Do Ghost shrimp "color up?"

kyryah

kyryah

Getting my mojo back....
Feb 3, 2009
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I have three ghost shrimp in my Axie tank. One of them is clear as can be. The other two, both female, are changing color.

Not turning white like they are about ready to kick the bucket.

One of them has some small speckles, and the other...

Is covered with alternating bands of blue-black speckles, and has red speckles in her tail. It is gorgeous. (I have been trying to get a good pic for HOURS and will keep trying :D )

Is this normal? I have had ghost shrimp before (admittedly not for long, they were usually feeders) and I have never seen one get so darn vibrant. Is it even a GHOST shrimp, or something else?

Kristina
 
The problem with "ghost shrimp" is that the term can refer to any number of species with very different appearances, behaviors, and requirements. It's hard telling what you've actually got in that tank. As long as they seem to be acting okay, I say to just enjoy your pretty shrimp surprise! :D
 
I had a good amount of ghost shrimp a while back and yes they do have coloration on occation. Red speckles will cover their tail and the antennae will also be red on some of them. They are subtle, but like you mention very nice looking when you get close enough to see.

EDIT: I noticed the thread posted above^^^, and I wanted to mention one of my ghost shrimp was white when I got him and stayed that way for months. I also noticed some of them will turn white and then go back to completely clear again- I am assuming they turn white when the old chitin(exoskeleton) is about to be shed.
 
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Well, whatever the heck she is, lol, she is pretty.

I know that both girls have managed to mate with the clear male at least twice, she was berried when I moved her to the tank some months ago, and didn't berry again until I added the other two. The other speckled female is also berried.

Pics... Stupid camera keeps washing the color out :(

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KristinaspicturesDONOTDELETE1001.jpg


Kristina
 
Well, heck, I am going to go back and buy a few more, and hope they are from the same stock, lol.

I had all of her first babies separated, but they died after a week. I am not sure what went wrong, they had grown considerably, and one morning I opened the container to find them all laying on their sides and white.

I am hoping that because of the low current in the Axie tank, maybe some will make it, but then again there isn't any salt in the tank, so I have no idea what will happen.

Kristina
 
My ghosts are breeding right now, and they've successfully had babies, and almost all of them have red/green on them.

Also with everything I've read and experienced salt is not needed to have the babies survive, I just let them swim around in my community tank and they seemed to be fine.
 
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