Calcium rich food for your shrimp

[jayc]

There are other sources of Calcium for your shrimp apart from dosing Calcium sulfate or dropping shells and cuttlefish bones into the water column.

These sources come from the foods we feed the shrimp.
These are all natural sources of food, so should be okay to feed your shrimp, just be careful you wash them properly and ensure no fertiliser/chemical residue is on the veg/fruit. If you grow it yourself, you will be sure of what was sprayed on the plants.

Here is a list of vegetables and fruits by mg of Calcium content per 100gm of food.
Vegetable (mg Ca)
Arrowhead 1
Chives (per tablespoon) 2
Peppers, Sweet 6
Alfalfa sprouts 10
Pumpkin leaves 15
Asparagus 14-28
Coriander (cilantro) 16
Chard, Swiss 18
Radish seed sprouts 19
Lettuce, Cos, Romaine 20
Lettuce, Romaine (100g) 20
Squash, Zucchini 20
Jerusalem artichoke 21
Pumpkin 24
Endive 26
Squash, Summer 26
Cauliflower 28
Purslane 28
Radishes 28
Carrots 30
Eggplant 30
Cabbage 32
New Zealand Spinach 32
Kohlrabi 34
Lettuce, Looseleaf 38
Peas, Green 36
Turnips 39
Cress, garden 40
Watercress 40
Broccoli 42
Mung bean sprouts 42
Celery 44
Beet greens 46
Snap beans 46
Parsnips 47
Spinach 56
Mustard Greens 58
Green Onions 60
Peas, Edible pod 62
Rutabagas 65
Celeriac 68
Chinese cabbage 74
Parsley 78
Salsify 80
Borage (Starflower) 82
Okra 82
Kale 94
Lettuce, Iceberg 102
Dandelion greens 103
Turnip Greens 105
Kale, Scotch 137
Chicory greens 180
Mulberry Leaves ~200
Collard Greens 218
 

Fruits  mg Ca
Plum  4
Peach  5
Nectarine  5
Casaba Melon  5
Blueberries  6
Honeydew Melon  6
Banana  6
Cranberries  7
Apple(with skin)  7
Pineapple  7
Persimmon  8
Watermelon  8
Mango  10
Grapes  11
Cantaloupe  11
Pear  11
Grapefruit, Red & Pink  11
Grapefruit, White  12
Apricots  14
Tangerine  14
Strawberries  14
Sweet Cherries  15
Raspberries  22
Papaya  24
Lemon (peeled)  26
Kiwi fruit 26
Blackberries  32
Lime  33
Orange  40
Seedless Raisins  49

 

 

Just a word of caution.
These foods contain Phosphorous and could have an ill effect on your water quality. It might even cause an algal bloom if the levels of phosphorous become too high. Common sense applies when feeding ... not too much too often, and if there are any leftovers, remove it.

For those Phosphorous conscious people out there, this is a table of Calcium to Phosphorous ratio:

Calcium:Phosphorus Ratio - Vegetables 
14.5:1 -- Collards
10.0:1 -- Mulberry Leaves
7.5:1 -- Spinach, Mustard
4.5:1 -- Turnip Greens
4.3:1 -- Lambsquarters
3.2:1 -- Dill Weed
3.0:1 -- Beet Greens
2.8:1 -- Dandelion Greens
2.8:1 -- Chinese Cabbage (pak-choi)
2.7:1 -- Lettuce, LooseLeaf
2.4:1 -- Mustard Greens
2.4:1 -- Parsley
2.4:1 -- Kale
2.1:1 -- Chicory Greens
2.0:1 -- Spinach
2.0:1 -- Watercress
2.0:1 -- Cabbage
1.9:1 -- Endive
1.6:1 -- Celery
1.5:1 -- Purslane
1.4:1 -- Cilantro
1.4:1 -- Lettuce, Butterhead
1.3:1 -- Okra
1.1:1 -- Swiss Chard
1.1:1 -- Turnip
1.1:1 -- Chard, Swiss
1.0:1 -- Squash (winter, all varieties)
1.0:1 -- Green Beans
0.8:1 -- Lettuce, Romaine
0.8:1 -- Sweet Potato
0.8:1 -- Rutabaga
0.7:1 -- Broccoli
0.7:1 -- Cucumber (with skin)
0.6:1 -- Carrots
0.6:1 -- Squash (summer, all varieties)
0.6:1 -- Carrots, Baby
0.6:1 -- Brussels Sprouts
0.5:1 -- Cauliflower
0.5:1 -- Kohlrabi
0.5:1 -- Pumpkin
0.5:1 -- Alfalfa Sprouts
0.5:1 -- Parsnips
0.5:1 -- Peppers,Green
0.5:1 -- Peppers,Red
0.4:1 -- Sweet Potato Leaves
0.4:1 -- Beets
0.4:1 -- Asparagus
0.2:1 -- Tomato
.02:1 -- Corn, White

 

 

