What Fish Eat Shrimp? (11+ Popular Fishes)
Shrimps are very nutritious when it comes to nutritional value. Also, many giant sea animals love to eat them. When it comes to fish, fish also like to feed on shrimps. But what fish eat shrimp?
What Fish Eat Shrimp?
Although many aquarium fish love to eat shrimp, it is not always a simple task for aquarists to tell which ones will eat and won’t.
After all, there are more than 3,000 known species of fish in the ocean, and they all can not be expected to like shrimps!
Luckily for you, we’ve put together the ultimate list of the best aquarium fish who like eating shrimp.
You won’t need to guess whether or not your pet fish will eat shrimps. Whether you want to keep these fish for their ability to eat unwanted invertebrates in your aquarium or simply because you think they’re beautiful.
You can use this list as a helpful guide for picking out the perfect aquarium fish for your setup. Let us take a look at the top 10 best aquarium fish that like eating shrimp.
01. Rainbowfish
There are more than 90 species of this colorful and beautiful family of freshwater fishes. All rainbow fish belong to the Nemacheilidae family. This family is known for its highly colorful species and its popular status as aquarium fish.
2. Yellow Perch
You’ll find this freshwater fish in North America, Europe, and Asia.
3. Silver Gourami
These popular aquarium fish belong to the Hypophthalmichthidae family.
4. Wrasses
Wrasses swim in schools, and some of them can be quite aggressive. They are elaborately colored fishes with lots of fins and interesting behaviors.
5. Tiger Barbs
Barbs are picky eaters, but many people keep them for their bright colors. People also often keep them for their aggressive nature because they will attack similar-sized fish that appear threatened or outnumber them.
6. Dwarf Gouramis
The dwarf gourami belongs to the well-known genus Trichogaster.
7. Koi
These colorful fish are found in warm water lakes and rivers around the world.
8. Goldfish
You can easily find goldfish in almost every aquarium and pond, so these popular freshwater fish are a great choice for home aquarists.
9. Angelfish
These fish are a favorite in displays because of their colors and size, generally about four inches long.
If you have one, you might want to invest in a pump for your tank because they tend to be messy eaters and produce a lot of waste while eating shrimp.
10. Snapper
The snapper ranges from 2 to 6 inches long and has an appetite for live prey such as small fish and crustaceans.
Include this fish with caution because it may nip at the other inhabitants of the tank or cause them to get stressed out by being too eager for food.
11. Gouramis
This fish is a top choice for many hobbyists. It grows to about six inches long and generally is easy to care for. If you have an algae eater, you will want to keep it away since the gourami will attempt to eat it if the algae eater is small enough.
12. Killifish
Killifish are tiny compared to other fish on this list, but they are also hardy and cheap. They generally stay about three inches long and happily eat live food such as brine shrimp and daphnia.
There are more than 3,000 known species of fish in the ocean. Most of them are either tiny or big relative to humans.
Many of them can be identified by sight alone. Please take that into account before you think, and yes, they like shrimp.
What Freshwater Fish Eat Shrimp?
Freshwater fish will eat shrimp when they’re hungry. But they do this as a last resort. Even the most aggressive freshwater fish prefer to eat other food items, like worms and insects.
They realize that shrimp is a much more hard option than having an easy meal of some worms or insects, so they choose them over shrimp.
When it comes to freshwater fish and their diet, they should stick with what makes sense for them and what is easily accessible in their environment.
For some, the thought of freshwater fish who are eating shrimp is borderline blasphemy. After all, shrimp are salties. Sometimes it is hard to think of what fish would be best for your tank.
How do you know if freshwater fish eat shrimp? The answer varies since many freshwater species are omnivorous. While this is not a definite list, these popular types of fish are known to eat shrimp.
- Cory catfish
- Gourami
- Siamese fighting fish
- Australian rainbowfish
What Fish Eat Shrimp In The Ocean?
The ocean is home to many incredible species, including fish. But what fish eat shrimp in the ocean? It’s not as simple as you might think.
Most fish that live near shorelines feast upon smaller animals that live in the sand or on the water’s surface
Large predatory fish like can’t resist tasty shrimp! They often hunt them up deep underwater, which is why they are rarely caught on fishing lines.
There are plenty of other invertebrates that the sea creatures might like to snack on. The following are some common scavengers of shrimp.
- Mussels
- Octopus
- Crabs
- Bony fishes such as lingcod and porcupinefish
- Jellyfish (Also sea urchins and corals)
What Fish Will Eat Cherry Shrimp?
No fish will eat cherry shrimp. It is because cherry shrimp are freshwater organisms and cannot be eaten by any saltwater fish.
They can only be eaten by other freshwater organisms such as tilapia or trout, but they would still have to exist in the same ecosystem as the cherry shrimp which they do not like in this case.
Can Guppies Eat Shrimp In Aquariums?
