need help making sure these are ghost shrimp

I have been losing a few fish after I bought these guys recently (2 guppie males and one platy though I think that passed from old age had it about nearly 5-6yrs one of the few alive after my move) lately at first I thought bad water, disease, etc, checked the water all good there and none looked sick all happy in their 30 gal tank. Anyways to the point of this was, I have seen the large ghost in the pics grabbing my last male guppy by its tail, eating its tail as it swam. I saved the guppy though it died later from stress tail mostly gone........ I was told they would be peaceful with my fish but sometimes they get mixed up with other clear shrimp/prawns which are fish eaters and since I feed my tank both flakes and fresh veggies they shouldn't be starving. this tank is planted I just started this tank after having to move it's not overcrowded I only have the 4 shrimp, 3 female guppies, 5 really small mystery snail babies, a male molly, and I think its a platy though smaller then my old one but not truly sure friend gave it to me after rescuing the tank from someone else (i have pics if you wish to help solve that mystery to haha) I plan on getting more fish to balance out the male and female ratios for both the guppy and molly but I don't want to risk getting them killed by the shrimp too they don't seem to bother the other fish and I don't have another tank right now to separate the shrimp... sorry for the rambling I just don't want to lose anymore (being on a tight budget I can't afford the constant loss) and until I can save up for the cherry shrimp (whhhhy do they cost so much for just one siigh haha) I have to make do with these ghosties for now but any tips on what to do with them would be very helpful thanks. (and sorry for the bad pics i only had the glass to hold them in long enough for the pics with a very few flakes of food to eat while i took the pics)

I have a ghost shrimp tank and had guppies and plenty of guppy fry in there and never saw the ghost shrimp attack any fish. These seem to have a similar look, I will go and take a closer look at mine and compare.

My ghost shrimp have a reddish band on their two front antenna at the base of the head. I do not see this on these. Hope that is helpful. There are other shrimp that look like ghost shrimp

Retired Viking said:

My ghost shrimp have a reddish band on their two front antenna at the base of the head. I do not see this on these. Hope that is helpful. There are other shrimp that look like ghost shrimp

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thank you though it doesnt show well they do have the red bands to if need be i can get better pics

It was hard to see on mine too, in daylight it is easier to tell.

I have only had my ghost shrimp for about 4 months now, they are a new thing to me too. I have never seen them act aggressively toward fish only seen them chase after food, You may want to do a google search and compare what they show, I know there are some other types of shrimp that look a lot like ghost shrimp, Sorry I was not able to help, maybe someone with more knowledge will be able to help you later.

Retired Viking said:

I have only had my ghost shrimp for about 4 months now, they are a new thing to me too. I have never seen them act aggressively toward fish only seen them chase after food, You may want to do a google search and compare what they show, I know there are some other types of shrimp that look a lot like ghost shrimp, Sorry I was not able to help, maybe someone with more knowledge will be able to help you later.

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ya sigh i hunted on google for info.... some say they can be nasty some don't as for looks to me they look like a ghost but I'm no expert even after searching a lot

Oh before I forget, Hello and welcome to the forum

Retired Viking said:

Oh before I forget, Hello and welcome to the forum

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hiya and thank you! im usually always reading these but this is the first time im actually joining one haha

All shrimp will eat sick or dead fish. If the guppy was unwell, the shrimp might have decided to go after it. It works the other way too. If fish see a sick shrimp, they will eat it.

Glass/ ghost shrimp are normally fine and don't have a lot if any colour (bands or markings). However, there is also a lot of variation between them depending on which part of the world they come from. Having them in dark containers on a dark patterned background doesn't help because the shrimp will try to produce some colour to blend in with their surroundings. You are better off photographing or video them in the tank.

You are unlikely to get Macrobrachium in the US, and if you do, they shouldn't be in the feeding shrimp tanks. Macrobrachium shrimp have significantly longer front claws than most shrimp. The shrimp in the pictures don't look like Macrobrachium.

Colin_T said:

All shrimp will eat sick or dead fish. If the guppy was unwell, the shrimp might have decided to go after it. It works the other way too. If fish see a sick shrimp, they will eat it.

Glass/ ghost shrimp are normally fine and don't have a lot if any colour (bands or markings). However, there is also a lot of variation between them depending on which part of the world they come from. Having them in dark containers on a dark patterned background doesn't help because the shrimp will try to produce some colour to blend in with their surroundings. You are better off photographing or video them in the tank.

You are unlikely to get Macrobrachium in the US, and if you do, they shouldn't be in the feeding shrimp tanks. Macrobrachium shrimp have significantly longer front claws than most shrimp. The shrimp in the pictures don't look like Macrobrachium.

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I did more research and that is what I came up with too.

Yep! ghost shrimp they are!

They are either 1 of 2 species can think of: Glass/ Ghost Shrimp, or algae shrimp. The last one is simply called algae shrimp and they look every similar to ghost shrimp.

PheonixKingZ said:

They are either 1 of 2 species can think of: Glass/ Ghost Shrimp, or algae shrimp. The last one is simply called algae shrimp and they look every similar to ghost shrimp.

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Algae shrimp or Amano Shrimp (Cardina multidentata) are more colorful than ghost shrimp. Amano shrimp are a pale yellowish brown not white clear like ghost shrimp, amanos also have little pale red dots on their bodies and dont have the big eyes like ghost shrimp and amano shrimp can also get up to 3 inches.
These look very much like ghost shrimp to me

utahfish said:

Algae shrimp or Amano Shrimp are more colorful than ghost shrimp. Amano shrimp are a pale yellowish brown not white clear like ghost shrimp, amanos also have little pale red dots on their bodies and dont have the big eyes like ghost shrimp and amano shrimp can also get up to 3 inches.
These look very much like ghost shrimp to me

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I hate to disagree with you, but Amano Shrimp aren’t yellow:

As you can see, they are clear. I do agree however that they have spots. So the OP’s shrimp can’t be Amono shrimp. Then again, I never said that they were Amono Shrimp.

(Picture:https://www.azgardens.com/product/freshwater-amano-shrimp-caridina-japonica-for-sale/)