If you've been perusing throughout the LFS and you've spotted these adorable (subject to one's opinion) semi-transparent crustaceans scuttling across the bottom of the tank,and you've wondered,"will my fish slurp those shrimp like ramen noodles or will they frolic among the plastic plant meadow?" Well,not exactly that, but to that effect.Or have you pondered,"would that make a good pet?"Well, you've came to the right (hopefully pinned) post.The following info might help you.MIGHT!
Ghost shrimp in their own right, are scavenging animals.That means, if one of your beloved corydoras die, and you have four or more Ghosties, you won't have much of a fish to flush.But ghosties aren't evil fish devouring monsters.I mean, really, they only get 1.5 to a very rare 2 INCHES long.Which I think is something like 6 CM, give me a break, I'm American.But I'm pretty sure that's right, but regardless of my half-ignorance to the metric system, we must continue!Ghosties tend to just nab fish waste or passing flakes, pellets, and anything else your finned friends miss in the fray of feeding.However, they are not above stealing food literally out of the fish's mouth.So, if you see this, go out right AT THAT SECOND and buy sinking pellets but not shrimp pellets because that would be funny but wrong on so many levels and guess what they're made of...That's right,SHRIMP! There's a reason why they recommend them for cichlids and medium catfish.My corys love them though, however, they never go after the ghosties I have.Which whirls us around to another ghostie issue, compatibility.
I would recommend ghosties be icluded in an extremely peaceful community with fish you know will not eat them, like corydoras or neon tetras.Bettas are a bit "iffy" as they tend to have personalities that differ from fish to fish,and some are just bi-polar so it's really hard to tell.I would recommend anything 3 inches and under.Neon tetras probably won't eat them but a blind cave tetra will.I would highly discourage any attempt to introduce them with any cichlid as the majority are carnivorous.I would also pass up any large tetras, catfish, or barbs.Cherry barbs are definitely ok,because really they fall into the 3 inches and under rule.But don't always use this rule because dwarf puffers will shred them like a blender.There are some fish that get ENORMOUS that are vegetarian, like pacus or plecostomus.And if you peruse through the species index on this site, you can assess for yourself what wouldn't munch your shrimp, unless you're buying them for that,then it's ok to put them in with predatory fish.And this brings up another issue,Good fish food or not.
Well, the answer is kind of a double edged sword.It really depends on the shrimp.Inherently, it depends of size,and feeding habits of the shrimp because they'll eat anything.If you find that the people at the LFS are using the shrimp as waste removal systems,no.But if they're eating away an amazon sword plant,yes.THey're kind of like beef cattle in the way that the way you feed them dictates how nutritious they are.If you feed you Angus, I don't know, cacti, you're going to end up with a very nutritionally devoid steak.However, if you feed them wheat, corn, barley, and such, you're going to end up with a very healthy bovine.The same applies with ghosties.If you feed them crap, well, look at the nutritional value of that, but if you feed them algae wafers, fish flakes, and what have you, let's just say you'll have a super-healthy fish.So take my advice, if you find them eating crap, set up what I like to call a "stable" tank for them.Feed them thing you know will make them little and crunchy and then introduce them into your cichlid or whatever's tank.Which sparks another topic, Housing.
I've had good experiences with positive results in the recent past with keeping them in 5 gallon(US) tanks.But that was a "stable" for when I had a firemouth cichlid.If anything else they are capable of living quite happily in anything 5 gallons and up.In fact they're quite entertaining to watch.They bury in sand and gravel.They are even capable of swimming in little somersaults when they're happy or overjoyed.But that's all of the information that I have on them at the moment.Hope I helped all of those who want to enter the exciting and tiny world of Ghost Shrimp.
Ghost shrimp in their own right, are scavenging animals.That means, if one of your beloved corydoras die, and you have four or more Ghosties, you won't have much of a fish to flush.But ghosties aren't evil fish devouring monsters.I mean, really, they only get 1.5 to a very rare 2 INCHES long.Which I think is something like 6 CM, give me a break, I'm American.But I'm pretty sure that's right, but regardless of my half-ignorance to the metric system, we must continue!Ghosties tend to just nab fish waste or passing flakes, pellets, and anything else your finned friends miss in the fray of feeding.However, they are not above stealing food literally out of the fish's mouth.So, if you see this, go out right AT THAT SECOND and buy sinking pellets but not shrimp pellets because that would be funny but wrong on so many levels and guess what they're made of...That's right,SHRIMP! There's a reason why they recommend them for cichlids and medium catfish.My corys love them though, however, they never go after the ghosties I have.Which whirls us around to another ghostie issue, compatibility.
I would recommend ghosties be icluded in an extremely peaceful community with fish you know will not eat them, like corydoras or neon tetras.Bettas are a bit "iffy" as they tend to have personalities that differ from fish to fish,and some are just bi-polar so it's really hard to tell.I would recommend anything 3 inches and under.Neon tetras probably won't eat them but a blind cave tetra will.I would highly discourage any attempt to introduce them with any cichlid as the majority are carnivorous.I would also pass up any large tetras, catfish, or barbs.Cherry barbs are definitely ok,because really they fall into the 3 inches and under rule.But don't always use this rule because dwarf puffers will shred them like a blender.There are some fish that get ENORMOUS that are vegetarian, like pacus or plecostomus.And if you peruse through the species index on this site, you can assess for yourself what wouldn't munch your shrimp, unless you're buying them for that,then it's ok to put them in with predatory fish.And this brings up another issue,Good fish food or not.
Well, the answer is kind of a double edged sword.It really depends on the shrimp.Inherently, it depends of size,and feeding habits of the shrimp because they'll eat anything.If you find that the people at the LFS are using the shrimp as waste removal systems,no.But if they're eating away an amazon sword plant,yes.THey're kind of like beef cattle in the way that the way you feed them dictates how nutritious they are.If you feed you Angus, I don't know, cacti, you're going to end up with a very nutritionally devoid steak.However, if you feed them wheat, corn, barley, and such, you're going to end up with a very healthy bovine.The same applies with ghosties.If you feed them crap, well, look at the nutritional value of that, but if you feed them algae wafers, fish flakes, and what have you, let's just say you'll have a super-healthy fish.So take my advice, if you find them eating crap, set up what I like to call a "stable" tank for them.Feed them thing you know will make them little and crunchy and then introduce them into your cichlid or whatever's tank.Which sparks another topic, Housing.
I've had good experiences with positive results in the recent past with keeping them in 5 gallon(US) tanks.But that was a "stable" for when I had a firemouth cichlid.If anything else they are capable of living quite happily in anything 5 gallons and up.In fact they're quite entertaining to watch.They bury in sand and gravel.They are even capable of swimming in little somersaults when they're happy or overjoyed.But that's all of the information that I have on them at the moment.Hope I helped all of those who want to enter the exciting and tiny world of Ghost Shrimp.
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