armadillo

Ooooh, nice questions. Am very curious about the answers.

griffin

shrimp produce very little as far as bio load goes, so really, you can have about just as many as you want. however, you don't want to have them packed so that they can't move. i'm not really sure about your fish, but i'd be careful since some of the fish might decide that the shrimp are better as a tasty snack than a tank mate.

armadillo

OK, so bioload-wise, they clean more than they produce waste. That's good to know. I was only thinking of 2 or 3, so they'd be alright and would have more than enough room to move.

What about diseases? Do they get sick much?

mirna

Great, its good to know that they don't produce a high bio load. I decided to buy four ghost shrimp yesterday and am really happy with them. I'm watching to see if any of my fish mess with them.

armadillo

Cooooool. You'll have to tell me how it goes, so you're a little ahead of me and I can learn from your experience. Hope you continue enjoying them. Are they busy bodies, or hiders?

mirna

They turned out to be hiders. Its hard to keep track of them because they hide so much. The first day I got them, I tried to observe them to get familiar with each ones behavior but I never know which one I'm looking at because they look so alike. I know all of my hiding places and if I stare at a spot long enough I will see one of them come out. It's soooo cool!

griffin

they don't really get sick as far as i know. occasionally, one might have some trouble with a molt, but that's pretty typical of shrimp in general. the only thing i can think of to watch out for is that some of them will have a worm. you can easily see the worm before you buy them. it's like this long white (kinda creepy) looking thing in the head area. you'll want to pick shrimp that are really clear and without the worm

mirna

Thanks for the info. I just bought four more ghost shrimp. I couldn't resist myself. I like them so much.

armadillo

Oooh, that's really good to know. Thanks for that.

darkwolf29a

I haven't had any trouble with them, but then...I haven't had them that long.

I wish I had taken pictures of the tank before I let them in and after about a week. No comparison really. It's just clean.

And with nothing, in my tank, as a predator for them...they shouldn't be that hard to reproduce, as long as I can get a bit lucky.

I won't be worried about fry soon, as I have an old 10 gallon I'm setting up for that purpose. And no...there won't be any shrimp in it.

armadillo

Wow, 10G for fry? The life of luxury fry have nowadays! In myyyyy time...

Cool, you're making me want shrimps in ALL my tanks.

mirna

I just gave it try. I said "what the heck, what do I have to lose." I love my shrimp. In my opinion, the bigger ghost shrimp are better to see. The little ones are difficult to observe because its harder to see them. They've been great so far. All of my fishes (angelfish, goldfish, rainbow shark, pleco, gourami) have left them alone so far.

armadillo

OK, thanks a lot for the tip, Mirna. I'll bear that in mind: go big.

Bonochick

Aww, I saw ghost shrimp in the store for the first time over the weekend. They are so cool! My tank is pretty stocked though, and I also fear for them getting eaten. I know they're cheap, but I get easily attached.

mirna

If you really want one, get one big one with the idea that you are using it as a special treat for the other fish. Don't worry about your aquarium being overstocked because their bioload is minimal and they'll eat your other fishes waste. If it survives then you know your fish will most likely it alone. Also, don't think he got eaten if you don't see him for a while because they love to hide.

darkwolf29a

Ghost shrimp don't hurt anything, but you may find, as I did, that they'll end up someone's most wanted list. LOL

My pleco, Plato, didn't care. The guppies didn't care. Ody, my Oscar, found them quite delicious and nutrious. LOL

Hence, I'm planning on getting more and letting them breed, as well as guppies.

Yes, I'll be raising fish as food, but...everybody eats something. LOL :

badger

Yea ghost shrimp are fun. They look really neat and are funny to watch when they swim(sorta) around. As has been said I think I would watch them around fry becuase if they are near the bottom and still small enough they shrimp will eat them, Ive even had ghost shrimp go for a neon once (thankfully the neon was to big and was no worse for the wear).

The biggest problem I can see with them is that they are a delicacy to a lot of big to medium sized fish. So if youre buying them keep in mind that they might end up as a nice treat for your angel or gourami one day.

Oh and they are great escape artists. I once found one stuck to the light bulb of the tank, fried. It was pretty sad. It actually looked like a shrimp youd get in a restaurant, curled up in a C shape and pinkish-red. (Despite its previous ghosty-ness).

darkwolf29a

Yeah, I'm watching for the escapees. Hopefully, I won't have any.

I've been putting fiberglass screen over any opening I have, as well as keeping the water level down a bit. It's 10 gallon tank, with about 8 gallons of water.