Calcium:Phosphorus Ratio - Fruits 
4.8:1 -- Papaya
2.9:1 -- Orange
1.8:1 -- Lime
1.8:1 -- Raspberries
1.6:1 -- Lemon (no peel)
1.5:1 -- Blackberries
1.5:1 -- Grapefruit, White
1.2:1 -- Grapefruit, Pink and Red
1.2:1 -- Tangerine
1.0:1 -- Pineapple
1.0:1 -- Pear
1.0:1 -- Apple (with Skin)
0.9:1 -- Mango
0.9:1 -- Watermelon
0.8:1 -- Cherries, Sweet
0.8:1 -- Grapes
0.8:1 -- Cranberries
0.7:1 -- Casaba Melon
0.7:1 -- Apricots
0.7:1 -- Kiwi
0.7:1 -- Strawberries
0.6:1 -- Cantaloupe
0.6:1 -- Honeydew Melon
0.6:1 -- Blueberries
0.5:1 -- Persimmon, Japanese
0.5:1 -- Raisins, Seedless
0.4:1 -- Peach
0.4:1 -- Plum
0.3:1 -- Nectarine
0.3:1 -- Banana

So Collards are a good choice as they have a high Calcium to Phosphorous ratio
While Bananas are not such a good choice as they a low Calcium to Phosphorous ratio.

Edited May 12, 2014 by jayc

[shrimpstan]

Nice post mate!! Cheers for the info :)

[ineke]

Do you know what the amount of calcium is per mg fed ie is this guide how much calcium per 100 gm of food? Thanks it's a very useful list

[jayc]

Do you know what the amount of calcium is per mg fed ie is this guide how much calcium per 100 gm of food? Thanks it's a very useful list

Yes, the list is mg of calcium per 100gm of food.

I'll update the list to indicate this.

[Squiggle]

Very cool list dude, very useful source of info, thanks for sharing :victorious:

[BlueBolts]

Love it .... thanks again jayc. Motivated me to get some kale 2day !

[ineke]

Just to make 100% sure is every thing on this list food that we can offer to our shrimp. There are some things I would not have thought of and it is a very extensive list.

[Ace027]

Im surprise Mulberry is not included. My shrimps loves it.

[jayc]

Im surprise Mulberry is not included. My shrimps loves it.

I'm sure. However this list isn't about how much your shrimp will like these foods. It's about how much calcium your shrimp could potentially get out of the food.

I'm sure there are a hundred other potential foods you could feed your shrimp that isn't listed.

I can't guess at what people are likely to feed their shrimp.

Having looked it up, it turns out that Mulberry leaves are a great source of calcium.

I can't verify it since Mulberry leaves isn't traditionally considered as food.

But some articles indicate that Mulberry leaves calcium content is about 200mg/100 g.

That puts it right up there in the top 3 for calcium content.

No wonder those silk worms like eating it so much.

edit - found the phosphorus content as well, 20mg/100g. So the Ca:P ratio is 10:1.

This is a great source of calcium for shrimps.

[Squiggle]

I was looking for this thread the other day, I finally found it & thought that it was an awesome reference & should be a sticky. :victorious:

[jayc]

How do you make it a sticky?

Does a mod do that, cause I don't see any buttons.

[Squiggle]

Yeah the mods decide if it should be a sticky & they have decided it should be, well done dude!! :victorious:

[durro68]

Great list mate .... opens your eyes to the variety we can feed our shrimps.

Congrats on the sticky!

[jayc]

Hey look !

It's a sticky!

:redface-new:

[Wraithie]

That's very interesting about the mulberry leaves, I wonder if drying and blanching makes much of a difference.

Jayc do you think you could include that info as an addendum on the OP?

[jayc]

Done. Original Post updated to include Mulberry.

I decided to place it under "Vegetables"

Now that the weather is warming up, Mulberry leaves are readily available.

[poeticwinter]

any one know is Hikari Algae Wafers content any calcium and mineral?

[jayc]

Here you go.

Hikari algae wafer:

Ingredients

Fish Meal, Wheat Flour, Wheat Germ Meal, Starch, Dried Seaweed Meal, Dried Bakery Product, Alfalfa Nutrient Concentrate Dehydrated, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Brewer's Dried Yeast, Soybean Meal, Fish Oil, Krill Meal, Spirulina, Garlic, Dl-Methionine, Chlorella, Astaxanthin, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Stabilized Vitamin C), Inositol, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Vitamin A Oil, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Niacin, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source Of Vitamin K), Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Disodium Phosphate, Ferrous Sulfate, Magnesium Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Cobalt Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Blue 2 (Artificial Color).

[poeticwinter]

cool thank you :)

Here you go.Hikari algae wafer:IngredientsFish Meal, Wheat Flour, Wheat Germ Meal, Starch, Dried Seaweed Meal, Dried Bakery Product, Alfalfa Nutrient Concentrate Dehydrated, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Brewer's Dried Yeast, Soybean Meal, Fish Oil, Krill Meal, Spirulina, Garlic, Dl-Methionine, Chlorella, Astaxanthin, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Stabilized Vitamin C), Inositol, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Vitamin A Oil, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Niacin, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source Of Vitamin K), Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Disodium Phosphate, Ferrous Sulfate, Magnesium Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Cobalt Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Blue 2 (Artificial Color).

[ineke]

Bumping this article for new members:beer:

[jayc]

The table from our previous version of the forum software has not transferred over well.

 

Anyone know how to fix it without me recreating it?

[jayc]

Been trying to figure out how to rebuild this table without re-creating it from scratch.

Don't think it's possible. The new forum tools don't seem to have functions for a table.

Guess I'll have to rebuild from scratch. Damn. 

[Squiggle]

Doh, bummer dude!

[jayc]

Fixed.

Unfortunately it's not as elegant as a table. but at least the information is back.

[Squiggle]

Awesome work dude, well done!