Ghost shrimp as food?

[kenya]

I was wondering if it is appropriate to have ghost shrimp in my axie tank? I wouldn't mind them being snacks, and any survivors would help keep my sand clean. Sand is not totally easy to gravel vac, and even picking up uneaten food with the turkey baster, I miss some. With the way the pellets break up in the water, I would feel a lot better about having a little cleaning crew in there that the axies would also enjoy. My leucistic just has so much personality, and a lot more energy than I expected from an axie, I would love to make their environment more stimulating. At the PetSmart I work at we only rarely get them in, and I know the good, the bad, and the ugly about the health of our fish. I found a GREAT mom and pop type aquarium shop, and they have plenty of ghost shrimp. Their fish all look so healthy too.

[Justin]

If you don't mind them being food then go for it. Just remember to quarantine them for 30 days or so first. Start off with 3 or 4 to see what happens.

[Julia]

I have a tank of feeder guppies and cherry shrimp . I noticed a little while ago that I now have a small colony of shrimp now living with my axolotl. On a slight downside to this however , I now have the tank regularly trashed by the axolotl as they look for the shrimp

[kenya]

How many can I keep in a 1.5 gallon? And what do I feed them?

[Markw]

It really depends on the footprint. If it is a hex aquarium (one of the worst tanks ever in my opinion), I would say maybe 2. If rectangular, Id say up to 4. It wouldnt hurt to keep maybe oke guppy in there for poo to eat. I hear they eat well on anything detritus, like aglae sheets, rotting lettuce leaves, etc. I will be doing the same thing, but I will keep them in with my feeder tank.

Mark

[kenya]

It's rectangular, but taller than wider. It's from Tetra, 1.5 gallons, it came with a tiny Whisper internal filter. Etc. Only 2 or 4? To quarantine 4 shrimp for 30 days and have them eaten within a day, is a bit much -_-Bleh. BLEH I say. LOL. What about a large Critter Keeper type deal?
So would they like those algae wafers?

[Markw]

Theyll eat poo and algae too. You can feed blanched lettuce leaves too I hear. Or shrimp pellets. You could try a larger (maybe 5-10gal) tank and some red cherry shrimp. Theyre quite a bit more prolific than the ghosts and will last alot longer. Theyre heard to be the hardiest of all shrimp in the hobby. The ghost/grass/river shrimp have an extremely high death rate (within a week of keeping..so quarentining may seem to be useless if they wont stay alive) and I hear they dont breed well at all. The ghost shrimp are usually not handled well by the dealers when going to a petstore because it is figured they will soon die as feeders anyway. Just a thought.

Mark

[kenya]

Where do I get cherry shrimp? I don't have a larger tank right now. My ten gallon has my frogs and betta in it.

[Markw]

Aquabid.com often has TONS on there you can get. Also, ebay sells them. I would go with www.aquabid.com though.

Mark

[kenya]

I think I'll stick to ghost shrimp. Cherry shrimp are nice, but, they are to be food. Cherry shrimp seem to be at least a dollar a piece, and that's too much. Besides, I can get the ghost shrimp locally. I don't think this shop treats their fish or invertebrates badly at all, I'll risk it.

[Markw]

Not necessarily the shop, but the retailer that sends them to the shop may. Up to you and I hope you the best.

Mark

[kenya]

Well I work in a pet store, I know feeders are not shipped as carefully. But, they aren't intended for longevity, and they are cheap, lol. I will probably have a tank full of tropical fish one day, I'll save the nice shrimp for them ;]

[Greg31]

sounds like a great plan. food + cleaning. I think i may do the same. Best strategy to put them in with axolotl is to quarentine first?

[Justin]

Originally Posted by Greg31

Best strategy to put them in with axolotl is to quarentine first?

You will want to keep the shrimp by themselves in a seprate container. The general rule of thumb everyone seems to go by is keeping them seperated for a minimum of 30 days.

[Greg31]

so for lets say 5 shrimp, how big tank, what i feed, and do i need filter?

[Justin]

For 5 shrimp temporarily? A 2.5 or 5 gallon tank with a small air stone would suffice. Just make sure you do a partial water change about once a week and you can get away with not having a filter. As for food, just a TINY bit of crushed up fish flake food would work twice a day.

[Greg31]

thanks alot for help. My new axies will have shrimp and guppies as his first meal in his home with me!

[kenya]

I have a large one of these. It has the dimensions on the drop down menu but I don't know exactly how much water it holds. http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=2752730
I know it's a lot more than my 1.5 gallon. And it's got a good amount of foot space.
Don't shun me but I would probably put more than I should in there. But I am planning on feeding them well, and possibly on this food http://www.hikariusa.com/products/tr...mp_cuisine.php They will be happy. I'll probably do at least a 50% water change weekly. I do like to give my pets space, my betta is in a ten gallon! But, 30 days is a long time for shrimp that will most likely be devoured in under two minutes, LOL.

Do these guys need a good light source? If I could get away with keeping them out of the way it would be pretty dim.
Or, could I keep them outside? I have a screened in porch, I could keep them on the table out there. I do live in Florida though, would it be too hot?

[Justin]

Originally Posted by kenya

But, 30 days is a long time for shrimp that will most likely be devoured in under two minutes, LOL.

I would much rather wait the 30 days than to have a tank of caudates wiped out from a disease or pathogen I could have prevented.

As long as the water temp stays in the 70's(F) you can keep these shrimp anywhere really. I haven't noticed a difference in if they prefer light or not.

[kenya]

I said that in reference to keeping more than recommended in the QT tank! I just meant that to QT like 3 shrimp for 30 days is a bit much. So I will probably have bigger batches so the QT'd shrimp might actually last for a bit.

So they would probably do pretty well outside here, haha. Nice warm water. A lot of humidity above the water line shouldn't bother them, right?

Excuse my ignorance for a second. But, how do ghost shrimp breathe? Is it all gills like fish? Because I have two of those critter keeper things, and also a couple large plastic containers that the axies lived in while the tank was still cycling, but I only have one air pump. I just ask because everything I have in my tanks also gulp air from the surface. :P