# food for severums/gt



## HONDO (May 4, 2008)

would it be ok to feed my severum and my gt some synthetic crab meat and or cooked shrimp?
thanks


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

The Krab meat is whiting(I think) that's pressed and dyed to look like crab . I'd skip on it because of the dye. Shrimp on the other hand is great. I wouldn't use cooked though , I'd just mince it up good and feed it raw.


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

shrimp will being out red like crazy to!


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## HONDO (May 4, 2008)

so not cooked shrimp, but raw? why is that?
gage, do i remember correctly that in another thread you said that shrimp (namely spirulina, found mostly in the shrimp shells) is good for color?

i threw in some cucumbers for the first time. really no interest from the cichlids, but my pleco was floating across the tank upside down attached to a slice, haha. funny.


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## Murky (Jun 13, 2007)

pretty sure the post you are talking about talks about astaxanthin, a carotenoid pigment. which shrimp and lobster and even carrots have carotenoid compounds in them, which is what makes them orange!!!


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

> not cooked shrimp, but raw? why is that?


It doesn't need to be and cooking actually removes some nutrients.


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

> so not cooked shrimp, but raw? why is that?


Um, it's not like our cichlids head out to the back yard BBQ every time they catch a fresh water shrimp.

However I get confused when you Yanks talk about shrimp, mostly becuase what you call shrimp is actually a salt water prawn.

Try adding a dozen live ghost shrimp and time how long it takes the GT and Sev to hunt them all down.


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## HONDO (May 4, 2008)

DeadFishFloating said:


> > so not cooked shrimp, but raw? why is that?
> 
> 
> Um, it's not like our cichlids head out to the back yard BBQ every time they catch a fresh water shrimp.
> ...


ha, thats actually a good point. im pretty sure the fish dont mind if it isnt cooked. i just asked because i had bought some cooked shrimp for myself and was gonna toss it in but it was covered in old bay. figured old bay may not be the best idea.


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## BadFishPa (Dec 27, 2008)

I always try to salvage one shrimp before i season them for my oscar[/b]


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## HONDO (May 4, 2008)

DeadFishFloating said:


> > so not cooked shrimp, but raw? why is that?
> 
> 
> Um, it's not like our cichlids head out to the back yard BBQ every time they catch a fresh water shrimp.
> ...


picked up a few dozen ghost shrimp today. will time it and post how long it takes my guys to clean em up! thanks for the suggestion.


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## klumsyninja (Aug 14, 2008)

I added my Sevs to a heavily planted tank that had over 30 cherry red shrimp in there and the next day i was looking at the tank thinking... somethings missing in here... they love their shrimp.


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## HONDO (May 4, 2008)

yeah, apparently you are right. that was quite a thing to watch. felt bad for the shrimp to be honest.

severum sucked them up good, but the gt was a killing machine. her (i think) belly is full and to be honest her color has never been better. mixing up the diet of my fish has been very enjoyable for me to watch. between frozen peas, bloodworms, food sticks from my fingers, nls, and now ghost shrimp, it has helped the health and color of my fish.

maybe the best thing though has been watching them act like they were meant to act. hunting down some shrimp instead of swallowing sinking pellets.


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## Gino Santangelo (Nov 26, 2008)

If there is such a thing as reincarnation lets hope it's not as shrimp. I here they are high in caroteen which brings out color in fish.


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

HONDO said:


> yeah, apparently you are right. that was quite a thing to watch. felt bad for the shrimp to be honest.
> 
> severum sucked them up good, but the gt was a killing machine. her (i think) belly is full and to be honest her color has never been better. mixing up the diet of my fish has been very enjoyable for me to watch. between frozen peas, bloodworms, food sticks from my fingers, nls, and now ghost shrimp, it has helped the health and color of my fish.
> 
> maybe the best thing though has been watching them act like they were meant to act. hunting down some shrimp instead of swallowing sinking pellets.


please please please please please please please please please set up a camcorder on a tripod in front of your tank next time you do this and then post the footage here. I'd love to watch this.

Incidently did you remember to hit the start button on your watch to time them, or did you get caught up in the moment and were in awe of your GT. 

I like feeding live brine shrimp to my laetacara once a month or so, they go nuts. But my school of Lemon tetras are savage. They remind me of a cross between a school of pirhanas and sharks decimating a school of sardines.


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## HONDO (May 4, 2008)

honestly, i didnt even have time to mess with a stop watch. it was quick!
i got a little nervous cause the gt's stomach looked like she ate a golf ball. she was all full of shrimp, but happy as a pig in you know what.

i will try to get some footage next time.

my blackskirts were interested in the shrimp also, but i think they were too confused to catch any of them. maybe next time they will be on their toes and get a meal before the shrimp vanish. my cory school actually got really excited too. that was surprising.


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## HONDO (May 4, 2008)

im not sure if it was necissarily smart to do, but i found some crickets in my basement last night and threw em in the tank. wow, the little gt hit the big cricket hard. the smaller cricket actually got grabbed by a blackskirt. severum didnt get any cricket.

is it ok to do this if i find crickets or is this a bad idea? are there even crickets in south america?


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

:lol:

Hey *HONDO*, crickets are fine. Yes there are crickets in South America. Almost every insect thats falls in to water is toast, as most fish will go for them. Next time a bath in some shallow tap water before they go for the big swim might be a good idea.


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## HONDO (May 4, 2008)

good deal, thanks. 
im still workin on that ghost shrimp video for you. i just need to get a video camera.... ha


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