Ghost Shrimp in Brackish Water?

[BeachORama]

Hi All !!!

So i gave feeding live ghost shrimp to my GSP but he basically ignored them (they are probably too small for him since he is pushing 3" now.)

Anyway I tried 4 times to get him to chase but no luck. Now I've got 4 small sized ghost shrimp in my tank and not really in the mood to dig them out.

Will the 4 ghost shrimp survive in 1.008 SG brackish water or will they die and cause problems?

Thanks!!!

Oh PS: The tank is 25 gallons.

[Bcummings8521]

I havnt been able to find out if the common ghost shrimp sold in stores can survive in brackish as there are certain types that can. I would assume that the ones at your lfs arnt brackish. Best way to tell is see if they survive it might take some time for them to die off though so just keep an eye on them. I usually just fish them out and feed them to my cichlid tank if my gsp doesnt want them. I would recomend red clawed crabs and just crayfish that can be found in your local streem (if its clean.) Most of the time these wont last long at all wth my gsp. I do declaw them first. I have read about them leaveing some nasty scars on gsp under 4 inches and even some larger ones, so better safe then sorry. And a plus with feeding them these is there much larger and contain harder shells. So you get trimmed beeks and a decent sized meal at the same time.

[bigfatfish]

My BW tank is currently at 1.012 & I have 4 very healthy ghost shrimp still going strong from the 15 that were there (GSP dinners, rather than just died!). Mine came in BW from the lfs.

[BeachORama]

Hey thanks for the reply BC!

I will definitely go the crayfish route next time (LFS has them) and will cut the claws off too (sorry guys )

Will keep an eye on the Ghost shrimp (it's not easy to find them though!) and see how long they last.

Anyone else have this experience with ghost shrimp in BW and care to share?

[BeachORama]

My BW tank is currently at 1.012 & I have 4 very healthy ghost shrimp still going strong from the 15 that were there (GSP dinners, rather than just died!). Mine came in BW from the lfs.

Nice.

Pretty sure LFS kept them in FW but they still seem fine after 24 hrs!

[julianchan]

My LFS that specializes in FW planted aquariums has an owner that I am on good terms with, and he has told me that ghost shrimp breed in brackish water mostly. He has had no luck breeding them in FW, and he breeds everything else himself, from cherry shrimp, amano shrimp, pinocchio shrimp...except for ghost shrimp. So it is almost safe to assume that they will do well in brackish conditions. I myself had a GS in brackish for months with no problems. One day, my puffer ate him. I guess that was a problem...at least for the GS

[BeachORama]

My LFS that specializes in FW planted aquariums has an owner that I am on good terms with, and he has told me that ghost shrimp breed in brackish water mostly. He has had no luck breeding them in FW, and he breeds everything else himself, from cherry shrimp, amano shrimp, pinocchio shrimp...except for ghost shrimp. So it is almost safe to assume that they will do well in brackish conditions. I myself had a GS in brackish for months with no problems. One day, my puffer ate him. I guess that was a problem...at least for the GS

lol... yeh, not a good day for the shrimp!

Thanks for the info julian, i feel better now!

If they star breeding in BW, that's no problem for me but i don't know if they will last the weekly water changes i do most of all!

[Pufferpunk]

Those shrimp will make nice maids for your puffer!

[RTR]

The ghost shrimp (several species) that we get around here (mid East Coast) are from the Gulf and are basically BW shrimp which survive well in FW. Breeding is in BW. Certain species will breed in FW and have a very, very short planktonic stage, they settle out quickly. I cannot tell them apart easily. The true BW species tend to extended plankton phases and would be more trouble than they are worth to captive breed.

[Bcummings8521]

That's cool to here I guess I can try keeping them in my brackish tank. My gsp doesn't care for them so maybe they will breed in there. Does anyone know if there are certain temps that trigger breeding for these guys or are they like live bearers and go to town. Also does anyone else have a very finicky eating gsp mines like a 2 year old and only eats what he wants which is snails, crabs, and crayfish. I have tried everything else from bloodworms, krill, red worms, knoghtcrawlers, shrimp, and just about every other frozen or cheaper food I have seen. He won't touch any of it. I even keep him with guppies, platties, and a fat lil balloon Molly. And it's a very peaceful tank.

[RTR]

The ghost shrimp species that I have bred was kept at the same tenps the other tanks, mid- to upper 70sF. The post-partum females will cannibalize the offspring she runs into, even in a heavily plant tank. I would not count in survivors in a highly mixed tank. The livebearers would consider baby shrimp a treat.

That is not a bad diet for a GSP at all, especially if the live ones are gut-loaded for some time before being served. Isn't it impressive how easily our puffers train us?

HTH

[sparks42]

I have a 75g with 2 GSPs and I gave them like 10 ghost shrimp once. They left 2 or 3. Those 2 or 3 stayed for months and months.... Then I bought them about 5 more..... and since then (months and months ago) there has still been 2 ghost shrimps in there. i have even moved, and had to empty my tank out. These guys somehow still manage to stay but they cause absolutely no problems for me, i like having them there.

[RTR]

They can take BW well. It does not seem to reduce their lifespan nearly as much as living with a puffer... But is pretty common that uneaten prey seems to have a certain immunity, which while not absolute, can be lasting.

They make dandy scavengers for the little bits blown out by the puffer's sloppy eating habits.

[m-bertelson]

Cant wait to get crayfish! I work as chef at local restaurant . We get a lot of fresh sea food along with live crayfish, Vanilla clams,oysters and all sorts of goods for puffers. The worst part is that we are closed for another 3 weeks.

[Chillyfish]

From my experiance I'm amazed that ur puff ignores the shrimp!!
I bought 20 shrimp after seein them in a friends tank, fed my puffs well on cockels 2 fill them up, then released the shrimps.
The puffs did not stop huntin 4 2 days!!! Only then I think they all got eaten!!
I was given sum dead live rock a few weeks back, so I rearranged the tank and bout 40 more shrimps ( just under a inch long) 2 try and home them in the rock.
Once again I fed the puffs well before, then added the shrimp,
surprise surprise,
only bout 5 left!! I think they have found suitable hiddin places!
I think the puffs think it's there birthday!!
And yes there sold in brakish water ( which shows commitment from the lfs)
how big is all ur shrimps ????