Have a relatively small, fishless pond with Lilly pads and other vegetation that would like to use as growing pond for grass shrimp. My plan would be to let them get really thick and then use them to stock other ponds (my previous attempts in other ponds have been unsuccessful).

Thought might also use it as growth pond for fathead minnows too, but not if fatheads eat the grass shrimp.

Fatheads are opportunistic feeders. They eat any plant, protozoa, insect they find. I can't imagine they can eat any adult shrimp but larvae maybe. They have a very small mouth. Looks like most grass shrimp are 6-7mm at metamorphosis.

If proper habitat is present for the grass shrimp FHM will not significantly reduce the recruitment of grass shrimp.

Having both in the same pond might make getting just the shrimp more dffacult.

I've had no issues in keeping grass shrimp numbers up even with overly abundant FHM. I do occasionally see my banded killifish chasing a grass shrimp around, catching it and then several tearing it to pieces.

Thanks everybody! :-)

I read something to the effect that where FHM are present, the density of scud is reduced, which suggests that FMH eat scud.

From FishBase - here is the science.

http://fishbase.org/TrophicEco/FoodItems...pecies=promelas


Food items reported for Pimephales promelas


n = 18





Food I

Food II

Food III

Food name

Country

Predator Stage


zoobenthos benth. crust. n.a./other benth. crustaceans Bosmina USA juv./adults
zoobenthos other benth. invertebrates n.a./other benth. invertebrates Bryozoan statoblasts Canada adults
zoobenthos insects insects Chaoborus sp. Canada adults
zoobenthos worms n.a./other annelids cocoons of annelida Canada adults
zoobenthos benth. crust. n.a./other benth. crustaceans Daphnia sp. USA juv./adults
zoobenthos benth. crust. amphipods Hyalella sp. USA juv./adults
detritus detritus debris unidentified USA adults
plants other plants benthic algae/weeds unidentified USA adults
zoobenthos insects insects unidentified USA adults
zooplankton other plank. invertebrates n.a./other plank. Invertebrates unidentified USA adults
zoobenthos benth. crust. amphipods unidentified amphipods Canada adults
zoobenthos insects insects unidentified chironomids Canada adults
zooplankton plank. crust. cladocerans unidentified cladocerans USA juv./adults
zooplankton plank. crust. cladocerans unidentified cladocerans Canada adults
zooplankton plank. crust. plank. copepods unidentified copepods Canada adults
zoobenthos benth. crust. n.a./other benth. crustaceans unidentified crustaceans USA juv./adults
zoobenthos mollusks n.a./other mollusks unidentified mollusks Canada adults
zoobenthos benth. crust. ostracods unidentified ostracods Canada adults

From ewest's info above, Only the very early stages of grass shrimp development are vulnerable to being eaten by fathead minnows. Grass shrimp quickly grow to a size larger than FHM can ingest due to mouth gape.

I bet if the grass shrimp held still too long, they would try to rip it apart.

Wife and daughter used to hang feet off end of dock (before predators were introduced and relegated the FHM to the shore line) and let the little buggers give them foot massages. They even tried to eat me, starting at the legs and working their way up, while scuba diving and I'm 250# plus.

If each one of them had a single tooth in their mouth, it would be unsafe to enter the water.

The garra rufa is used to provide pedicures according to Sunil, whose office manager, Misti, schedules these along with his weekly full immersion mud baths and bikini waxing at some swanky spa in Pittsburgh.

Bowie knife and a sweat lodge are more my style - but to each his own I guess.