# I Need Ghost Shrimp 101!



## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

I just purchased 12 ghost shrimp from Petsmart for my girls.
Why do they call it Pet SMART? The guy in the fish dept. had zero info. for me on ghost shrimp. I acclimated them to the tank; then I poured their water through a net into a fish-only bucket. MUCH to my amazement, half the shrimp jumped out of the net! 2 landed on the floor, 2 landed in the bucket. With a great deal of difficulty, I finally got them all in the tank. This morning, I see 2 shrimp that are solid white; I assume they are dead. 
I've looked everywhere on line for more info. Can a betta eat an entire shrimp? What about moulting? Do I remove the shells? Are the dead ones food for bettas, or should I remove them ASAP? I did learn on line (after the fact) that shrimp are "delicate" and need "special acclimation"? How long do they live? if one makes it to it's max. size, can it harm a betta? (What are they're max size?) The lack of info on them is prop. b/c they are seen simply as feeders to be consumed immediately by larger fish. So far, I haven't seen my bettas notice them.
Help!


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## Fishybitty (Dec 29, 2012)

I never have any luck with these guys. They don't last long. I would suggest some cherry shrimp. I heard they are more hardy.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

Fishybitty said:


> I never have any luck with these guys. They don't last long. I would suggest some cherry shrimp. I heard they are more hardy.


Same here, they are not healthy because they are mainly sold as food...plus the ones at petsmart have always died on me :/


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## BearMitten (Jan 17, 2013)

I bought 3 ghost shrimp from petsmart and they've been doing fine with my betta and apple. They are hard to find sometimes but seem very active and healthy.


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## pittipuppylove (Feb 23, 2012)

I've had decent luck with them in my 15 gallon guppy tank, but I've never tried too hard at keeping them with the bettas (seems like three of the four would likely think the ghosties look like a tasty snack, and the fourth boy started munching on his tail after introducing the shrimp). What I've seen with mine is that when I get new ones, they either die off in the first 24-48 hours or do really well for 2-4 months before passing, with the survival rate being around 70-90% past the first week or so. Mine will turn cloudy when stressed (typically only when I have to move the tank, and therefore have to fish them out and put them in a transport container) or when they're reaching the end of their lifespan. Probably best to remove any moults or dead shrimp to avoid ammonia spikes, although I'll admit that I rarely find either because the guppies usually finish them off before I can get to them. 

The biggest ghost shrimp I've seen was probably 1-1.5", and I have yet to see one try to mess with any of my adult guppies (they may try to go after the fry, though) and they left my betta alone when they were in with him. However, there have been reports of pet stores selling other, similar looking, species as ghost shrimps, and these can be rather aggressive - "real" ghost shrimp should have small, reddish-orange spots on their antennae and claws.


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

The shrimp are cute little devils! Big eyes and see-through tummies. I bought them as detritus cleaners. The bettas are interested in the 2 dead ones, but I'm pulling them out. I was hoping to find out their life-span and frequency of them becoming betta breakfast. I left a little pile of dead plant debris so I could see if they'd snack on it right away- no to that little experiment. Now, I have to do a little cleaning & an ammonia test!


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## Aluka (Dec 25, 2012)

I had 6 ghost shrimps in my sorority for months. Until one day my girls realize the shrimps that has grown bigger than them is SUPER TASTY, and they murder them one by one. Usually they eat the whole shrimp, sometimes they kill it and leave it in the corner, i would pick it up with a net, pull off the head and dangle it just under the waterline and my girls will maul it like piranhas (which sometimes i think they are...)


