Want to introduce ghost shrimp

[Jcreppel]

Are there any things I should know on what to do? I think I've seen differing information on it and just wanted to get a general consensus. I will be getting them from my local petsmart store. Can I just put them right in with my axies, how many should I put in at a time ( I have two axolotls. One is about 5 inches, the second is about 4 or so) are there any other live things I can give them as snacks as well?

 

[Kaini]

You should quarantine them before feeding them to your Axolotls to make sure they don't pass any diseases to them.

 

[Jcreppel]

I only have one aquarium so how should I do that? Just get a small fish bowl? And how long should I quarantine them?

 

[Elliriyanna]

shrimp don't need much, A simple bowl with a cover ( sometimes they jump ) will be fine ... I usually hear to quarantine about 3 weeks but thats with fish ...

 

[Jcreppel]

Now what if I wanted to breed the shrimp..just for the sake of not having to keep buying them? Do you know what I would need to do for that?

 

[Elliriyanna]

I dont know with ghost shrimp but my cherries just needed driftwood, marimo ... they just need to have places to hide and the right temps ... But I think ghosts are a bit harder.

 

[Kaini]

Now what if I wanted to breed the shrimp..just for the sake of not having to keep buying them? Do you know what I would need to do for that?

It is extremely difficult to breed ghost shrimp, it just wouldn't be practical as a food source. Your Axolotl's main food source should be earthworms, the shrimp should just be a snack, SOMETIMES.

 

[Jcreppel]

It is extremely difficult to breed ghost shrimp, it just wouldn't be practical as a food source. Your Axolotl's main food source should be earthworms, the shrimp should just be a snack, SOMETIMES.

Oh yes. I keep them on night crawlers and earthworms. I just wanted something I could give as snacks without having to go out and buy them every time.

 

[Kaini]

Oh yes. I keep them on night crawlers and earthworms. I just wanted something I could give as snacks without having to go out and buy them every time.

Yea I learned recently breeding ghost shrimp is extremely difficult in freshwater and even harder raising the larvae. Just not worth it.

 

[ladygodiva35]

I used to breed ghost shrimp. I started off with seven of them andt kept mine in a aquarium as you would with any decoration or plants. They will do the rest. But the baby shrimp will be very tiny! So just make sure none are going to get lost when cleaning. The mother shrimp will carry green like eggs (sort of look like mint pellets) under her legs then once the babies are ready to hatch you will start to see little eyes in the eggs as they clear. Then once the babies are hatched they will cling to the mother shrimp until ready to venture off but they will almost be invisible to the naked eye but not quite impossible to see. They look exactly like mini adults.

And as a side note. Be careful when housing ghost shrimp with small fish. I've had a large female shrimp take down two full grown minnows and steal fish fry right out of the breeder net! I had to move the shrimp into their own smaller aquarium which is a better idea since the babies won't get hunted.

Here is a photo of a mother shrimp carrying eggs. Females will be quite long and large compared to males. And here is a photo of my camera zoomed at a freshly hatched baby shrimp compared to my finger! So cute!

 

[Boomsloth]

I second that with ghost shrimp. I kept a very basic 10gal setup and had almost all the females carrying eggs at about a month. If you can switch to red cherry shrimp that might be better but both are about equal in maintenance. You'll find that compared to an axolotl which can require weekly water changes, that your shrimp tank will go a long time looking much cleaner and with much less nitrates produced. If you have some plants, your looking at even less water changes. However if you want a cool idea on a nice looking 'feeder' tank for axolotl treats. Go with a basic 10 gal offer tons of plants and hiding places to look nice, go with the much less aggressive and more prolific red cherry shrimp, and get a few guppies (like said before ghost shrimp will go for the guppy fry). You want to keep the temperature about 78F. In 2 months you should have tons of treats for your axolotls. I still have some ghost shrimp left but that tank is carrying some juvenile ACFs now so I do not expect them to last. I did a basic planted 2.5 gal and added one pregnant guppy and now have about a dozen juvie guppies, and just noticed that she gave birth again to another dozen at least. My axolotls have gotten both guppy, small soft shell snails, and ghost shrimp as treats. Both shrimp and guppies need much warmer temperatures to breed and grow at a normal rate then the maximum 68F for axolotls.


Bonus 2.5g

 

[Jcreppel]

Thanks for all the info guys. And I suppose while I have y'all here, what do y'all use to keep your water cool? Now that summer is right around the corner I'm looking into getting a water chiller but since they are so expensive I was hoping for a bit of insight on what everyone else is using first.

 

[Kaini]

Thanks for all the info guys. And I suppose while I have y'all here, what do y'all use to keep your water cool? Now that summer is right around the corner I'm looking into getting a water chiller but since they are so expensive I was hoping for a bit of insight on what everyone else is using first.

In my ten gallon I use an aquarium fan to keep the water cool via evaporation. That may not work as well for a bigger tank - a chiller is usually recommended but the fan has been alright for me so far.

 

[Jcreppel]

In my ten gallon I use an aquarium fan to keep the water cool via evaporation. That may not work as well for a bigger tank - a chiller is usually recommended but the fan has been alright for me so far.

I actually have a 60 gallon tank. At the moment I have a small fan blowing down on the water and on the other side I was able to make sure the cool air from my a/c vent blows on top of the water. It's worked very well so far, I'm just worried about this summer and trying to prep just in case I need something more.

 

[Axolotlwild83]

I breed my own ghost shrimp awesome source of food. They are also good for clean up before they are munched on. My axolotls love the ghost shrimp.