theory on ghost shrimp mortality?

[fish_4_all]

Well I am not sure but doesn't it come from leafy greens? Kelp, seaweed, lilys, broadleaf underwater and marsh plants etc? I know crab has a lot as well as some fish and such so they have to get it from somewhere.

 

[BlazerFRS]

Iodine is just an element, probably leaches into water from rocks n' stuff.

Natural iodine isn't radioactive; thus it has no 'half life' as I understand, and it won't easily decay into a different element...

But I doubt the iodine the suckers use most effectively is straight elemental iodine anyway...

Edit:
On a side note I recently tried some of these suckers in my tank; got four at petsmart. Within 12 hours my goldfish had eaten them all! I was feeding her this morning and she spit out one of their heads to go for the flakes 8O. I thought they'd be too quick for her, especially since I have a couple of caves and some hornwart for them to hide in....

 

[krap101]

it may not be half life but... i forgot the word

 

[iamchris]

has anybody tried giving iodine and did they last longer?

I use iodine and I have a female around 2.25 inchs long going on 8 months and a couple smaller males about 7 months old. They are in the same tank as my vampires and bamboo shrimp and some amanos. All seem to be doing very well.

How big is your tank, and how much iodine do you dose and how often?

 

[krap101]

they usually give a dose on the bottle. like 1 drop per 10 gallons or somethin like that

 

[Lance M.]

Seaweed has like a ridiculous amount of iodine in it.

For dosing its a ten gallon tank and I added 1 ml for the first 4 weeks in a row (once a week) and then 1 ml every other week. It gives them the iodine that causes the molting. I assume in an aquarium they don't get enough from tap water or bottled, etc. I doesn't affect any of fish at all. Like I said I've been doing it for about 8 months now and It doesn't hurt anything so there is really no reason not to try it.

Just try ghost shrimp they are like 5 for a dollar down here. Easy to replace if they die (not like vampire and bamboo shrimp that are $15 each and amanos are $5 each and cherry shrimp = $8 each.....).

 

[fish_4_all]

Lance, do you feed them anything special or just fish food? Is good to know that it won't hurt the fish. Most places I found said the fish will be harmed by it.

 

[czcz]

Arent some of the shrimp sold as ghost shrimp collected from brackish water? I've only bought milky white feeder ghosts by the dozen and some become healthy looking shrimp and live for several months and some die over a the first couple of months.

I doubt its iodine simply because theres many people breeding caridina and neocaridina sp shrimp without dosing it. Some believe you need to dose calcium as well to help with moulting. fwiw I occasionally dose Red Sea's Reef Success Calcium +3 because I wanted to mess with CaCO3 and Iodine, but the bottle doesnt give percentages of solution, and when I dose (maybe twice a month, if that) I just give a squirt with water change. I kept breeding shrimp before using it.

I'm inclined to think stress from predatory fish is as much a factor as anything else.

 

[fish_4_all]

That almost proves the point of possibly needing to add iodine for non-algae eating shrimp. I would think that the iodine is used and absorbed by the algae and other plants that the algae eating shrimp eat and get thier iodine from. The ghost or glass shrimp is not eating the algae or vegetation so they need another source for their iodine. I did find a couple of sources that said they used crab and crustacean food for their shrimp to supply the needed nutrients. I don't know if it will work but I hope it does this time because my LFS will no longer carry them and I got the last dozen they had. Will let you know if it works or if they die anyway. WIll laso try iodine if I can find any.

 

[Lance M.]

Arent some of the shrimp sold as ghost shrimp collected from brackish water?

I doubt its iodine simply because theres many people breeding caridina and neocaridina sp shrimp without dosing it.

I'm inclined to think stress from predatory fish is as much a factor as anything else.

Most shrimp sold as ghost shrimp are just randomly caught out somewhere and thrown in a tank and labeled as ghost shrimp because they are clear. That's why you can end up with prawns or other types of shrimp that aren't really glass shrimp.

Ya amanos (caridina japonica) can be breed in a tank. However the eggs will not hatch and develop unless in brackish water (the shrimp live in FW but go to BW to breed). Several people on this forum have done this and I've heard it is hard, but can be done. You also mention the cherry shrimp (neocaridina) and these live in total FW so they can breed by themselves in a tank without any special treatment. Also the fact that both of these shrimp are algae eaters brings the topic of what fish_4_all was talking about in his last post.

