# Shrimp woes...



## edothas (Oct 22, 2011)

Some time ago, the idea of keeping shrimp caught my fancy. Since I'm not keen on losing (too much) money to stupidity, I thought I'd try ghost shrimp first. But that didn't turn out so well... After 3 batches, I have yet to manage a single live shrimp after 30 hours. Does anyone have ideas of things I should look for? I have checked for copper (none), GH 8 - 10 deg, KH 7 - 8, NO3 < 15ppm, no ammonia. I don't know if it means anything, but I did get 3 berried females that were still holding the eggs after they died.


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## greenfish (Mar 7, 2005)

I don't know anything about ghost shrimp but I keep lots of others. How are you acclimating them to your tank water? Personally I drip acclimate for at least 1 1/2 hours or more.


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## edothas (Oct 22, 2011)

I floated the bag, and spent about 4 hours adding 10 - 20ml every 15 minutes till the bag had slightly more than double the water it began with.


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## greenfish (Mar 7, 2005)

Sounds like acclimation wasn't the issue. I'm not sure then. Sorry.


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## edothas (Oct 22, 2011)

I've wondered if it were the shrimp themselves. Would an overstressed female drop her eggs?


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## Jerryl (Apr 19, 2008)

Three questions: First, were there any other occupants in the aquarium other than the shrimp (cichlids and large fish could harass and kill the new shrimp unless they could find sufficient shelter, and if the shrimp were molting, even same-sized fish could kill the shrimp); and second, what was the pH of the aquarium water (shrimp usually don't do well in very acidic water); and third, what plants were in the aquarium with the shrimp (being omnivorous, shrimp do better with some vegetable matter as part of their diet, and shrimp can use plants to hide in - they do much better when there are plants available for them to retreat to)?


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## edothas (Oct 22, 2011)

There are quite a few guppies, pH between 7 and 7.4, and lots of plants. After watching them for a while, I was more concerned about shrimp chasing fish than the other way around.


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## Gordonrichards (Apr 28, 2009)

I can't see a reason why they wouldn't stay alive in your tank.

Why not get a couple cherry shrimp instead of ghost shrimp?

Ghosts are used a feeders, and will not breed in fresh water!

-Gordon


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Gordonrichards said:


> I can't see a reason why they wouldn't stay alive in your tank.
> 
> Why not get a couple cherry shrimp instead of ghost shrimp?
> 
> ...


Actually, most ghost shrimp (at least the usual species, Palaemonetes paludosus) live out their full life cycle in freshwater. Occasionally they can be found in brackish. The problem with raising the young is that they're born teeny-tiny, have two larval stages, and need an abundance of unicellular plankton in the water to survive past the larval stage.

That said, I do agree with the suggestion to try cherry (or amano) shrimp instead. The problem with ghosts isn't necessarily your care of them, it's usually a result of them being shipped in lousy conditions. They jam a gazillion or so into a bag to save on shipping - many die in transit, and the ones that make it don't tend to recover from the ammonia poisoning, so near-total losses within a few days of purchase are common. Since they're meant to be feeders, anyway, the stores don't care.

If you're determined to keep ghost shrimp in particular, best to find someone who can collect them locally (they're native to most of the southeast and mid-atlantic coast) and ship them in less grueling conditions. You'll pay more per shrimp, but they're not as likely to croak on you at the end of the trip.


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## FreedPenguin (Aug 2, 2011)

You should try RCS or Red Cherries, they are very cheap and very hardy!


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## LadyP (Mar 9, 2012)

Ask what day the shrimp were shipped in and when the next shipment is, then wait for the day just before they get new ones and try a batch of those. They will be the more "healthy" fish that survived such horrible transit and had time to "relax" at the store.


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## gtu2004 (Jun 21, 2011)

ghost shrimps are not really a good starter shrimp since they are feeders shrimps and get mishandled all the time. you should take up the advice on others and get some cherry shrimps. they are almost as cheap as ghost shrimps now anyway, plus they're still considered fancy enough that they get a little better care.

I would also advise you to acclimate a bit more. Adding new water to more than double the original water is not much. Once it gets to double the original water, you should pour some water out and start again. This time do until you quadruple the water. You can gradually add more and more water at every addition.


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## ShrimpUSA.com (Aug 19, 2012)

Not sure if floating the bags will be a good idea . If they are shipped and already have ammonia building up it can rapidly increase that . Not much of an issue home from the pet store but It still can be stressfull . I would invest in a plastic shoebox $1 and empty the bag into that wether from shipping or your petstore . Let it sit a few minute and them add 10 % or so of your tankwater at a time until you have at least doubled the amount of water ( more and longer is better ) . Do this over 40 to 60 minutes . This will get you in the good habit should you decide to get more difficult but more interesting shrimp down the road . Acclimating can take as long as 4 to 6 hours for special shrimp , kind of like why take the chance ? But 40 to 60 minutes is fine for the shrimp we are talking about here . I always add some plants as well so if the shrimp are hungry they can have a snack and they will be less stressed with places to hide


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