I am seriously considering getting three ghost shrimp

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Jspigs

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Aug 5, 2009
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As the title suggests I am seriously considering getting three ghost shrimp.

I have done my reaserch and decided to make sure eall my plans are correct.

I used THIS calculator (made by yhbae) to determine whether or not I was able to get the shrimp. I have more than 8 pond/bladder snails but they are very tiny so I figured they equal 8 full size snails (and yes I am in the process of trying to get rid of them).

The tank is ten gallons and has 12 neon tetras and a bunch of pond/bladder snails and the stocking calculator says that if I add 3 ghost shrimp my tank will be 101% stocked. Since the calculator is only a rough estimate I feel that adding 3 ghost shrimp would be acceptable.

There are plenty of hiding places in the tank so that is not an issue.

The tank is planted.

There is lots of algae growing on some of the plants that the shrip can eat, my neons never eat all of thier food during feeding time (if I feed them less they don't all get enough food) and if I need to I have some algae wafers lying aroundthat I can give to the shrimp so feeding is not an issue.


The tank is cycled and the filter is rated (according to the manufacturer) for tanks up to 30 gallons and has a flow rate (again according to the manufacturer) of 150 gallons per hour, The filter is called the Marineland Penguin 150B Bio-wheel power filter.

Can I get some ghost shrimp? Is there anything else I should know?

Please comment.
 

BioHazard

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Mar 15, 2009
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I would say yes, as inverts have very low bioloads. However, with that many tetras, you need to be religious about your water changes.
If you can, try adding another filter. More filter equals more space for bacteria to colonize. I would recommend a sponge filter, which you can get super cheap, and provides tons of area for bacteria.
 

vampie

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Oct 25, 2006
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Sure thing.. they'll even get rid of those snails for you.

And I wouldn't really bother with stocking calculators, they'll never be able to get it right.
 

Yadokari

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Feb 10, 2008
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12 neon tetras in a 10 gallon is fine, you said it was planted right? If it's nice and thickly planted, you won't have to do any "religious" water changes. Might not even need to do water changes, depending on your routine and plants! :) I have many HEAVILY overstocked tanks that don't need water changes because of all the plants I have in there.

As for the ghosties, you can add a dozen in there and it won't really affect much to your bioload. Inverts generally don't get calculated into the whole bioload factor.
 

jackiomy

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Jul 6, 2008
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Go for it. I love my ghosties.
 

Jspigs

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Aug 5, 2009
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Looks like I will be getting a few (3) ghost shrimp for my 10 gallon (assuming my LFS still has them):D.
 

Jspigs

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So my LFS says they don't have them but I am still going just to make sure.

They say they have a lot of other kinds of shrimp so I would like to know if there are any similar types of shrimp (similar behavior, feeding habits, etc.)?
 

Jspigs

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I am leaving for the fish store now. Wish me luck!
 

Jspigs

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I got the last ghost shrimp! There was only one left and I got him! The shrimp was very hard to see so I can understand why the fish store thought there were not any left.
 

Jspigs

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Aug 5, 2009
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Well the ghost shrimp died and I don't know why. My only guess is that he got a wound somehow because there is a red mark on the body.

I am positive what I am seeing is a dead shrimp and not a molting because there is no opening in the body that would allow a molting shrimp to climb out of it's old shell.

I am going to look into red cherry shrimp because I hear that they are very hardy.
 
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