# Ghost Shrimp



## eaglesfan3711 (Nov 16, 2008)

I have a 10g tank with adult swordtails and large mollie and swordtail fry. I need something to eat up the food that they miss. I would get cories, but it would overstock the tank. The only other thing that I think is available for me are ghost shrimp. Would I be able to keep them with the swords or would they be eaten? The swords are between 2.5 and 3 in.


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## djrichie (May 15, 2008)

You might want to just cut back on the amount of food you feeding the fish. Unless you have a bottom level fish, you don't want the food to reach the bottom of the tank. Over feeding is a major cause of poor water quailty. 

To answer your question about if your fish will eat ghost shrimp. the answer is yes. How fast depends on how big a tank is, how much hidding place you can supply, number of fish in tank. You see shrimp are a natural food for most fish, and no matter how big of a tank you have, it is still a confined space (cage)with no way to escape. so eventuallly the fish will find the shrimp and eat them. There are a group of small cories that only get 1/2" to 3/4" long as adults. you may want to research them and get a school of 3. being they stay to the bottom of the tank you should be fine with overstocking but with a 10 gal tank is so imprtant to do those weekly 20% water changes.


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## eaglesfan3711 (Nov 16, 2008)

I have no problem with keeping the tank clean. Are the cories pygmy? Is there any online sites that sell good quality dwarfs? I have only found one and it was mixed in with otos so it wasn't even supposed to be in there.

Thanks for the help!


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## djrichie (May 15, 2008)

Corysrus.com has what your looking for.... they are good people... I have good experiences with them.


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## aconrad (Apr 30, 2008)

You may also wanna try oto's as they stay generally smaller than cory cats. In my experience shrimp will either get eaten or just die and be more of a bad thing than good.


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## eaglesfan3711 (Nov 16, 2008)

Otos will take care of algae but not the excess food. I'm thinking of getting a type of burrowing loach, kuhli black loach...I think is the name. I was told that they will eat excess food.


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## sciencebuff93 (Feb 14, 2008)

I would be careful if you're considering getting a kuhli loach. While they are extremely interesting in an aquarium, they are hard to catch and have a sharp spine. Just be careful when handling them.


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## eaglesfan3711 (Nov 16, 2008)

When I put them in, its doubtful that I will need to take them out.


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## sciencebuff93 (Feb 14, 2008)

Well all the same; be careful.
Good luck on your tank


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## eaglesfan3711 (Nov 16, 2008)

Thanks.


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## djrichie (May 15, 2008)

yes they are a booger to catch, that is for sure. the weird thing about Kuli loachs is the are a solitare fish, but they will hundle together if you have more than 7 in a tank. they won't school and the hunt for food at night alone but during the day the will hang out in a worm like nest. they are one of the easily fish to net in the wild, report say they just up root plants and the kuli's are aounfd the root sytem.


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## Plecostamus (Mar 15, 2009)

I was wondering, could Ghost shrimp be kept with Neon Tetras and a Pleco?


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## Fishboydanny1 (Jun 13, 2008)

If you want ghost shrimp, get wild caught ones. the ones sold as feeders are just that - feeders. they don't live long. wild caught ones are more attractive and larger too.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

You could also try apple snails, they will eat any leftover food on the bottom and will eat algae as well.


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## danieleric (Apr 5, 2009)

Ghost Shrimp can get large enough to survive in that aquarium, however, sword tails do get a bit agressive with inverts and there is a good chance smaller ghost shrimp will become a meal!


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## theleetbeagle (Jul 10, 2009)

I have a dozen ghost shrimp in my heavily stocked 55g and they have never been eaten. The right side of my tank is a dense forest of fake plants that they hide in that all day long. The fish never bother them and I have a lot of fish (mainly cat's).


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