In the tanks that I does with iodine I have mainly tetras with several different types of catfish including a spotted raphael catfish (his head is as big as my fist). The additional iodine doesn't seem to affect any of them (unless it makes them bigger.... 8O ).

O and fish_4_all= I just feed them flakes, crushed up. I'm sure they also eat the catfish's shrimp pellets too (those cannibals ).

 

[jibboo]

I've had some in my tank for a few months, but I hardly ever see them ... i think they're gone, then I'll see one or 2, but I always worry that I'm vacuuming them up when cleaning the tank.

I'm actually quite surprised that none of my fish took an interest in eating them. I put them in as more of an expirament and to add some diversity (plus I thought they might help keep things clean).

You guys actually put stuff in specifically to feed them? I assumed they were scavengers and would find leftover food.

 

[fish_4_all]

It souds like there really needs to be a detailed experiment done to find out exactly what they need to breed and survive. I have had many eggs from the ghost shrimp but i never got babies, maybe because of the fish, maybe because of the water. My water used to brackishish, a tablespoon per 10 gallons but i have since stopped using it because most here say it isn't needed. The fish have been the same health wise which is very good.

As for iodine, I simply don't know. I have read a lot that says they need it, others never mention it. I hope to find some aquarium supply breeders and get some straight answers but that is a far cry from likely.

 

[czcz]

Lance, there are many species of caridina and neocaridina sp shrimp besides amano and cherry, and most caridina sp. in the hobby dont need brackish water to reproduce.

fish, I've watched ghost shrimp eat hair algae btw. If iodine is in algae and plant matter, iodine would be released into the water column as plants and algae break down.

 

[Lance M.]

I hope to find some aquarium supply breeders and get some straight answers but that is a far cry from likely.

Like I said before people just cast a net out in the water (I would do this regularly if I lived closer to the water....) and throw the clear shrimp into a tank and label it ghost shrimp. People don't breed ghost shrimp on large scales (like aquarium supply breeders) because the cost of doing it is simply not worth it. Ghost shrimp are like 20 cents each. And then basically all other shrimps are wild caught however they are now breeding caridina and neocaridina. Bamboo, waterfall, vampire, etc are all wild caught.

It would be good if someone had a couple 5 gallons laying around then they could messed around and experiment with the water to see what params are best.

 

[krap101]

ive heard of a guy that lived by a marsh in florida. he got like a butterfly net and put it through the grasses. he caught quite a few shrimp, put em in a 10 gallon, and i think he said they started breeding and stuff... maybe its like quality of shrimp? because the shrimp probally go through alot getting to the store, and treated like feeders

 

[mrcrazypants05]

I just added 13 ghost shrimp to my 125 gallon... My green terror is a SOB... This guy didnt eat them... he just attacked them and left them in the gravel to rot... Luckily I only payed for 10, and I got them from wal-mart so I got my discount... They were only $0.26 a piece. I think my oscar finished some off after a while... I figured they would be safe running along the bottom of the tank, but I guess my cichlids thought they were a threat to them lol... Poor guys. If I ever get anymore they will go in my 55 gallon community. What a shame...

and I just realised what I thought was a full "belly" was eggs... don't know if they would have lived but that would have been cool... should've thought ahead of time.

 

[Joey17]

I had one that had eggs before, and they hatched but the mother ate them because i kept them in there too long . What do the babies eat anyway?

 

[greenmaji]

I warned you about the GT's mrcrazypants.. I had a large ARLC that would just beat every fish in the tank to death, it didnt try to eat any of them.. I think it has something to do with eating prepared food exclusively.. that and trying to keep there territory free of competitors.. HTH

 

[PBirdsong]

Okay, well I just bought three Ghost Shrimp and dropped them into my 55. One of them is already in that big fishtank in the sky. The other two still "seem" fine. I won them from a bet and thought it would be interesting to see how they do in my tank. They ARE fun to watch.

Oh and one of them DOES have cherry colored strips on his legs/arms.

Reading this thread sure has helped me understand a little more, but it DOES seem like there is a lot we still need to learn about them.

 

[Lance M.]

Only 3? You can have at least 15 in a ten gallon.... Not like I do that.....