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

* Can a betta eat an entire shrimp?*
yeah they can, but not in one bite.
*Do I remove the shells?* 
yes
* Are the dead ones food for bettas, or should I remove them ASAP?*
I would remove them as soon as you see them, you dont know if they died from stress of being on the floor or travel, or if they were sick
* I did learn on line (after the fact) that shrimp are "delicate" and need "special acclimation"? *
I acclimated mine exactly like I do fish and never had any issue. They are delicate in that they are sensitive to water parameters so they should only be in fully established tanks. If you see them trying to climb out of the water that means your parameteres are off.
*How long do they live? if one makes it to it's max. size, can it harm a betta? (What are they're max size?)* 
not sure how long they live, I think its like a year or so?
They supposedly are full grown 5 weeks after birth. Females are about double the size of males, I'm sure yours are probably full grown. 
Max size is about 1" for males and 1.5-2" for females. (I've never had one get that big)
They can clamp onto fins and what not but its really rare. Also, you need to try to check for red joints on their pincher arms and antenna's -- if there arent red joints anywhere on them then that means they are imposters. The fake ghosties can be aggressive and you should remove them immediately. But since you got them from petsmart I dont foresee that being an issue, but something you should always check for just in case.


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## tekkguy (Jan 28, 2013)

I disagree on removing the shells. Most of the time, the ghost shrimp will eat the shells when they molt, in order to replace the calcium and iodine lost in the molting. Obviously, if you see a molt laying there for more than 24 hours, it should be removed. It's mostly just calcium, so it shouldn't hurt much if you miss one. Don't leave whole bodies in the tank to decompose.

They are also omnivores, and would appreciate some food other than scraping algae. They LOVE bloodworms - if you can, try sending some bloodworms to the bottom of the tank if you can keep your fish from grabbing them first. It's sort of funny to watch a bloodworm pass through a ghost shrimp.

I had several ghost shrimp in a community tank that I had up and running for about 5 years. I started with three ghost shrimp, and had 5 when I took the tank down. They don't breed as easily like cherry shrimp (which breed like bunnies), but they will breed if they feel safe.


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

Well, all the shrimp have gone to shrimp heaven. A few of my girls are having a blast playing with the last corpse. I saw a torn-up shrimp carcass when I turned the lights on this AM. Less than 2 days! I needed a new hood light, so I asked another PetSmart employee what happened. He says my Ph is too high to support either shrimp or corys (I killed 6 corys a month ago). I have very hard water- 8.2. I don't know how to safely keep it lower.


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

My pH is 8.0 and I support both shrimp and cories just fine. I think he probably doesn't know what he is talking about. How long did u take to acclimate them? Maybe they were too stressed out by it


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## Aluka (Dec 25, 2012)

i don't know i still think the most likely scenario is that your girls ate them. thats what my girls would do!


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

My corys FREAKED as I introduced the female bettas to the tank. They raced all over, while the bettas didn't pay attention to them. My gut tells me they stressed out. A diseased fish usually lingers for at least a few hours; these fish looked like they had strokes!


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

P. S. I just bought something called an "acclimator" on line. I'll try cherrry shrimp & acclimation next time. Should I attempt corys again?


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

If you want to try cories again, I don't see why you couldn't or shouldn't. I love having cories in my tanks they are the most active in my tank.


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## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

I have hard water and a pH of around 8, and I have ghost shrimps in both of my planted tanks and they are doing fine. I also have cories in my 29 gallon, and they're doing great too. I didn't really do anything special to acclimate them - floated them for 15 mins, filled the bag up with tank water and let them sit for another 15 minutes and then let them go into the tank. My shrimp are doing well - even have a couple carrying eggs! They eat pretty much everything I feed my other fish and they also eat some algae and decaying plant matter (and poop, believe it or not). 

I really don't think the pH is your problem. When I first got shrimp for my 29g they all died within about a half hour after I put them in the tank, and I'm pretty sure that my dissolved oxygen levels were low. Bettas breathe from the surface so it wasn't affecting them, but shrimp are very sensitive. I now have a bubble wall and haven't seen any shrimp deaths yet with my second attempt.


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

HHmm I'd like to know about dissolved oxygen levels! It's the 1st time I've heard this addressed. At one point I bought a tiny air stone curtain: about 4" long (with a decorative arch over it.) I was thinking of tucking it against one of the short walls, out of the main swimming area, but since I have 2 female ee's, I thought it would be too difficult for them to swim.
My tank is heavily planted; would this improve oxygen? Is there a test for dissolved oxygen?


