# Behemoth Ghost Shrimp



## LittleWatty (May 13, 2012)

Ok, I just had to share this! I just bought 2 more ghost shrimp to replace some of the ones I've had die or get eaten on me over the past few months. Anyway. While I was adding them in, this MONSTER appeared out of nowhere. I mean, seriously. How could I have not noticed her (doubting its male!) before! I've never seen one of my shrimp at this size!


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## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

HOLY ````
HOW?????????
That thing must be flourishing...
Please share your water parameters, plants, decorations, and EVERYTHING ELSE
I WANT SHRIMP LIKE THIS
I AM A GHOST SHRIMP MANIAC
And I.....envy you :O
But seriously
....how the hell does that happen....
LOTS of healthy molting I guess!
Good job anyway!


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## LittleWatty (May 13, 2012)

Well, considering I started with 20 shrimp, and am down to about 5, I'd say I might not be doing as well as you might think! lol

My tank is cycled, so my params should be
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20ppm (from tap)

Plants should be (no idea how accurate, since some aren't exactly labled)
Dwarf Water Lily (from bulb)
Aponogeton (from bulb)
Amazon Sword
Anubias (slowly dying)
Compacta
Crypt
Microsword
Java Fern
Java Moss (I think?)
Marimo Moss ball

Decorations:
Plastic rock from Petco (you can find it in Sonas' album)
Driftwood (my shrimp love it)

I also have an explosion of diatoms in my tank, which is why I'm trying to restock on my shrimp. I've tried nerites, but they keep dying on me XD

While I don't know how much help all that information would be, I gave it anyway! lol If you want beastly shrimp, start with a ton of them. Like I said, I started with 20. So many of them will die over time. You also gotta be careful - they can be quite mean. One of my big shrimp brutally attacked one of the smaller, new shrimp right after I dropped him in. I mean, full on tackled and started "biting". I had to chase it away with my algae toothbrush. They'll eat each other too, if one ends up dying.


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## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

LittleWatty said:


> Well, considering I started with 20 shrimp, and am down to about 5, I'd say I might not be doing as well as you might think! lol
> 
> My tank is cycled, so my params should be
> Ammonia: 0
> ...


*takes note of all water params*
That's insane...... 
I'm going to get some driftwood soon. The creek down the road in the woods supplies tons of driftwood, so maybe I'll boil some down and add it to my nano shrimp tank. It's actually just a 1 gallon tank with gravel, some tiny flower pots, and a Marimo moss ball. Ever since Ash died I've been itching for another shrimp.
I don't think I can start with 20, though.....lol.
My tank wouldn't be able to support it!! Hehe
I'm just sticking in an air pump and that's that. 
I guess since you have so many live plants that also contributes to your shrimp's great health.

And yes, I know Ghost shrimp are aggressive, but I never knew they'd be that horrible to eachother.
I started with 3 shrimp: 2 males, 1 female. Ash, Brock, and Misty.
Misty was eaten by my betta, Brock was given to a friend, and Ash was put in the 1 gallon tank to honor his "resurrection" habit. Every few day's he'd disappear for a week or more, I'd think my betta had eaten him (He bloated) and then one day after I'd lost all hope, he would reappear as healthy as can be.
Actually for 2 months I thought he was gone.
How the HELL he survived 100% water changes I have no effing clue.
I would stir up all the gravel very roughly, dump ALL of the water, refill it with burning not water, dump it, scrub it out, then refill it and scoop out any floating junk with a brine shrimp net.
Then I'd plop in my betta after rearranging the decorations.
That shrimp was basically immortal until he died after molting (His exoskeleton was lying next to his nearly lifeless body and later that night I found him all swollen and white and puffy)......
Meh D:
My shrimp were never violent though. They were relatively small, an inch and under. 
But if my betta got too close, they'd raise their claws and latch onto his fin or nose or whatever was closest. The fish was obviously in pain because he would twitch and jerk and wriggle away, but those shrimp would hold on tightly until he managed to scrape them off.
They're the only shrimp I don't have to worry about not getting enough food. Sometimes they'd steal a pellet right under my fish!
Insane little things they are.....


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## LittleWatty (May 13, 2012)

Yeah, mine are aggressive to each other, but not to Sonas. One actually swam right over him, resting on his head for a few seconds before continuing on XD I've only seen him eat one, and I'm guessing the poor girl really made him angry for that to happen XD I've always loved ghost shrimp, and I'm slowly restocking my tanks with them.


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## Fabian (Dec 16, 2011)

If you leave him some food and more space,it'll grow much more bigger.Mine grows as large as a glowlight tetra.


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## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

Fabian said:


> If you leave him some food and more space,it'll grow much more bigger.Mine grows as large as a glowlight tetra.


Awesome...
Like how much room do you think?
I know Ghost shrimp go berserk and insanely happy in large enclosures, but I mean really how much room?
I don't think the food is a problem though.
My shrimps did absolutely fine on betta pellets and the occasional algae wafer (which they devoured).


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## Fabian (Dec 16, 2011)

They live in a 50-90 gallons i think with some other tetras,i feed them discus pellets,freeze dried brine shrimp and bloodworms.


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## mkayum (Jul 5, 2012)

I find that ghost shrimps would do best if the tank are planted. I have a trio of large ghost shrimp, they're pretty big! I bought them in medium/small sized... I think the plants give them the benefits in order to thrive and grow big! Despite their size, they're wary of my bamboo shrimp lol.


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## Fabian (Dec 16, 2011)

Yes,live plants are required for ghost shrimp to grow large.


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## LittleWatty (May 13, 2012)

Well, I don't even know if this behemoth is alive anymore. I purchased a load of new shrimp last night to restock Sonas' tank, and to give Féileacán some. When I woke up, Sonas was bloated beyond compare. I mean, he seriously looks like he's going to pop. Needless to say, he's getting a tank swap to one of the tanks with no companions.


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