Ghost Shrimp

[SkylarrRyann]

Hey all...Just wanted to know a little bit about Ghost Shrimp and breeding them. I've had a ghost shrimp with alot of eggs still inside her, and I put her in a breeding tank one day and the next day there were no eggs to be found either on top of the water, inside her or on the bottom of the tank. I was so looking forward to having baby shost shrimp. Does anyone have any information on homw long ghost shrimp are pregnant for? What should I do for the pregnant mother? Should I put a sponge on top of the water for the eggs to float to? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank You.

Skylarr

 

[YuccaPatrol]

Ghost shrimp brood their eggs (carry them until they hatch). But they can only breed in brackish water. Usually, you will buy some that are carrying eggs at the LFS, but these eggs will typically be abandoned by the mother since they cannot be hatched in regular freshwater aquariums.

If you want to breed freshwater shrimp, you should either get a true freshwater shrimp species or set up a brackish breeding tank for the ghost shrimp.

 

[monkey_toes]

Some information here:
http://www.centralpets.com/animals/fish/freshwater_inverts/fwi4997.html

Some species do need brackish water, others don't. I catch mine locally and the best spot I've found is a series of retention ponds. It would be monumentally difficult for the shrimp to routinely leave the ponds to breed. The ponds are also home to sailfin mollies, several species of killie, native sunfish and feral jewel cichlids. Regardless, I've had no success in rearing ghost shrimp — one day a female has eggs, the next she doesn't. Too many mouths in the tank, I think.

 

[budrecki]

Monkeytoes

Uh, what retention pond was that? I might like to go "shopping" :dive:

 

[Larissa]

I have two ghost shrimp in my tank that have eggs. They did not have them when I bought them. I figure that they'll be good live food for my betta if they hatch and survive. I think that to rear them (if they don't need brackish water) you would need only a sponge filter in the tank and lots of green water. This is only an assumption.

 

[Emg]

When the female ghost shrimp "lets go" of the little shrimp..they are free swimmers. I only know this because I had one ghost shrimp successfully carry a batch of eggs to hatching.....only to have the little tykes get eaten by my betta...lol. If you have gravel in that tank, they could be hiding there.

Perhaps, the reason my shrimp hatched her eggs successfully in my freshwater tank, is because I add 1/2 teasp of aquarium salt per gallon to my change water.... :huh: but I have to say...it only happened just that once ! I have yet to see any other baby shrimp, though I have seen several of my females carrying eggs........of course, if there were any, they would probably get eaten before I ever noticed them.

 

[aquarob]

Perhaps, the reason my shrimp hatched her eggs successfully in my freshwater tank, is because I add 1/2 teasp of aquarium salt per gallon to my change water.... :huh: .

curious, EMG, why do you add the salt during your water changes?

 

[monkey_toes]

Monkeytoes

Uh, what retention pond was that? I might like to go "shopping" :dive:

lol - I'm about 3 hours south of you. Long drive for shrimp, but the ponds are along Kings Highway in Port Charlotte (I-75, exit 170). The vegetation along the edges is loaded with shrimp. And jewel cichlids. I also net Heterandria formosa, golden ear and bluefin killies, American flag fish and sailfin mollies. There are also some big-*** plecos in there (maybe 18" or so), but I've only caught one and it was about 2.5" long.

 

[misopeenut]

so is ghost shrimp like amano shrimp??
i dont knwo what ghost shrimp is...
shrimps that i had were crazy.. like they make babies a lot, i started off with 5 shrimps and in couple of month i would have like close to 100..without any fish in the tank that is. and i bought those as ghost shrimp at LFS...
and someone japanese, please help me out
ghost shrimps = minami numa ebi, or jsut numa ebi
amano shrimp= yamato numa ebi

 

[chinnp]

I've never tried to keep ghost shrimp, but I've heard they're pretty rapid breeders. I've also heard if there aren't a lot of hiding places in the tank that the young get gobbled up pretty rapidly.