Ghost shrimp

[BettaGal]

I was messaging someone on here, who has been extremely helpful, and he suggested that I get some porous rocks, some more live plants, and some ghost shrimp. I have a 10 gallon with a dwarf gourami, 3 Cory cats, and about to be 4 snails, as my fish store finally got the other pretty species in stock. I have a Tetra Whisper 10 gallon filter. Black sand substrate. I was told the shrimp should be fine with my filter, but I will go with majority thought on this one. Any advise on these shrimp would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[okapizebra]

If you're worried about your shrimp getting sucked up by the filter you can just put some panty hose or a sponge over the intake. Otherwise I don't see why the shrimp wouldn't work with your filter.

 

[BettaGal]

If you're worried about your shrimp getting sucked up by the filter you can just put some panty hose or a sponge over the intake. Otherwise I don't see why the shrimp wouldn't work with your filter.

I'm just looking for general advise, and was expecting a debate about the filter since I've seen other things saying they would get caught in it, but those were bigger than mine. I just would like some advise on them. I've never had shrimp before. Google is helpful sometimes, but then I'll come here and ask about something and end up with half agreeing with google, half not agreeing with google. I prefer advise from here anyways because on the Internet, I could look at a site from anywhere describing them in what you guys might consider fish store info, while I'd it's from here, I know you guys have had them and have legit experience with them. As frustrating as the info can get sometimes, at least I know it's coming from a reliable source that knows what to do.

 

[okapizebra]

It's always possible a shrimp could get caught in the filter, but most of the time they know to avoid it. I don't have anything covering my filter in my 5 gallon and I've never had any issues with shrimp getting caught. However when I did have ghost shrimp in my 10 gallon I had a sponge over the intake. It's up to you really, but if you want to be 100% safe a sponge works great. My shrimpies liked to pick debris off of it since it collected on it from the suction of the filter. Just give it a good rinse in a bucket of old tank water once a week so it doesn't get clogged.

Is there anything specific you'd like to know?

 

[BettaGal]

I will try to say what I want, but I do have ADHD, and all too often what makes sense in my head doesn't make sense from my mouth. If it comes out funky, I'll try again. Lol.

I wanna know about my little aquatic friends before I get them when I can. I prefer advise from here compared to the general I Internet because even though I may get 50 different answers for the same question, at least I know these answers for sure have been tried. One question I really need answered is how should I clean the sand when I have shrimp in? Do I just use the gravel vacuum I normally use, or do I need to adjust something?

I'm looking for any info I can get before I continue my hunt for these little dudes.

What's the story of them breeding? I know, random spot, but that's my brain.

 

[bud29]

You can use the gravel vac, just make sure you don't suck up any baby shrimp (if you have any at the time)

As for breeding, just get 10 or so, feed them a quarter of an algae disc ever 3 or 4 days, and you will probably have berried females.

Just be aware of this; they are in many places sold as feeder shrimp, so they are not housed in very good conditions. That means they may not live long. Now not all stores are like this but some are. Just be aware.

 

[BettaGal]

I have a gravel vacuum for a 5 gallon because I have sand. If I was rich I would get a python. I give algae wafers every couple days because I own a crackhead gold inca snail. For proof, the idiot ate almost a whole algae wafer and tried to climb on a cave only to fall off. He's a little sobered up now.

So is it good that they breed, or does it matter? Will my flame dwarf gourami cause much trouble? He's not mean, but likes to "play nip". No damage has been done.

 

[bud29]

The gourami may eat the shrimplets, but the full grown shrimp should be OK. And, if you have plenty of cover, at least some of the babies should survive.

 

[BettaGal]

I have a decent amount of cover, I think. Two caves, a lava rock, an anacharis bunch that the gourami loves all of a sudden, a banana plant, and one I have to replace yet again. So get about 10, feed algae wafers like I normally do, and they're good? Do they have any funky behaviors to look for?

 

[bud29]

That should be good. You will sometimes find "shells" of the shrimp, those are exoskeletons shed when they molt. I know if you get too many, they can get territorial, but 10 in a 10 gallon should be perfectly fine.

 

[BettaGal]

So I'll have to clean that up. Do they do anything super weird? It's not gonna make me not get them, but weird behaviors are a plus if they have any. How do you know when a shrimp is ready for babies?

 

[bud29]

I know that after a female RCS molts, she releases a hormone that tells the males she is ready to mate. Then the males will be swimming all over, going nuts. I have no idea if it is the same with ghost shrimp. You will be able to tell the shrimp is "pregnant" if you see eggs under the shrimp's tail. A "berried shrimp looks like this: Ghost Shrimp - American Glass Shrimp

 

[BettaGal]

Pregnant shrimps' butts turn green polka-dotted. That's weird. Lol. I know. ADHD moment. And when some start to go crazy, somebody's ready to make babies. I'll have to do some research on them just because that's how I do. Will I have to change my temperature somehow?

 

[Autumnsky]

So why in particular do you want Ghost shrimp? Is it for breeding food?

If it is for fun, have you considered Amano/Japonica shrimp? They are bigger and end up being eaten less, in a friendly tank and live much longer.

They are even more entertaining than the Ghost shrimp! I like Ghost shrimp, they are the reason I now have a hundred Cherry shrimp, Bamboo shrimp and Amano shrimp!

 

[BettaGal]

Someone extremely helpful was trying to help me fix the result of a rookie screw up and suggested ghost shrimp as part of it. I am very open to suggestions.

 

[bud29]

What was the rookie screw-up? Usually new inhabitants are not a good fix to a bad situation in your tank, but it depends on what your screw-up was......

 

[BettaGal]

Trusted fish store people. Bought bamboo. Left it in for a good month before being told it would rot. The helpful person suggested them to clean up the sand from that. I got more plants and a lava rock like he said also.

 

[bud29]

I see. Well, shrimp aren't really necessary for cleaning that up, but if you want them, that's fine. Shrimp are very neat, and I think you would enjoy them.

 

[BettaGal]

Lol. Someone with my brain would enjoy anything crazy. He kinda figured while the bamboo was rotting without me knowing, it left stuff in the sand, and the shrimp would help. Even if they didn't, it's not like they will be starved for algae wafers. They just have to wait for the addict to be done.

What temperature do they need? It would be a little annoying to buy them and instantly cook them.

 

[bud29]

From what I have read, 78F is the upper end of their limit. Some survive at 78, others cook.