Could it be... Ghost Shrimp Babies?

[RadMax8]

So, I re-scaped my tank a couple months ago. Shortly after, I brought home a bunch of ghost shrimp to keep my others company. Soon, one was berried. She carried them around for a long time, then she dropped them. Three weeks ago, I added about seven more shrimp. A week after that, I noticed a very tiny shrimp in my tank. At first I thought he hitchhiked with the others, but then I saw one that was exactly the same size.

So I guess my question is, what's the likelihood that these two little guys are actually survivors from the eggs dropped a couple months ago? I know it's rare for ghost shrimp to breed due to the larval stage, but could I just have gotten lucky?

 

[wildroseofky]

It happens more than you read about. People told me that ghost shrimp could not breed in a tank with fish. However, there are many different types of ghost shrimp and many can breed in your tank. I started with 7 and ended up with enough to fill my 29 gallon tank. So yes the tiny shrimp should be a ghost shrimp. Floating plants like moss or water lettuce will increase the amount of larvae that survive and turn into tiny shrimp. Feeding fry food or green water will help survival rate too. The larvae are so tiny they cannot usually get enough food. A well established tank though has enough bio creatures for them to eat. Make sure their is a sponge or nylon over the filter intake or they can get sucked in and die.

 

[Fishfur]

Absolutely could be Ghost shrimp. I have had a number of baby Ghosts hatch and survive in a 29G community tank stocked with kuhli loaches, cories and danios, all of whom can be expected to snack on tiny critters. Despite that, and despite having no cover on the filter intake, I had a surprising number of Ghosts live to adulthood after hatching in this tank. It helps to have floating plants, as the newly morphed shrimplets spend their first few days hanging upside down just below the surface, while they will sink to the bottom at night. Once they start swimming, around 3 days after they morph, they behave just like adults do.