theory on ghost shrimp mortality?

[krap101]

ive never really thought about this, but do ghost shrimp die because they arent kept in the best conditions or something else?

i was thinking maybe like.. theres something on the bottom of the tank thats like... harmful to ghost shrimp? there are very few people who have kept ghost shrimp for long periods of time. personally the longest is like 6 months. and only 2 lasted that long, and they died around a week apart. a majority died within the first month..

is it something without dosing iodine? when their moulting, they get eaten or something? maybe anaerobic bacteria is released into the water when they sift around or something?

 

[Toirtis]

Water-quality is an issue, and narty stuff can build up on the tank bottom...especially in a bare-bottomed tank. That aside, they are not particularly long-lived, either...six months after maturing is probably not so bad a time.

 

[krap101]

oh i was pretty happy the 2 lived 6 months. but i was pretty disappointed in the other 2 dozen

 

[Meredith]

I had one for the longest time,probably for about 6 months. He did not just up and die though. I was moving things around in my tank and I must have squished him We will just say I found his head before I found his body. I just got a few more for my betta tank, but these guys look to be kinda old. I am not expecting them to live too long.

 

[Zezmo]

I am not sure how long they live, but I know they get a lot bigger that you typically see them. I usually buy them about 1/2 to 1 inch long. I now have a couple that are about 1.5". And the largest I have had was easily over 2". She was so much larger and more brightly colored than the typical Ghost Shrimp that she almost looked like a different species.... but she wasn't

 

[krap101]

i think the kind that have those red stripish stuff on it are the ones that get monstrous?

 

[QTOFFER]

I experience the same thing with FW crayfish. They seem extremely healthy and moult a few times before mysteriously expiring - usually during a moult.

Maybe these crustaceans are so sensitive to poor water quality that they require a water change after each feeding? Maybe their microenvironment on the tank bottom differs enough from the rest of the tank to be a factor? Maybe there is a nutritional deficiency that we can't meet? Maybe the breeding stock available to the lfs is bad? I only wish I knew. :?

 

[krap101]

well ghost shrimp are also sold as feeders and treated like feeders. that may give to it.

has anybody tried giving iodine and did they last longer? or maybe their seasonal animals that lay their eggs, die and the next year they come back?

 

[malkore]

my tiger barbs always eat my ghost shrimp.

 

[Lance M.]

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.

 

[krap101]

well ghost shrimp you cant really know their doing well.. like for mine.. one day their great and the next you see that little pink carcass..

oh on that... ive seen pink carcasses and white carcasses. i assumed the white ones are rotting.. but what about the pink ones?

do your ghost shrimp have red stripes on their claws/antennae?

 

[Zezmo]

Pink means they are cooked and ready to eat. I think my loaches are Aussies...cuz they sure love shrimp...dead or alive.

I have some with red stripes on claws, and spots on the body...white tips on tail. Others have reddish brown tiger stripes all down thier body.. they were bought as Florida Ghost shrimp.

 

[fish_4_all]

They are going to live as long as they will live. I have 2 tanks, I put 12 in each tank and one tank they lived for 2 weeks, the other they lived for 6 months. The true glass or ghost shrimp species is only supposed to live 18 months or so. There are so many species that look the same at the LFS because they are in terrible shape. I got a black and orange striped one in my last ghost shrimp bunch that has lived for 6 month in a small 2.5 gallon tank. If you really want them to survive, find a setup that works and give them lots of places to hide. Hollow logs seem to work well as long as no fish can get in. My sword babies started eating mine at 3 week old and the shrimp were 3/4 inch long.

I am going to get a species that lives longer, amano's, or some other species or maybe some crawdads. Ghost shrimp basically are a hit or miss, if you it the right setup there will be thousands of them in a month, if not, they might live 2 weeks.

Good luck and let me know if you figure it out. I have tried without any luck. Maybe the trick is iodine but I think it is bad for some species of fish. Who knows.

 

[Rach101]

When I get them I don't expect them to last for a week or two, but thats because if they molt they are goners in my tank.

 

[fish_4_all]

Mine die because they aren't able to mold. Turn almost solid white and then die. I have heard it has to do with the iodine being added but I don't know. I also had some fresh water crawfish that molted once and lost their claws and they didn't live to molt a second time. I will try to find a source that has reliable information about raising these critters.

 

[cinciboy]

I tried my best. Ghosts are not for me

 

[happyhillbilly]

I bough a few with my first real tank. They lasted about a month, then I just found them dead. So, how much iodine do you put in?

 

[fish_4_all]

Ok, here is what I have found so far. No one that has advice on the internet recommends putting iodine in your water, EVER, if you have fish. The most succesful stories always refer to some kind of driftwood, natural rocks and leafy plants in the tank. One more thing that seemed to be key was that ghost shrimp are just that, shrimp. They eat plankton, algae and other things but when it comes to ghost shrimp, they eat meat. The longest lived shrimp I had were in my baby sword tank and ate the babies they could catch. One report was of someone that had a blue lobster disappear. After giving up on it coming out on it's own, the owner moved a piece of driftwood andout came hundreds of ghost shrimp. Did they survive because they had flesh to eat? would be my first guess. I think that we need to find out what the diet is of our friends the ghost shrimp and then try to feed them properly and we should have better luck.

Will update again when and if I can find anything on their diet, natural diet.

Oh, I did also find that they can live for 3-5 years and get to be 3 inches or larger.

 

[fish_4_all]

http://fins.actwin.com/live-foods/month.9812/msg00011.html

http://www.fishpondinfo.com/shrimp2.htm

Here are two sites that discuss them very well. Again, live food, artemia, brine shrimp, white worms, micro worms, etc seem to be the best bet to realy rear large numbers of these fish. I would bet they get the iodine they need from it too.

 

[krap101]

where does the iodine come from in the wild? i thought iodine had like a long half life or something like that. short half life? i forgot the stuff i learned last year