Ghost Shrimp help?

[NoчnoyGostь]

This is the second time I have ghost shrimps in my aquarium, the first time they all died one by one, and now they are beggining to die off once again. I bought 12 shrimps and they' ve been living in my aquarium for about 3 weeks, but a couple of days ago I started to notice dead shrimp on the bottom of the tank. Can anybody help me figure out a reason why my shrimps are dying?! I have about six left... please help!
Thanks in advance.

[sumthin fishy]

What else is in the tank? When they molt (shed) they become vonrable to predation. Also, how is your water? (is it a cycled tank?) I have only kept these as feeders, so I havent had the experience of keeping them long term, but I usually had a few deaths out of 20-30 over the course of a week in a cycled holding tank.

[NoчnoyGostь]

My tank is about 3 month old (55 G). Water: 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, about 5 ppm nitrates, ph slightly over 7 I'd say about 7.4. As for other fish I have ottocinclus, platys, a molly, rasboras, and various small tetras that are under 2 inches, but I do not think it is predation, because the dead shrimp i found weren't damaged in any way and because they are always swimming and walking around and fish basically just ignore them (they tried to see if they can eat the shrimp a couple of times, but the shrimp chased them away with their claws or simply darted into the plant mass.)

Since we are talking about ghost shrimp did anybody ever breed them?? Mine had eggs about four times now, but each time they ate the eggs, I suspect they didn't have enough food and if I feed them more they wouldn't do that. Did anybody ever get any baby shrimps?

[id10t]

They die off on me too, but I just save a few from when I go fishing to toss in my tank every so often... when the baitshop doesn't have 'em, the LFS does as feeders.

[Bigbob55]

If you use google or the likes, and find a site about shrimps specifically, one of the things they say is that whenever the shrimps molt, they need small amounts of Iodine (in the form of Iodide) in the tank, or else they won't make it...

So go to the LFS and see if you can find some iodine additive of some sort, which should allow them to live much longer.

Also be weary because they do reproduce fairly quickly.

[chriss]

If you have any medication in your tank, that could be killing your shrimp. A lot of medications (especially those containing copper) seem to say that they can't be used on invertebrates.

[minnesotagal866]

I talked to the freshwater person at my LFS about ghost shrimp yesterday. Her personal experience is that--well, some of them just don't make it for whatever reasons, primarily due to predation. She said she put 12 in her tank a while back. She currently has 3 remaining. She also said that either the shrimp or the other fish will eat the eggs. I put 4 in my betta tank yesterday, including some pregnant females, we'll see what happens. Some have said that ghost shrimp aren't particularly hardy or perhaps have shorter life spans. I believe it's somewhere on this forum--it's been suggested amano or cherry shrimp may last a little longer.

Jackie

[NoчnoyGostь]

it's been suggested amano or cherry shrimp may last a little longer.

Jackie

I want to try Amano shrimps too (by the way can they coexist???), but they cost much more than Ghost Shrimps and since I don't want to waste money buying them every time they die, I want to get my Ghosts to live longer first, once I succeed I'll try Amanos. Anyway if I find a way to extend their life span I'll share the news... :)

Thanks

[tomm10]

Ghost shrimp, IME are not long for this earth. They do not last long in a tank. A few things you can do to get them to last a little longer:

-Get them a good hiding spot. A small cave even made from a couple overturned rocks will help them molt without being pestered. While they're molting they real have to protective shell.

-Add a few drops of marine iodine to the tank on water changes. This will help with molting as well. Its anecdotal but it seems to work. I add about 6 drops to a 29g tank each week.

One possibility is that you are not seeing dead shrimp but rather the discarded shell. When shrimp molt the cast off their whole exoskeleton which can look like a dead shrimp. Dead ghost shrimp will be completely white and solid.

Amanos are much hardier shrimp. I still have the ones I bought a year and a half ago and they've survived a move. I still follow the same practice of offering hiding spaces and adding iodine.

As far as breeding goes, good luck. Its not easy. I tried once with the amanos and failed miserably. There is information out there for the googling.

[NoчnoyGostь]

One possibility is that you are not seeing dead shrimp but rather the discarded shell. When shrimp molt the cast off their whole exoskeleton which can look like a dead shrimp. Dead ghost shrimp will be completely white and solid.


I'm pretty sure I'm seeing dead shrimp because they are solid and pink, unlike the exoskeletons which are clear. Thanks for the Amano reassurance though - a year and a half is reasonable enough - I'll see if I can find some. Thanks.

[mustang]

I've had the same issue with ghost shrimp, after buying around 8, i soon was left with only about 3, pretty sad, they seem so..... anyways, i was surprised to see the shrimp die one by one over the course of about, 2 days, i thought it was the water parameters, however, i was shocked to see one of my black skirt/widow tetras, swiftly grab one of the remining shrimp, and thrash it around, much like pirahnas the rest of the school,(only 6) pitched in and harrased the shrimp, to an apparrent death. the wierd thing--- the shrimp seemed intact, as if the fish were playing with him, much like a house cat with a mouse.

I think i solved the age old mystery of, the infamous shrimp deaths, in apparently cycled, community (peaceful, non-agressive)tanks.

The the fish are lured by the provocative shrimp, who are too enticing and are picked on by even "peaceful" community fish(like tetras, even though black skirts are the more agressive of the species).

[Hebily]

I've got plenty of plants and driftwood. My tank has varied between 6 and 13 and back (to similiar numbers, that I can actually count...) a few times... I'm pretty sure i'm on the 8th generation or so... I should prolly add some soon, to keep the gene pool up... I haven't added any in over a year and a half... I can find 8 right now... as usu, some are carrying eggs. Of course, we'll see how their numbers do after my angels are out of QT... I've considered that I might have to get amano.

[pik01]

since ghost shrimp are most often sold as feeders they are not very well cared for. By the time they get to you they've already got 3 legs in the grave from stress and neglect. The ones that do survive are still susceptible to predation even from seemingly peaceful fish (already mentioned). As far as breeding, the name ghost shrimp is applied to a few different species of glass shrimp and not all can fully reproduce in freshwater. Some species of glass shrimp require saltwater during their larval stage.

[Hebily]

I've also heard the oposite, that in some cases the water is too hard, the eggs absorb minerals and cant' hatch... That's not the case with mine, though.. they are in really hard water and hatch out all the time... many of the fry make it. Alot don't. An already dead shrimp will definately get eaten.

[BandiCat]

Here's a site that lists pretty much everything about many different shrimp, including info about breeding them. I found it really useful :)

http://www.planetinverts.com/