Just like any of your other aquarium inhabitants, your shrimp need to eat as well. For this reason, we’re about to take a look at the five best shrimp foods for aquariums that your money can buy. There are plenty of different options to choose from, and here we’ve narrowed it down to the top five.
Best Shrimp Food for Aquariums
- Aqueon Omnivore Shrimp Disc Food
- JOR Calcium Rocks for Shrimps
- JungleAquashrimp Dry Mulberry Leaves
- Dennerle Shrimp King Baby Freshwater Dwarf Shrimp Food
- Invert Aquatics Mini Algae Discs
Top 5 Best Shrimp Food for Aquariums: Reviews
Here are the top picks for the best shrimp food for aquariums available at this time.
1. Aqueon Omnivore Shrimp Disc Food: Our Top Pick
- Ideal for shrimp in Genus Caridina, such as Crystal and Bumble Bee Shrimp
- Contains Bentonite Clay to aid with molting and strong shell production
Here we have what amounts to some of the simplest and easiest to use omnivore shrimp food available. As you might be able to tell, this is a specific type of food designed for omnivorous shrimp, which means that it should provide them with all of the animal and plant matter they need for a healthy diet.
This product consists of a wide variety of natural ingredients designed to provide shrimp with all of the nutrients they need to maintain healthy organ function, color, and more. What’s really important is that this product is not formulated with any fish meal, which therefore helps to mimic a more natural diet.
It also comes with special color enhancers, which helps to make shrimp brighter, as well as bentonite clay which helps to develop their exoskeletons. This helps make shrimp very strong and healthy. Furthermore, it features very high protein levels, which is ideal for shrimp carrying eggs. All in all, this is some of the best shrimp food that you can possibly get.
Pros
- Easy to use
- Balanced diet
- Natural ingredients
- Great for all omnivorous shrimp
Cons
- Can make a tank smell
When it comes to providing your shrimp with a nutritionally balanced diet, this is the number one product we would recommend over all others.
2. JOR Calcium Rocks for Shrimps
- Calcium helps shedding --- Shrimps add vibrancy to your aquatic life and make great pets. JOR’s...
- For holistic habitat and overall development --- If your shrimps are losing color and not look as...
What we have here are some fantastic calcium rocks designed for shrimp, snails, and other such creatures. The issue that many shrimp often experience from is simply that they don’t get enough calcium in their diets.
Calcium is very important for shrimp, particularly in terms of their coloration and for the development of their exoskeletons. Calcium also helps them shed better so that they can then develop new outer shells with these.
It’s a really important thing to have present in any tank, especially for baby shrimp. What’s really cool is that these rocks last for a very long time, because they only dissolve very slowly, even with shrimp constantly eating them.
Now, something to keep in mind is that these calcium rocks will alter the pH level in your aquarium, mainly by making it more alkaline or less acidic. This is something you’ll have to keep in account.
With that being said if you have ghost shrimp, crystal red shrimp, or Amano shrimp, then these calcium rocks are certainly more than ideal.
Pros
- Good calcium supplement
- Great price
- User friendly
Cons
- Not a full meal
Although this doesn’t qualify as fully functional shrimp food, it will certainly provide your shrimp with the calcium they need for a strong and healthy function.
3. JungleAquashrimp Dry Mulberry Leaves
- 100% Natural Dry Leaves - 100% completely free from chemical residues.
- Mulberry Leaves are rich in : - carbohydrates + essential vitamins + fibers. - minerals such as...
If your shrimp are getting bored of their regular food, and need to give them some more protein, giving them these Mulberry leaves could be the solution. These Mulberry leaves are dried and specially designed to provide your shrimp with a variety of essential vitamins, fibers, carbohydrates, minerals, proteins, and more.
The number one function of these Mulberry leaves, besides acting as a tasty snack for your shrimp, is to help your shrimp build stronger endoskeletons.
Furthermore, it can also help to increase their overall coloration and brightness. These Mulberry leaves are designed to also mimic the natural environment of many freshwater shrimp, as Mulberry leaves are usually a natural part of the environment.
