shrimp observations

A few weeks ago I purchased 6 tiger shrimp for my non-CO2 20G tank. Tigers seem just as easy to breed as red cherry shrimp (RCS) -- I have 12 tigers now and 2 currently pregnant females. (I also have a pregnant RCS from a batch I bought just over a week ago -- she just got that yellow spot in her thorax.) Galaxy rasboras (Celestial Pearl Danios, as some call them) seem like ideal tank mates for shrimp as many of the shrimp fry survive. Unfortunately, I no longer get Galaxy Rasbora fry -- ever since I got the tiger shrimp. The tigers are getting extra nutrition from fish eggs, I'm sure. I don't miss raising the Galaxy fry, to be honest ... they stay small for a looooonnnngggg time and take quite a bit of time to raise.

I witnessed something today that surprised the heck out of me. A tiger shrimp grabbed a small snail, turned it upside down, and basically just started picking at it. The tiger was eating the snail! I don't mind at all as it is just one of your standard pond snails that come with plants. I just didn't expect this. I've never seen an RCS do this. The tiger that was eating the snail was a pregnant female, so she may have been extra hungry.

I have some HBH Veggie Wafers that seem like a great food for shrimp, by the way. I am careful not to overfeed, as I've heard that shrimp will eat themselves to death, if too much food is available. Mostly, I let the shrimp fend for themselves: algae (not much there) and excess fish food (not much there either). If I get the feeling they are getting hungry, I have a simple technique for feeding without over-feeding: I made a simple 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" envelope of window screen -- simply 2 pieces of 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" squares of screen sewn together on three sides. At shrimp feeding time, I insert a few partial pieces of veggie wafer inside the screen. I place it in the tank -- the shrimp are all over the screen very quickly. I remove the screen with remaining wafer inside it in 30 - 60 mins. The shrimp probably are cursing me at that point, but it's for their own good.