looking for ghost and amano shrimp

[maaltan]

I am trying to find 3-5 ghost and/or amano shrimp.

The only place that i can find ghost shrimp around here is at a walmart about an hour and half drive away. Of course you probably know what condition walmart keeps their tanks, well around here they are pretty horrible anyway(50%+ dead/rotten/completely consumed fish in each tank), so i'm very wary of getting anything from there.

The only place ive found online wants $30 shipping for them. If I was ordering several hundred it would be a better deal but I only have a 20 gallon tank (6-3 month old swordtails (thier poor parents died of my ignorance of the nitrogen cycle compounded with my LFS screwing me out of $6) and 6 adult neons) with only 3-5 vacancies and need some scavangers/ground feeders.

I am open to other species of scavenger if the shrimp are unobtainable or not likely to survive shipping. If this species is easy to breed that would be a plus.

All I really have to trade (other than money ) are 2 cheap dwarf water lillies I really dont know anything about. They are a beautiful green with reddish/rust spots on the leaves and stems. They are supposed to bloom but they have been growing for 6 months with no sign. Probably my light.

They were purchased at walmart as bulbs. Unless I can figure out how to force them back into dormancy i will probably have to ship them in water to be sure they stay alive.

Thanks for any leads you may be able to give me.

 

[deocder]

Where are you located? USA?

 

[maaltan]

Yes, SW Virginia US.


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btw. what is that lush green stuff in the bottom of your 10g tank? and do you have to "mow" it periodically

 

[Mako]

maaltan, you live in prime ghost shrimp territory I'm sure of it! I haven't paid a penny for ghosts in a couple of years since I figured out how to catch them wild (exact same animal).


Buy a large, cheap aquarium net (biggest you can find, 10-12 inches) and head for any lake with heavy weedy vegetation. Hydrilla, anacharis, and elodea beds are generally loaded with ghost shrimp. Sweep the net around in the grass and dump the weeds on the ground, poking around for little leaping shrimp. Baby crawfish make great fish food and cleanup crew (well, when little).

Give the critters this bath for 10 mins to be safe--- one gallon of water nearly saturated with cheap non-iodized salt and ten drops of Quick Cure (or anything with formalin and/or malachite green). This may kill a few shrimp but fish still eat them.

 

[Samala]

If you're still looking, Paul Sachs has them and shipping them out to you is reasonable.. try here http://www.aquaculturestore.com/fwinverts.html and scroll just past the gammarus shrimp.