Glass Shrimp

N

nora

Guest
I found out that my local pet shop sells live glass shrimp!

They only come in 20's (10c each) so I had to get 20. I put all of them in my 10 footer and I got a 'water bug' in with them, too.
So now the water bug is missing and I'm counting about 14 shrimp. I'm almost certain that he ate at least one, and I know that the guy didn't get exactly 20.

They are very cute and I was wondering if I overcrowded the tank, and they are eating the frozen bloodworms that Gonnie misses. Is that okay?
 
I don't think you over did it. I have some ghost shrimp I belive that they are really close to the same thing over here. Cracker loves to chase them and have a snack. They eat the left over blood worms in my tanks. When you clean the tanks watch for them they like to hide. I have sucked a couple up when cleaning.
 
WOOPS!

I meant 2 footer, sorry!
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I like to get my axies ghost or river shrimp as a treat... 10 for £1... my axies will demolish up to 50 in less than an hour... no chance of hiding places or eating left over bloodworm, they go on the hunt and dont stop till all the shrimp are gone. Should this level of eating be cause for concern?
 
Do you think I could feed glass shrimp to my mudpuppy if I ever find them for sale?

(Message edited by i_love_necturus on March 21, 2007)
 
I think so yes. They are good in calcium and also contain protein, so may be a good food to supplement your mudpuppy's usual diet
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Hey Glen where do you get your shrimp from as the only places I've found them they are over £2.00 each!
 
£2 each!?! That is outrageous! I get mine from Maidenhead Aquatics (Dartford branch - based at Hawley Garden Centre) - Maidenhead Aquatics are a national chain and they have branches all over the place - i am sure they have a listing on their website. Be worth calling your local branch to see if they stock them
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Thanks Glen theres one about 15 miles from me! I'll give them a call.
thanks for your help!
 
Sarah, you should ask for river shrimps, or explain they are for food for your axies. These shrimps are usually not on show in the aquarium shops, but are in the back room in big tanks (They are not meant as pets, as they don't live that long). They usually cost 10-20 pence each, not more. Good luck!
 
wow. i pay 50p for a bag of about 15-20. Fraggle is very lazy so gets some of the new intake then spends the next few weeks living with The Cunning Shrimps. i have about 6 of these at the moment and he just cant catch them. i put a dose of aquarium salt in the tank and the shrimp are quite happy and a good clean up crew. i really do wish he would eat them though. he does try every now and again bless him but just ends up crashing into the stones. arial asults dont work very well lol
 
Im actualy gonna attempt to breed these in the same 3 foot tank as my 2 axolotls.

Ghost shrimp and Glass shrimp are the same from what i read.

So far my axolotls are retarded when it comes to catching any thing, they only reconize me as food wich is when i drop worms to there faces.

Im gonna start out with 50 ghost shrimps, if i am lucky i wont have to buy any more. Odds are all will be eaten and fast but its worth a try.

If they breed in the tank, i will drop red cherrys in the tank since they are nicer to look at but they are more expensive, but not gonna waste money on them if my tank isnt a valid breeding ground.
 
Thats kind of what I intend to do if I can get any of the little things.I have a seperate tank for them so I want to get a large amount to breed them whilst trying to maintain a small colony in with my axys tank.
 
Heres what i read on breeding them.

You need a Sponge filter in the tank, it creates microbacteria and the young+old eat it.

Second plants that float at the top, i read that the young like to hide up there and eat the bacteria that floats to the top from the sponge filter. The writer of that said duckweed worked great, i hate duckweed and have alot of watersprite floating at the top.

We will see if i can get results or not in time.
 
Ok seriously, ghost and glass shrimp are not the same. There are differnt species from arround the world. Too many shrimps had the common names "ghost/glass". This is why common names=bad latin names=good when refering to how to keep and breed certain monsters.

In Australia, chances are your "ghost shrimps" are a Macrobrachium. They grow little longer claws on the front. Prawns. There are other species refered to ghost/glass. Most of these you cannot simply breed, for their young need to develope in brakish solution and as they morphed moved to freshwater. Here is how you basically tell if your shrimp will breed in the fresh or need a specialized set up. The Egg size- freshwater shrimps with the larger eggs will more thank likely survive in fresh water. Hundreds of tiny eggs in the swimmers usually mean a sort of specialized set up where the young are born in a planktonic like stage and need differnt salinities to developed.

Forrest, You live in the USA, Most (not all) glass shrimp sold here are Palaemonenetes. Some of these develope in fresh some are specialized.

Red cherries are so much more easier to breed. They may be expensive, but i stated out with a dozena and now have hundreds. "ghost" shrimps, the Palaemonentes, are born in the plantonic state, they look like little upside down seahorse. In a week or so they morph in to mini-shrimps. The first stages of these guys are critical as they need tons of micro-food. Also, have a diffent breeding tank away from adult glass shrimp, for they have been known to canabalize young. As for cherries, you can keep adults with the young and the young do not go through a plantktonic state, they are born mini shrimp. They are worth the investment. Cherries do best in temps in the mid 70's range but i have a small colony breeding with my axolotls. You can feed your shrimps, but plenty of microfoods growing in the tank is most helpful.
 
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