question about gost shrimp?
- Thread starter leslieA
- Start date
They are not hard to keep alive but breeding is tricky. Supposedly there is a freshwater and a brackish version in which the larvae needs to survive in. Some people were able to breed them in FW as well. They pick at algae, not sure if they are the best compared to Amano shrimp. I would say the more the better, better chance of having berried females. Ghost shrimp are used as feeders to feed to bigger fish. At my Petsmart they are sold around .29.
I just got some as feeders and a few of the larger ones are surviving quite well despite their availability on the dinner menu for my leopard bush fish. I recently requested some info on them also (DarrylR gave helped me out too) and I haven't had to do anything extra for them. They're easy!
I buy ghost shrimp for 10 cents eac, but most places sell them for 39 cents. Some of the ghost shrimp are not hardy. They are bred to be ate, not to be hardy . Some of my ghost shrimp make it, others die when they try to molt.
Ghost shrimp do not eat algea, but they will eat left overs at the bottom of the tank. They love blood worms.
Ghost shrimp do not eat algea, but they will eat left overs at the bottom of the tank. They love blood worms.
I love ghosts, fun to watch and clean the bottom well. Dont touch algae however as others have said. They'll eat anything that falls to bottom. Its funny when they eat the colored flakes, because you can see it in their stomach.
The reason why 'feeder' shrimp die in such high numbers is they are predominately wild caught, handled poorly, and kept in stressful environments while kept in pet stores.
High mortality rates are common among any species of shrimp that are captured in the wild, shipped to bait/pet/fish stores, and housed in 'display' tanks, with little to no cover to hide in.
If anyone is interested, here's a bit of information about Ghost shrimp. The shrimp species that is most commonly sold as 'Ghost/Glass' or 'feeder' shrimp, in North America is P. paludosus. They do not require brackish or marine water to mature, but they do go through a larval stage or two. Having said that, there are many cases where other species of shrimp have been sold as Ghost shrimp. It is my understanding that the shrimp get caught in the nets or traps used to gather the wanted feeder shrimp. Or, pet store employees misidentify shrimp and add them to the feeders. Juvenile, and in some cases young adult, Macrobrachium shrimp look similar to adult P. paludosus. They have a distinctive hump on top of their tail, and longer legs than dwarf species.
Unfortunately, you will not find any species of shrimp that is an efficient algae eater. All species do consume it algae, some will even eat the more aggressive hair algae (Macrobrachium species).