Guppies can eat shrimp in aquariums. However, like many fish, guppies are less adapted to freshwater than saltwater.
While they can eat shrimp in aquariums, they will not flourish indefinitely on this diet.
They might be able to live without feeding for a while with these smaller organisms, but the larger ones with the shells might prove more difficult for them to process without consistent nutrition.
Guppies are small fish with a long body, a round head, and large eyes. They are often found in freshwater.
Guppies breed rapidly that’s why people can keep a number of them as pets. Some species of guppy grow to eight inches long and reach two pounds when fully grown.
Like other types of fish, there is no such thing as one size fits all with guppies, and they vary greatly in appearance from species to species.
The mother will lay up to 100 eggs at one time and will protect them until the fry starts free swimming and continuing the lifecycle by eating small crustaceans like worms and shrimp for food for themselves.
Can Angelfish Eat Brine Shrimp?
If you’re an angelfish owner, you may be wondering if your little pets can snack on brine shrimp. To answer that question, let’s explore the diet of the angelfish.
Angels are omnivores, meaning they eat pretty much whatever they want to eat. They prefer eating meatier foods, but they can enjoy some plant matter in their diet.
Because angels are active swimmers, they will swim up towards the surface of the water in order to grab snacks from the top of the tank when hungry.
Angelfish is most common in freshwater tanks because of its bright colors and impressive ability to eat live plants. They are often fed with dry food pellets.
Some people offer brine shrimp as a possibility for angelfish to have something more fun than just dried foods floating around in their tank.
Will Molly Fish Eat Shrimp?
Molly fish eat shrimp, so they’re safe to put in a tank. It would be best if you do not put anything else that will harm Molly fish into your aquarium.
Molly fish are omnivores and are often used in aquariums because they are safe to keep with shrimp, and they only attack when mortally threatened as opposed to some other species of fish.
Molly will eat shrimps even if they are not hungry! It sounds like a silly statement, but it has an important point. Most people know that fish like to eat things like small snails, algae-based food, well, nearly anything organic.
So, many people assume that this includes plants or algae-based foods, which is not true (though they will nibble on them).
Note: Just a general warning that Molly fish are carnivorous, so it’s best not to put any other kinds of food for them in the tank.
What Fish Eat Brine Shrimp?
Brine shrimps are a type of saltwater crustaceans that fish eat to supplement their diet. Brine shrimps are tiny and require no food or food source.
They might grow to be a couple of millimeters in diameter, but they are unnoticeable to large predatory fish.
Because brine shrimp can’t see predators, that’s why fish such as cats, trout, and minnows would normally consume them.
Also, they have evolved a defense, the ability to change the color of their shell and ruffles in response to light.
When a predator approaches this camouflaged shrimp from above or below, it is unable to detect its prey because of its shell.
Do Tuna Eat shrimp?
It’s hard to imagine that a tuna would eat shrimp. All of the sources I’ve found point to the fact that tunas are far too big for shrimp to eat, but it’s worth noting that any animal has an appetite for different things.
The only way to really know what a tuna will eat is if you are able to observe one for yourself and learn what they are hunting.
In an article titled “The Myth of the Tuna/Shrimp War,” Pacific Standard magazine argues that there is no such oceanic conflict involving a potential predator. In this case, the tuna and its prey shrimp.
It goes on to say,
“Tuna live exclusively in warm waters and eat mostly fish. Shrimp live everywhere, from shallow coastal waters to three miles deep in the middle of the ocean. Not only does this mean that shrimp is not a particular target for tuna bites; it also means there is no place for them to hide from predators.”
Do sharks eat shrimp?
In the oceans where the water is cold, shrimp live in communities on the bottom of big rocks or at the edge of reefs.
In warm oceans, shrimp live close to the surface and can easily escape from predators. Sharks usually do not eat shrimp. Sharks will occasionally eat small invertebrates that happen to be in their way as they swim through water, looking for other things to eat.
Shrimp is not a significant part of a shark’s diet, and sharks avoid them as long as other more desirable food sources are available.
Sharks may only go after them when something unusual happens, such as during an El Nino event or after an earthquake has disrupted their habitat and food supplies.
It is unlikely that any shark would eat one. Sharks are opportunistic hunters whose diet can range from small fish to the blood and flesh of various mammals, including humans.
Sharks sometimes eat invertebrates like mollusks or shrimp, which is telling for their digestive system.
They have what people would call a “Carnivore Gut” because they get most of their nutrients from eating other animals, so they do not care about what they’re digesting at the time.
Conclusion
All the mentioned fishes that eat shrimps can not be present in your aquarium, but popular aquarium fishes are also mentioned above, for which you can provide them shrimps as a treat.
Also, using the proper way of feeding them shrimp, make sure that you are not overfeeding them with shrimps and try to provide them different types of foods to your aquarium fishes.
