Wild Florida Grass Shrimp for Aquarium?

T

thatbettaglo

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Jun 25, 2009
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Florida
Living in Florida and being an avid freshwater fisher, I have used these small clear shrimp many times as bait. Well, now I want to try and use these tiny creatures as tank inhabitants. They are everywhere in the local canals and easy as pie to catch, but should I be worried about parasites? They would be with pet store bought guppies and a two corys so I am a little worried.

Just wanted the opinions of people who have been in the hobby longer than I have. :1zhelp:
 
Knowing nothing about the creatures in question (which has never stopped me from opining before :) ) the best practice would be to put them in a species-only tank for awhile. Bring a bucket and gather some plants growing in the water where you catch the shrimp, washing as much mud as possible off the roots as that would seem likely to be where parasites or other unwanted creatures would be most likely to lurk.

Use the most basic of substrates, cat litter would be fine, just enough to keep the plants rooted. And watch the shrimp in you new little biotope! If there's anything wrong with them or growing on or in them it should show up in a reasonable time, like a few weeks. Then try one of them in their eventual destination tank and see how it gets along. If nobody else keels over dead or is found in a devoured condition, add the rest.

I really don't know why a wild-caught shrimp would be more likely to have parasites or disease than one that's been in a captive environment with a shifting cast of tankmates of other sources and origins. Sounds like a fun project, let us know how it works out. You may have a new source of income. :)
 
Horsehair Worms are never much fun.. other than that though, I'm not sure what parasites are commonly associated with Ghost Shrimp.
 
Hey man, I've just recently done the same thing! I decided I wanted to get mudskippers and came to the conclusion that I would do a brackish tank and scoop up some of our creatures from the river. I'm not sure what part of Fla your in, I'm in North Florida over by the St. Johns.

I am kind of worried about the fact that I used sand from the river.. I figured I'd be able to keep it as natural as possible that way. I didnt sterilize the sand, which could be a big issue in the future. I also caught a bunch of our clams for natural filtration. My grass shrimp have been okay so far, I've had to put the big guy in my culture tank as he was eating the little shrimp! :[

Check out my post in my signature, they seem to love it!
 
Well, there's a host of protozoans that are commensal on benthic arthropods and gastropods. They're basically bactivores and use the the exoskeletons for substrate. But when transmitted to fish they can become ectoparasitic in the gill chambers and on the skin. Flashing and gill rubbing are common symptoms. There's epistylis, apiosoma, and the trichonds just to name a few.

Oddly enough, I once collected an amphipod with a hydra hitch hiking a ride...so I quess a shrimp would'nt be out of the question.

Wild collecting is always a crapshoot...:)



Tom
 
they are prolly ghost shrimp. and when you buy ghost shrimp from the lfs where u think they come from? theres prolly guys catching them by the millions then selling them as bait/live foods
 
Thanks for the suggestions. In down in SW Fla Maverick, just in case you wanted to know. I knew that I was going to have to quarentine the shrimp and I relize the store shrimp are also wild caught, I just didnt know if they used a product or solution to decrease the chance of parasites and/or bacteria that could pose a problem to the fish.
I will definitly keep you all updated and thanks again for the help. =3
 
You have an amazing setup! Its unique and detailed, looks like land/water I see along the caloosahatchee. I cant wait to see how it works out. ^_^
 
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