ghost shrimp

[johnnyxxl]

Ok now I admit I succombed to one thing I never do. Bought something with out researching throuroughly. I decided to get a few *4* ghost shrimp and put them in my 5 gallon tank. I have read in the past they eat algae, and bits of debris. I have put a few flakes of flake food and been watching them swim around they are really neat looking. I was just wondering if there is anything else they will need, and how long should I expect them to live. Not that I have huge hopes for life expectency as they are a shell fish thats freshwater.

[m3th0d]

man, i want some ghost shrimp too but i can't seem to find any.. i tried my lfs, lps............. :confused:

[tomm10]

Ghost shrimp are good little cleaners but poor algae eaters. The general concensus is that these little guys are not terribly long lived (about a year at best) and they can be tough to keep alive.

Like all inverts they are very sensitive to copper and metals. They are also very vulnerable when they molt. This seems to be when they are most often killed off.

I had no luck with these guys until I started adding iodine to the water. Some folks here suggested that iodine, adde in small amounts, helps the shrimp molt. I add about a half dozen drops of marine iodine (not the kind in your medicine cabinet) to my 29g with every water change. Since I started this I haven't lost a shrimp (that I'm aware of) and its been months.

Other than that, they don't need much. they'll eat the food the fish don't and be happy.

Tom

[RTR]

For me they do not go much over 12-18 months. As Tom said, post-molt refuges are critical (rock piles, driftwood tangles). At least moderately hard water helps, and I do add a few drops of reef iodine as well.

[johnnyxxl]

my tap water is a bit hard I will look into marine iodine. they are in the tank alone right now so I have added a few flakes of food to the water once a day to help feed them they are cool looking

[geoffgarcia]

there are a few fish stores that sell them as cheap as feeder fish, so I'd get these as a treat for my rope fish.
I think it was like a dozen for 1.50$ or something...
tossing a few dozen into the tank and the last would be gobbled up after a few weeks...they are kinda cute though!

[johnnyxxl]

yeah here the lfs doesn't have any but I got them at a place I never buy fish walmart I think the guy was kinda wondering why I was picking them out one at a time and made sure they look healthy at .26 cents a piece.

[tomm10]

If they're available in your area try some amano shrimp. They're even cooler than the ghost shrimp IMO and will eat algae in addition to food scraps. They are significantly more expensive (about $3 or so) but are generally longer lived.

Most LFSs around here that sell them don't even really advertise them. I always have to ask if they have any and the guy will lead me to a community tank that has 6 amanos in it.

One word of caution is that they can be escape artists from what I hear. Mine have never tried to bolt but my tank is heavily planted with lots of hiding spots and food and no predators so I guess they know they've got it good ;)

Tom

[Celura]

Here's a little article on ghost shrimp you may find interesting:

http://petfish.net/ghost.htm