# WARNING. Ghost shrimp. Do not do it



## Wal007 (Apr 15, 2015)

They are the most terrible little gross things in the world. If you love your betta don't add them to your tank they will try to eat your betta.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Actually on the contrary, unless you have an already dead fish, Ghost Shrimp are harmless to other fish. They may give an interested poke to the fish, but they won't harm him at all  Shrimp are great at cleaning live grasses and other thin plants, and kicking up mulm so the filter can grab at it. That is, unless your Betta doesn't eat the shrimp first ;-) Shrimp are natural prey in all the area's they live in.


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## aaronpham (Feb 15, 2015)

Wal007 said:


> They are the most terrible little gross things in the world. If you love your betta don't add them to your tank they will try to eat your betta.


I Have them and my fish are fine. Some of my bettas even ATTACK these shrimp.


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## Strawberry12 (Mar 6, 2015)

I've found the opposite to be true- shrimp become betta snacks. I don't think they're gross at all.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Perhaps you have these which are often mistaken for young Ghosties and sold as such:

http://www.petshrimp.com/redclawmacro.php


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## aaronpham (Feb 15, 2015)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> Perhaps you have these which are often mistaken for young Ghosties and sold as such:
> 
> http://www.petshrimp.com/redclawmacro.php


How can you be sure of the difference between these shrimp? Do ghost shrimp not have claws like these? I think I might have a couple of younger ones.. they have red bands on their claws. Do ghosties have these?


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

As youngsters they look almost identical. I don't know much about the Red Claw shrimp at all; just what I read at petshrimp.com and other shrimp-specific sites.


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## Strawberry12 (Mar 6, 2015)

This is what a ghost shrimp looks like (not my image, just pulled from google)

So as you can see, they don't have the red on their claws at all.


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## Kisiel (Jul 30, 2014)

I have a love/hate relationship with shrimp. I'd love to have some because I could do with a small clean up crew that would take care of the areas where I can't get to with my siphon, but I just hate the way the shrimp move. I don't know, it's weird. They're also very expensive over here, it's like £3 for an Amano shrimp and we don't get ghosties :roll:


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## KaisynKai (Mar 5, 2015)

i love my shrimp so much I put them in their own tank .... got a few more ghost and some red's. here to hoping I can keep the reds alive this time.


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

I think my ghosties are the most adorable wonderful little things in the world :-D They have personality and it's so cute to watch them eat and they're just amazing!
I have them in my community/sorority tank and they're very shy. Never hurt the live fish ever.


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## bubbles4ever (Jan 19, 2015)

Kisiel said:


> I have a love/hate relationship with shrimp. I'd love to have some because I could do with a small clean up crew that would take care of the areas where I can't get to with my siphon, but I just hate the way the shrimp move. I don't know, it's weird. They're also very expensive over here, it's like £3 for an Amano shrimp and we don't get ghosties :roll:


I'm the same way! Something about them reminds me of cockroaches or something. I always took care of mine but I was definitely happy when my last one passed recently (I got a bad batch from Petsmart, most of them died within the first night even though nothing in my tank was wrong :|)

As for the ghost shrimp hurting the betta, I have seen them eat smaller fish such as neons alive. I think that they could hurt a bettas fins, but I would think the betta would be able to defend itself.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

If a Ghostie eats a live fish that fish was already compromised and dying. No Ghostie has the bulk, claws to take down a live fish or to even harm a Betta's fins.


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## bubbles4ever (Jan 19, 2015)

I've read lots of horror stories on here about ghost shrimp eating parts of bettas tails and them eating small guppies or endlers. I also moved my shrimp to their own tank because I saw them start to get aggressive. But the problem seems to be that many times people are not being sold real ghost shrimp? I myself am pretty convinced I was sold whisker shrimp and not ghost shrimp and many are sold macrobrachium shrimp (which I believe someone already brought up). Both of with are more aggressive and will eat live fish. Seems to me like Petsmart/Petco are very iffy when it comes to buying real ghost shrimp, so I personally wouldn't chance it again unless I was buying from a reliable source.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

You hit the nail on the head, bubbles4ever! There are shrimp that, as juveniles, look like Ghosties. Suppliers of PetSmart, et. al., send the wrong shrimp and there it goes. True Ghost Shrimp cannot do the damage some claim. But Red Claw can and they look almost exactly like young Ghosties.

What's funny is the neatest, least aggressive shrimp are the Vampire Shrimp and other filter feeders. They can get up to 6" and wouldn't know how to hurt anything.


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