Ghost shrimp

Ghost shrimp are a very suitable name for this species which is totally transparent. They walk on the bottom and plants collecting small food particles which they then eat. You can se the food in their stomach after they have eaten it. Their feeding habit make them great cleaners that can help keep an aquarium clean.

Ghost shrimp are somewhat aggressive towards other Ghost shrimp and the large shrimp can become very aggressive toward small shrimps if too many shrimps are kept together in the same aquarium. So what is to many shrimps?

A suitable amount of shrimp is no more than 1 shrimp per gallon / 4 L of water. It is recommendable to keep them in lower concentration in aquariums smaller than 10 gallon/ 40 L.

They can grow to 1.5 inch / 4 cm (the males seldom reach more than 1 inch / 2.5 cm) and become up to two years old. They moults into new exoskeletons every few months as they grow. They are very vulnerable the first time after moulting before their new exoskeletons harden. It is therefore important to provide your Ghost shrimp numerous hiding places.

Suitable companions for ghost shrimps include small Livebearers, small Tetras, Rasboras, small Danios and other fish that are small enough not to eat the ghost shrimp. Avoid keeping them with very aggressive fish.

Ghost Shrimp - Pictures by Goshawk

Ghost shrimp are best kept in an aquarium with a water temperature of 65-82 F / 18-28 C. Decorate the aquarium with a lot of hiding places that are too small for other fish to get in it. One way to create such hiding places is to put small flower pots upside down on the bottom. You can in most other aspects decorate your aquarium according to your own preferences or according to the demands of the other fish in the aquarium. Plants are not necessary but I personally think it is more beautiful if the Ghost Shrimp have plants to climb on. Make sure that all the decoration is none contaminated.

Ghost Shrimp are scavengers and will accept just about any small food they find while they scan the bottom for food. They sometimes also swim upside down and eat food from the surface. Ghost shrimp are very easy to feed and will do well on a diet of flake food. It is however good to offer them some variation in their diet and for example offer them some frozen food once in a while.

Ghost shrimp are easily bred in aquarium but the fry is very hard to raise. You will se female ghost shrimp with pink eggs or baby shrimp under their bellies. The fry is however hard to feed since it is very hard to offer them food that are small enough. Feeding them infusoria can sometimes be successful. Ghost shrimp are better and more easily breed and raised in ponds where there exist a lot of food for the young shrimp. Adding a few females and one or two males in a pond usually results in a lot of shrimps in a couple of months.

Ghost shrimp are a great addition to any aquarium with small enough fish for the shrimp to be safe from being eaten and are great little helpers in keeping your aquarium clean and your water quality high.

Didn't find the info you were looking for? Register for free and ask your question in our Aquarium forum !
Our knowledgeable staff usually responds to any question within 24 hours

Related Articles

Amano shrimp- Information about Amano shrimp
Amano Algae Eating Shrimp - An article about the algae eating Amano shrimp
Apple snail - An introduction to apple snails.
Aquarium crabs - A guide to aquarium crabs
Black Mystery Snail - An introduction to the Black Mystery Snail
Breeding Crayfish - basics too crayfish breeding
Breeding of Red Clawed Mangrove Crabs - How to breed red clawed crabs
Freshwater shrimp - Information about Freshwater shrimp
Malaysian Rainbow Shrimp - Information on how to keep and breed this shrimp species.
Red Cherry Shrimp - A guide to this Algae eating shrimp.
Red clawed lobsters - A short overview of red claw lobsters (crayfish)
Red Nosed Shrimp - information on keeping this shrimp in aquarium.
Snails: Friend or Foe in the Aquarium? - The biology of snails. Their advantages and disadvantages in an aquarium. How to keep them in check.