Ghost shrimp?

[Rafini]

I picked up 3 ghost shrimp a little while ago, out of the 3 only one is left now. they share my 10g planted aquarium with a dwarf cory, 4 amano shrimps and a few guppys. Everyone is doing really well and the amano`s couldn`t be happier. I am pretty positive I lost my 2 ghosts during their moult but everyone else has moulted fine since.

The question I have is, out of the 3 shrimp 2 were clear and typically ghosty in appearance. The smallest one who survived has always been a dark green color with some black markings on his side and towards his head. He also has red stripes on his arms, antennae and tail. I was wondering if this is a typical variation within the species or I got something else mixed in?
my flash didn`t really pick up the green as much and it appeared to be kinda greyish blue

 

[Duckie]

All I know from ghost shrimp is that they are really finicky in what conditions to survive. At least from my experience (may have been a bad batch) - out of the 30 or so that I used to have only one is still alive. The one survivor is pretty tough - it survived being scooped up with gravel, ended up on the carpet for a while, and is still doing just fine. But given my poor track record, I am not attempting to get more. Whoever said ghost shrimp are easy to keep must have forgot to tell me the secret on how to.

 

[OrionGirl]

I believe they do best in brackish or hard water--but that said, they're most often feeders, so seldom kept in ideal conditions.

Regarding the original post, that looks like a pretty standard ghost shrimp. They do vary quite a bit.

 

[Rafini]

Thats great, I read that there are some bad shrimps that get big and are aggressive that are occasionally mixed in with ghosts called Macros. Pretty glad I don`t have one of those.

Yeah they are supposed to be an "easy" shrimp to keep. I have had better luck with Amano shrimp. I remember reading that they like salt. what is the ideal salinity for ghost shrimp? and alternatively what is the ideal salinity for Amanos? I remember reading that they too like low end brackish conditions

 

[Tifftastic]

I just did a little research and you would know if you had a macrobachium as they are a species of freshwater prawn and look very different.

Here's one of the many Macrobachium species, but the image I found of one that could be most easily confused. Take note of the claws.

Additionally, I have multiple sources that suggest that ghost shrimp do not necessarily need brackish conditions to thrive and that this is a common misconception.
http://www.planetinverts.com/ghost_glass_grass_shrimp.html

But another source says that they can do well in "slightly brackish" conditions, with a specific gravity below 1.005. The same site says that Amano shrimp also do well in "slightly brackish" conditions, but lists no specific gravity for them.
http://brackishfaq.webspace.virginmedia.com/Projects/FAQ/8a.html