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## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

My tank is heavily planted too. Is your tank new? When I first attempted ghost shrimp my tank had only been set up for a couple weeks. When I got my new batch, I noticed they were fine at first but at night they all headed for the surface of the tank, so I decided to try the bubble wall and that did the trick - no more hanging out at the surface! I also tried some loaches when I first set up my tank and they basically gasped for air at the surface of the tank and so I ended up returning them to the store. From what I've read, in planted tanks there can be a sharp decrease in oxygen levels at night because the plants aren't producing it and everything in the tank (including beneficial bacteria) is using up the oxygen, so by morning levels are very low. In new tanks, the plants probably aren't actively growing yet so oxygen levels are lower because of that too. I actually haven't checked the levels of oxygen in my tank but you need a special meter to do that (I have one at my work). I think if all of your other parameters are fine but you are still having fish die that don't breathe air like bettas, that might be the reason why. Not sure what else to tell you about it though, lol.

Oh, they sell different sized air pumps too, I bought one that was crazy strong and all my fish were being pushed all over the place so I went with one that is actually for a smaller tank and it gives off just enough bubbles to look nice and add oxygen to the water without affecting the fish. My cories and otos LOVE to swim through the bubbles too.


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

I set up my 29 gal on Dec. 20. After running it (with plants and rocks from 2 other smaller, established aquarium). After a week or 2, I added the 6 corys. (No bettas yet.) One cory died overnight; I returned it for another. After a week of happy corys, I added first 3, then another 3, then 6 betta girls. I should have used a hospital tank, but this was not an established tank, so it became the hospital tank. 3 corys overnight, the rest the next day! I then lost 2 bettas (imports) in short order. With that, I broke down the 29 gal. 100%. I couldn't risk that there was something toxic in the big tank so all substrate, plants, snails, and decor was disposed of. I removed the remaining girls to a sparsly planted 10 gal, where they have been for 3 weeks. I lost one more lovely import a few days later. Now, I have the 29 gal replanted & ready to go, but I AM SCARED!! Everyone in the 10 gal is doing so well...


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## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

I set my 29 gallon up on Dec. 22nd! Funny. I didn't add my corys until Jan. 23, though and the new set of shrimp have only been in there a week. That's really weird that the corys would suddenly die, especially if all your bettas were healthy! Maybe the corys were sick when you got them and just weren't showing symptoms or something...that's so odd. So sorry to hear that 

I would try again with the 29 gallon. Wondering if the ammonia spiked or something when you added the bettas and that's what killed the corys?


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

Maybe an ammonia spike. I did a liquid test and all was perfect, but who knows? I got a filter for a 50 gal. tank (200 gallons per hour) to keep things healthier. Does a good filter address an ammonia spike? I test with an ammonia strip & add Prime if I'm getting a high indication. I have the Master liquid test kit that I use every other day, but I use the strip to do a quick screening on a daily basis.
Funny, Petco/petsmart says they'll "test your water for free". I assume they had some high-tech super-accurate space-age testing system. I brought water in after the last cory died. They used off the shelf test strips!!! And the parameters were perfect, as my liquid tests had shown. I feel I know more about bettas from this site in 3 mo than any PetSmartCo employee, IMHO. The employees also pronounce them "bay-tah" rather than the correct "bet-ah". If they were spelled "Beta" that would be "bay-tah". Of course they look at me funny when I say "bet-ah". OK I'm ranting...


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## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

That's funny you say that, it's the opposite around here - I say "bay-tah" and the girl at Petsmart says "bet-tah" haha. I had them test my water once too, even though I have the API test kit and was disappointed when they pulled out strips...I thought for sure they had a REAL test kit, lol. I really don't know what to tell you though, I'm not an expert, just going from my own experiences. I would definitely try again with the 29g, though, if stuff dies again at least you have a warranty on it and can take it back - right?


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