# Do glass shrimps eat algae?



## Anafranil (Mar 15, 2005)

I had a problem with algae so I rushed out to buy some Amanos,I didn't find any so I bought some glass shrimps which I didn't know at the time they were not algae eaters and I haven't fed them.ten days later some turned white and died.In the tank there was plenty of hair algae.Is it possible they starved to death?The problem is that I brought a couple of small amanos that also turned white but not dead.


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## owengibson (Apr 21, 2005)

I dont know much about shrimp, but it sounds like they may have needed somethign else to eat.... I personally dont think ANYTHING eats hair algae LOL


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

If glass shrimp are what I think they are, they do not eat algae. Do they have little tiny claws or pinchers? 

There could be many reasons for the demise of shrimp, but I think I remember your water was very soft -- isn't that right? You may want to try to add a little bit of cuttlebone or shell fragments to the tank.


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## Raul-7 (Feb 4, 2004)

Glass Shrimps are mainly scavengers that eat food debris leftover by fish, although they do eat hair and string algae sometimes they need additional fish food to live off.


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## Anafranil (Mar 15, 2005)

They do have small claws,I thought they could live on algae so haven't fed them.This probably explains the fact they were dyeing ;-) Sorry new at shrimp keeping


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

If they do have small claws, they are indeed the shrimp I was thinking about -- not algae eating. They are a so called "long arm" shrimp, and possibly at some point, might go after small fry or fish if given a chance. You will want to feed them a bit of fish type food rather than just algae.



> Sorry new at shrimp keeping


 No worries at all! There's actually not a lot of info out on shrimp, and we're all learning together


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## Anafranil (Mar 15, 2005)

I have given them some food tablets and from that day I lost no more,so are they the ghost/glass shrimps afterall?


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

I would think so if they have little claws and you acquired them as Glass shrimp. That fits what I know of them  I'm glad to hear your losses stopped -- sounds like the food you are feeding them was appreciated  Most algae wafers have a high fish meal content; only a few are solely vegetable matter.


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