Here, you can choose between different size options, with the smallest package coming with 10 leaves, and the biggest one coming with 100 leaves. What’s also nice about these Mulberry leaves is that they help to reduce the risk of bacterial and fungal outbreaks, and they provide some biofilm grazing grounds as well. These are proven to help shrimp last longer.
Pros
- Great source of nutrients
- Tasty snack
- Helps protect shrimp from bacterial infections
- Great for beneficial tank bacteria
Cons
- Not a nutritionally balanced diet
If you’re looking for a tasty snack to give to your shrimp, something that will provide them with a vitamin and mineral boost, then these Mulberry leaves are fantastic.
4. Dennerle Shrimp King Baby Freshwater Dwarf Shrimp Food
Although this shrimp food is technically designed for baby shrimp, you could also give it to adults, although you’ll have to give them a lot more. What you get here is 35 grams of high quality shrimp food for one low price.
This shrimp food comes complete with many different vegetables, such as spinach, dandelion, well, and other herbs, as well as many sources of high quality animal proteins, as well as amino acids and essential fatty acids.
What it comes down to is that this product contains a full range of proteins, vitamins, minerals, acids, and other nutrients which your shrimp will need to survive. It therefore provides your shrimp with a nutritionally complete diet that will help support their coloration, exoskeletons, shedding, and much more.
It also happens to be a very easy to use food, because you just have to dump it right in the tank. All in all, this might just be one of our favorite options out there, especially if you are somebody who likes to breed shrimp and needs good food for baby shrimp fry.
Pros
- Great for breeding shrimp
- Nutritionally balanced diet
- High quality ingredients
- Reasonable priced
Cons
- Not the best option for adult shrimp
If you are into breeding shrimp, and you need some good baby shrimp food, then here is probably your best option.
5. Invert Aquatics Mini Algae Discs
What we have here is a specific type of aquarium food designed for a variety of bottom feeders. It can be used for bottom feeding fish, snails, and shrimps of all types. It is specifically formulated with a wide variety of beneficial ingredients designed to keep bottom feeders healthy and happy.
It features at least 30% protein, 7.5% crude fat, 4% crude fiber, a maximum of 10% moisture, as well as many other beneficial ingredients. It is made with fish meal, spirulina, rice flour, wheat bran, soybean meal, freeze dried krill, freeze dried plankton, and many different vegetables and plants.
What it comes down to is that this is another nutritionally balanced and complete diet which is more than ideal for snails, shrimp, and any other such animals.
All you have to do is place an appropriate amount of it into a tank at once, and it should last for some time to come.
These are discs that just sink to the bottom of the tank, but they shouldn’t make your tank water cloudy, which is a big deal. With that being said, just don’t add too many into an aquarium at once, because if left for too long, they may start to dissolve and cause a mess.
Pros
- Nutritionally complete
- Ideal for shrimp and other bottom feeders
- Healthy and natural
- Cost effective
Cons
- May start to dissolve in the tank
If you happen to have a lot of different bottom feeders in your aquarium, then this is probably the best food at your disposal.
Shrimp Food for Aquariums: Buyers Guide: What to Look Out for
Before you go out and buy any old food for your shrimp, there are a number of important factors to look out for.
Ingredients
You should always pay attention to the ingredients contained in these products. Anything in the ingredients list should be things that you can easily pronounce. A variety of animal proteins, plant proteins, and herbs are all acceptable, as well as added vitamins and minerals.
Nutrients
When it comes to shrimp and other bottom feeders, these foods should have around 30% protein at the very least, as well as 7.5% crude fat, and 4% crude fiber. Slightly more than the prescribed percentages above is fine, but less is not.
You also don’t want these foods to have more than 10% moisture. On that note, always pay attention to the nutritional content in general. As you can see, some of the products we’ve talked about here today are specifically designed for individual needs, such as for calcium supplementation.
Water Quality and Parameters
Although it will be unavoidable to a certain degree, if at all possible, getting shrimp food that will not dissolve in the water too quickly is ideal.
You don’t want the food to dissolve within a matter of minutes, because it will do nothing but make a mess inside of the aquarium. For instance, the calcium supplement for shrimp we looked at above will certainly make the water more alkaline.
