Ghost Shrimp

momar

momar

Born too late
Jan 6, 2006
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at my lfs there is a tank full of hundreds of 'river shrimp'. They look suspiciously like ghost shrimp, but the lfs is keeping them in salt water. They are very cheap (10 for 50p), so I was thinking of getting some as feeders for my firebelly toads. but do they need salt water to survive?

thanks,
momar
 
That makes sense, but I always thought they were a freshwater species.
 
momar said:
That makes sense, but I always thought they were a freshwater species.
Click to expand...

There are hundreds of species of freshwater shrimp very similar in appearance to UK freshwater ghost shrimp (usually, when they're not actually brackish-water Palaemon, Macrobrachium lanchesteri).
 
I think it might be grass shrimp...

...or my science teacher is taking care of ghost shrimps in a salt water tank :rolleyes:

Only thing I know about the shrimp in the teacher's tank is that they need seaweed or something long and flat and wide... and of course, green.
 
yes, as Cuvier said there are many species of the same genus. There is indeed a brackish ghost shrimp and the only reliable way to tell them apart is to count body parts under a microscope. If it's the brackish species, they would die if kept in FW for extended periods of time.

If you plan on keeping the shrimp for awhile before feeding the toads, I'd go with water of the same salinity as the store has them in. Ask them what the specific gravity is. You'll probably have to get a hydrometer to mix up your own brackish/salt tank as well as some marine salt mix.
 
Thanks for the help, guys!
:)
 
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