We get this question a lot at Wild Pet Supply! Many people may not know how important it is to give your shrimp calcium in their aquarium. In this article we will explain the benefits of adding calcium to your aquarium as well as how to supplement calcium in your aquarium.
Benefits
Calcium is very important for shrimp as it helps develop a strong exoskeleton that protects them from their environment. Studies have shown that when animals have the option to live in an environment with higher calcium levels they do!
In the wild, shrimp tend to have access to higher levels of calcium. Aquariums should help resemble the shrimps natural environment. This is why aquarists need to work so hard to provide a good environment for their pets.
Shrimp require higher levels of calcium as they molt and shed their old exoskeleton. During this process they are removing their old exoskeleton and growing a new one. This process requires a lot of calcium and can be very stressful for the shrimp.
How to add calcium
Many algae wafers and shrimp sticks contain calcium to help the shrimp grow, so check the back of the packaging and it should mention the level of calcium. There are two very popular methods of adding calcium to your aquarium.
1) Adding in calcium tablets
We sell calcium tablets that can be added to your aquarium to help raise the level of calcium in the aquarium. These are pure oyster tablets that slowly dissolve in your aquarium and release the calcium. This is a great method if you have an aquarium that you are breeding or growing shrimp in.
2) Adding in cuttle bone
Cuttle bone is a great method of adding in calcium to aquariums. Most people use them with their pet birds, tortoises, or reptiles but they actually work wonders in aquariums. It can be difficult to get the correct dosage as these are not as simple as adding in tablets to your aquarium. We recommend scrapping the cuttle bone over the aquarium and letting the cuttle bone flake off.
