pods in his tank and I have seen him catch them... but then he lets them go.... I don't know if he just does it for entertainment or exercise.... or just to torcher them.... Just like his hermit that he has been after since day 1... I know he was hungery when he attacked the pod because after he let it go I gave him the food I was holding for him (he did it just before I opened his top to give him his dinner).
