wats wrong with my ghost shrimp?

evelyn80

evelyn80

Guru at procrastinating
Aug 10, 2008
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in my 10 gal i have several ghost shrimp. 1 of which has become completely white. he was fine until a few days ago when he molted and now hes albino. he seems perfectly healthy hes active as ever and always moving around and scrounging food of the bottom. sorry ill have to get u guys a pic on tuesday when i get my cam back from my p's
 
First, lets start out by saying that "Ghost Shrimp" is a generic name given to many species of similar appearing shrimp. In North American the most common "Ghost Shrimp" is the American Glass Shrimp!

Now for the white! This is quite common with American Glass Shrimp. I have seen it happen before a shrimp dies, and I have seen a shrimp live a long life as a white shrimp. It is quite common! Keep an eye on them, see what happens, but dont worry to much!
 
In my experience, every white Glass Shrimp I find doesn't live for more than a month after I find it. Keep an eye on yours.
 
well i keep an eye on him but ive had him since the start of summer and he was colorless till about a week ago when he molted:confused:
 
It is likely that your shrimp is stressed. This could be from any number of reasons, illness, poor environment, or even old age. It will likely not last much longer.

FYI, for clarity, most 'Ghost' or 'Glass' shrimp sold in N. America are P. paludosus. Try googling that for reference pictures. However, when any species of shrimp takes on a 'milky' appearance, it is never a good sign.

Good luck!
 
we do need clarifying on the color... i too have seen the old shrimp turn white like someone painted its shell. and they live for quite a while that way, but they stop molting and they dont breed either. they just eat and swim around. if its looking like someone poured milk inside of it, it can be stress related or disease related. once the whole body goes milky, its like a death sentence :( ive seen some that are only mildly milky recover and go back to normal. the last way i know of a shrimp can turn white is with parasites, though that usually looks like a white ribbon in the abdomen of the shrimp and the body remains clear
 
well i believe everything u guys have said but the only thing thats bothering me is he doesnt look stressed 1 bit...he acts just normal swimming up and down the glass, scavenging food, playing with the others he looks perfectly healthy other than the fact most of his body is white other than his head:confused::confused: i just dunno ill post pics on tuesday if i can
 
Yea, I just went thru this myself. I bought about 15 Ghost Shrimp from PetSmart. I think one is still alive. Meanwhile every other creature in the tank is thriving.... so either it is the Ghost Shrimp or its...ummm.... its the Ghost Shrimp....

Also, as has already been said, there are a few species that go by the common name of Ghost Shrimp, and a few sold with that name that shouldn't be. Any way you slice it, I'd look at it the same way as those Goldfish you win at the Carnival (a practice I despise...): If it lives for one day, that sucks. A week, that's about right. A month, and it is gettin' old. Anything longer is borrowed time....
 
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