Hello, I was wondering if any of you buy kale leaves or vegetables to feed your shrimp from supermarkets, and what you do to make sure they are safe to feed? Is washing enough or do you have to blanch? Have you used non-organic without problems?

Thanks :)

I wouldnt trust any leaf bought at a supermarket, even organics. The 'natural' pesticides used on organic farms are just as bad for shrimp as they are for bugs. Best bet is to grow your own. Another option is to use an alternative. I prefer mulberry leaves or Boss Aquaria snow as a source of fiber for my shrimp. 

Indeed... I'd be fairly wary of store-bought leafy greens.  If you've seen what things like kale and spinach look like with NOTHING sprayed on them... you'd know why "organic" still means it's probably been sprayed with something. 

Growing stuff like kale, chard,  spinach, other collard greens is very easy and can be done in a 1gallon pot and 1 square foot of space (but beware, sometimes they can get enormous).  You can either go cheap and buy seeds or bum a few off a gardener friend or buy one of those cheap seedling punnets.  Or... beg a few leaves from that gardener friend (if they never spray) and freeze them. 

Or, if you're desperate enough to drive to Glenroy, you can grab various stuff from my yard.

Thanks both of you :) I have a good source of mulberry leaves. Can I feed them as the only source of fresh green food, along with dry food and IAL?

There are lots of people who neglect to provide their shrimp with any "fresh" foods at all and their shrimp mostly survive.  Quality of life for the shrimp and the growth of the colony may be affected, but it's hard to tell.

I generally prefer to provide variety when possible, but that might well be because I prefer variety in MY foods. 

Oh, I forgot to mention - blanching/boiling/steaming veggies not only helps with pesticides, it softens the food so the shrimp can have a go at it earlier and helps the foods sink instead of float around the top of your tank annoyingly for ages.

Thank you :) I just bought some kale seeds. I'm setting up a tank for shrimp again soon so I guess they'll be getting some homegrown kale too :)

17 hours ago, viridisornatus said:

Thanks both of you :) I have a good source of mulberry leaves. Can I feed them as the only source of fresh green food, along with dry food and IAL?

In my experience, yes. I don't feed any 'fresh' food besides mulberry leaves. My belief is that the algae growing in a shrimp tank is far more important. That said, I do feed a range of dry shrimp foods as the variety should prevent any micronutrients from being left out.

I have been an advocate for mulberry leaves for a long time. I noticed several years ago that the survival rate of babies increased when the leaves were introduced. I have mulberry leaves in all my tanks at all times now and leave them in until they are just veins -although even they get eaten once soft-or until water change day when I siphon them out and add new leaves. You need to be very careful when siphoning the leaves out as the babies love to hang out under neath them. I blanche and freeze them for a supply over winter or I sometimes dry them by placing them in a cotton bag and hanging on the clothes line until thoroughly dry -they stay nice and green and refresh overnight in a bowl of water or straight into the tank where they float for a day or 2. Mulberry trees are very easy to propagate just from a few thin branches -they are best kept in pots as they grow very large in the ground. The added bonus is sweet mulberries this time of year -I picked a big bowl full from my 4 year old tree today but usually just eat a few every time I go ut near the pot!

I also keep a pot of mixed lettuce, spinach and kale growing through the year and pick these as they grow, plus I have nasturtiums growing and feed the leaves after blanching. 

We had an incident with one of our members a few years ago who lost a large part of his CRS colony from spinach leaves bought in a prepack bag from the super market -despite blanching the leaves his shrimp started dying soon after the leaves had been added to his tank so my advice is if you don't know where your leaves have come from or if you find a tree with leaves but you don't know if it has been sprayed don't take the chance.

Thank you both, very helpful!

I have a few cauliflower plants growing. Can I use the leaves and stems of those?

Sure.  Mine like cauliflower main stems too (the part that many people cut and throw away when taking apart the florets).  It lasts better in the tank than florets - those will smell up the tank in a day or 2.

Thank you. Does anyone still use dandelion leaves and flowers?