# Ghost shrimp



## Lizzie the Badger (Jun 12, 2012)

I'm interested in having ghost shrimp in my tank.

I own a ten gallon tank with a filter, heater, and a fish tank light. Current residents in the tank are my four female bettas. I understand that betta fish do manage to kill and eat the shrimp, so you need a lot of cover. 

Ghost shrimp need to be in groups of how many? Would that number comfortably live in a 10 gallon?

Would Stress Coat, Aquarium Salt, or other betta medication harm them?

If someone could tell how to care for them that would awesome. xD

Once of the main concerns my dad has is breeding. He's worried that the tank will be overrun by the shrimp. Are his fears correct, that they'll breed madly?

Thank you in advance!


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## wombatgirl (Aug 19, 2012)

My understanding is that ghost shrimp (unlike the red cherry shrimp and other types) don't breed in a purely freshwater environment - and anyway, your girls would likely eat any baby shrimp all up.

I've had one ghost shrimp in a tank, up to about 7. And my largest tank is 5 gallons - shrimps have a very low bioload impact. You could likely have at least 20 in a tank that size. (that's a guess, but I think it's probably a good guess)

And yes, some bettas will hunt the shrimp, but most of mine seem to leave them completely alone. Even the smaller ones. Mind you, they ate all the yellow shrimp I tried to have. 

They are copper sensitive, but stress-coat doesn't bother them, at least mine don't seem to care about my water conditioners. 

I have heard from multiple sources, and have personally experienced, that they aren't the most long lived creatures around. But they're entertaining.


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## MSG (May 8, 2012)

*In a tank as small as a 10G, no way there will be an excess amount of shrimp*

Your fish will eat them long before they pose any type of problem of overtaking your entire tank.

$1 for 3, just buy 4-5 of them. That should be less than $2 & see what happens. 



Get the larger shrimp & not the small ones.
Make some snacks to eat in front of the tank while you watch them interact or get eaten alive.

I would recommend dropping/adding the shrimp to your tank in the evening hours. So if there's a problem, just turn off the lights. The shrimp may be freaked out, but at least it gives them some time to familiarize themselves in the tank while it's dark. 

Don't forget to drop some food for the shrimp to eat in the dark, in case they need to hide in the morning. 

From what I know, bettas don't have night vision.


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## Relic (Jul 14, 2012)

I have ghost shrimp in almost all of my tanks. Either the whole not breeding in freshwater is a myth or my ghost shrimp are an exception...mine do breed. As a matter of fact I started with 12 shrimp in a 10 gallon and now have at least a dozen in all 8 tanks...my 29 gallon has about 30 shrimp in it. I feed mine sinking pellets when I turn the lights out at night and they also LOVE to play around in the java moss...which also gives them a good hiding place during the day or when they are being chased. most of my fish ignore them but I have caught a betta killing one every now and then. 
Here is a pic of one of my shrimps...if you look real close you can see it is carrying eggs.


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## MSG (May 8, 2012)

Relic, you don't have a typical tank. From what I've seen all your tanks are all NICE & well decorated from top to bottom.

In a tank like yours, that's reasonably planted & well thought out, I'm not surprised they're thriving. I'm pretty sure ghosties are sensitive to copper & ammonia as well. 

Keep in mind a majority of the people here, have 2.5G-5G tanks with little or no filtration. 

Without good quality filtered water & sufficient spaces to hide, these indoor miniature scampi will end up as scooby snacks. 

As for me, I need filters in my tanks to cover for my lazy days & to rid me of the slimy surface film.


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## Lizzie the Badger (Jun 12, 2012)

Relic said:


> I have ghost shrimp in almost all of my tanks. Either the whole not breeding in freshwater is a myth or my ghost shrimp are an exception...mine do breed. As a matter of fact I started with 12 shrimp in a 10 gallon and now have at least a dozen in all 8 tanks...my 29 gallon has about 30 shrimp in it. I feed mine sinking pellets when I turn the lights out at night and they also LOVE to play around in the java moss...which also gives them a good hiding place during the day or when they are being chased. most of my fish ignore them but I have caught a betta killing one every now and then.
> Here is a pic of one of my shrimps...if you look real close you can see it is carrying eggs.


I really want to get Java moss, but does it get out of control? Would it fill up my entire 10 gallon? Could I take pieces of it out to keep it a good size (not over grown?

I was really hoping that they didn't breed, my dad has terrible childhood memory of having two snails. One day he woke up and there were baby snails every where in the tank. 

He would flip XD


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## Relic (Jul 14, 2012)

Lizzie the Badger said:


> I really want to get Java moss, but does it get out of control? Would it fill up my entire 10 gallon? Could I take pieces of it out to keep it a good size (not over grown?
> 
> I was really hoping that they didn't breed, my dad has terrible childhood memory of having two snails. One day he woke up and there were baby snails every where in the tank.
> 
> He would flip XD


No..it won't completely take your tank over if you don't let it...It grows pretty slowly in most situations. If you're seeing more than you want, simply reach in and rip some of it out and sell it on here. The stuff is hard to find at times and when you do find it, it's like $7-8 for a very small portion. I usually give mine away but if it ever gets out of control I'll start making money from it. Seems a couple of cory cats are great at controlling shrimp populations...the tanks I have cories and shrimp in rarely get baby shrimp as the cories eat all the eggs, I'm assuming anyway.


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

MSG said:


> Relic, you don't have a typical tank. From what I've seen all your tanks are all NICE & well decorated from top to bottom.
> 
> In a tank like yours, that's reasonably planted & well thought out, I'm not surprised they're thriving. I'm pretty sure ghosties are sensitive to copper & ammonia as well.
> 
> ...


I have a 35 gallon Eheim Canister filter on my 15 gallon NPT... I still don't get why you're reason was they don't breed in freshwater then to how nice a tank is....

The shrimp won't get out of hand. The shrimp and the fish will eat the babies unless they have lots of cover. Moss can get messy if not tied to something, but you can always trim them and all that.


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## Lizzie the Badger (Jun 12, 2012)

Okay thanks guys, I'm hoping my local Petsmart has java moss!


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

Relic said:


> I have ghost shrimp in almost all of my tanks. Either the whole not breeding in freshwater is a myth or my ghost shrimp are an exception...mine do breed. As a matter of fact I started with 12 shrimp in a 10 gallon and now have at least a dozen in all 8 tanks...my 29 gallon has about 30 shrimp in it. I feed mine sinking pellets when I turn the lights out at night and they also LOVE to play around in the java moss...which also gives them a good hiding place during the day or when they are being chased. most of my fish ignore them but I have caught a betta killing one every now and then.
> Here is a pic of one of my shrimps...if you look real close you can see it is carrying eggs.


Agreed. I just let nature run its course and last week found real small tiny shrimps scampering about...somebody became proud parents. ;-) Awesome pic btw. If I had a decent digital camera I'd share a few pics of the tiny shrimp


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## 12thletter (Jan 5, 2012)

I love the helpful little ghost shrimp. I found a new fish store in my town and they had cherry and blueberry shrimp. Do you know if they will breed with ghost shrimp?


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## Frazzle (Apr 10, 2012)

I got a huge ghost >.< its like 1 and a half inches long


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Just to clear up some misconceptions  Ghost shrimps do breed in fresh water. 
As their babies are more like a larvae as opposed to miniature adults, they will float around and are filter feeders until they moult.
Your tank will need enough organic matter floating around for them to feed on and survive XD Most likely they will be eaten by the betta XD and if one survives... yippee!


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