# Ghost Shrimp



## M1ster Stanl3y (Dec 10, 2010)

just picked up 20 ghost shrimp from my LFS for $4. 2 of them have eggs on their bellies. Now these guys were supposed to be snacks for my crayfish but now that i see eggs, i want to see about keeping some around to breed. What do i have to do. Right now they are temp acclimating to the tank. After about 30min they will be in a bucket with drip acclimation going on so i have about an hour and 1/2 b4 they go into a tank. Any idea for these ladies with eggs?


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## Mac Myers (Oct 12, 2010)

You will get lots of conflicting information but..... You can't.

The main problem is the free floating fry (headache.. can't remember name) will die regardless of what you do. Hard to protect, hard to feed.
Some say they need brackish water... though around here they breed in Freshwater only ponds. You do need to separate the egg bearing females to a different container.
Some people claim to have done it... but I haven't seen it myself.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

'Tubbing' would be your best chance. You put them in a large tub of water outside with rotting leaves in the bottom and lots of plants , then you might get some young grow up, they just look after themselves like that. In an aquarium there isn't much hope. If you wan't to breed shrimp try Red Cherry Shrimp, they are easy.


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

The biggest issue you're gonna have is to know exactly what kind of ghostie you actually have. Most LFSs don't know either as they are only labeled as ghost shrimp and are sold as feeders. Some species require brackish water while others are strickly fresh.

Either way, the eggs hatch as larvae called zoea. For ghosties, this stage of their life is brief; about a day. Then they morph into the adult form.

The trick, small species only aquarium (or container) with a sponge filter and low current. Will need some green water to feed the little ones for a few days. Once in the adult form, they will start grazing like a normal shrimp.

If you have the brackish water species, you should isolate the female until the eggs hatch. Once they hatch, you should immediately add them to a brackish water tank. When the zoea morph to their adult form, you can begin re-introduceing them into the freshwater world.


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

Thanks for all the info here, my "ghost shrimp" seem to always be carrying eggs around. My wife really wants to raise some but I never enven considered it. Now I just might have to try it.


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## M1ster Stanl3y (Dec 10, 2010)

snail said:


> 'Tubbing' would be your best chance. You put them in a large tub of water outside with rotting leaves in the bottom and lots of plants , then you might get some young grow up, they just look after themselves like that. In an aquarium there isn't much hope. If you wan't to breed shrimp try Red Cherry Shrimp, they are easy.


haha come summer maybe...27* and a tub of water might not let ne survive..lol..

thanks for all the info so far. My LFS just says they are Ghost Shrimp, and there is no other kind. WIth my store i get the info here and then go look at fish, then look the fish up on my phone while standing there then make the purchase. I dont trust their info. After all they are the ones who said a common pleco was "pretty common and only get 5inches". 

This time the ghost shrimp i got were 3/4 to 1 inch in length. Usually they are 1/2 inch or less. They stand a chance to survive my angels this time. If they make dont make it this time once I set up my 55g, my 10g will be a tank to house feeder fish for my cray, so ill make it a shrimp tank then as well. My son loves trying to find them in the tank.


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

M1ster Stanl3y said:


> My son loves trying to find them in the tank.


That's what I like about them if you have kids. They love trying to find them.


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## Mac Myers (Oct 12, 2010)

James0816 said:


> That's what I like about them if you have kids. They love trying to find them.


That's how i got into Shrimp Keeping. Watching Ghosts I had dumped ion for feeders. *old dude


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## GypsyV (Nov 28, 2010)

My petsmart had a ghost shrimp with eggs in her tail, it was the first time I had ever seen one with eggs. I was tempted to buy her but didn't. Not sure the guy would've searched her out.


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## wltrdragon (Mar 4, 2011)

i just purchased 6 ghost shrimp from my local pet smart. when i got home i found out she actually gave me 9 and two of them where carrying eggs. Every article on ghost shrimp I have read say they are hard to raise in the aqaurium setting because of the normal cleanliness of aqauriums. They recomend to raise them in an outside pond/pool with of a lot green water.


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## M1ster Stanl3y (Dec 10, 2010)

I buy them as treats for my fish not to raise out of 30 or so I have 1 left


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## automatic-hydromatic (Oct 18, 2010)

I've had two in my 30 gallon for a while now just as bottom scavengers

a few weeks ago one of them was carrying eggs... haven't seen any little ones and the eggs are now gone

from what I read, almost not completely impossible, it's EXTREMELY hard to successfully breed them unless you know exactly what you're doing and have the right setup to do it


RCS would be much easier to breed  I've got 5 in the same tank, one of which is carrying eggs, so I'm waiting to see what happens with that. I'm sure either the Blue Ram or the Dwarf Gourami will just eat them though, LOL


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