How do I keep ghost shimp alive??

[xxkenny90xx]

Ok let me start by saying that I have never kept a freshwater tank of any kind before...

Yesterday I bough 25 ghost shrimp for my new wartskin angler and my giant hermit crab and was hoping to keep them alive and feed throughout the week. I put them in a large bowl with rodi water, a few fish food pellets, and an air stone. Today all but about 5 are dead!

What did I do wrong???

 

[xxkenny90xx]

@lion king any experience with this?

 

[Tankkeepers]

Dont use such a small enviroment they need to be kept in a fish tank similar enviroment need to be cycled etc just the same as keeping fish also I find they need water on the softer side

 

[WVNed]

I have had good luck using a foam type filter.

 

[Tankkeepers]

Yes foam filter work great for them and if setup right you can even breed em

 

[Tankkeepers]

Also there is a type of ghost shrimp thats saltwater


Although brackish grass shrimp are also considered euryhaline, they have typically been collected from waters with salinities of 5 to 39 ppt. The two freshwater species, P. paludosus and P. kadiakensis, often live in brackish waters.

 

[saltcats]

Pure RODI is too soft for them - they do need minerals! Unless your tap water is awful they'd probably do better in that, or a mix of this and RODI ^^

That said, a lot of ghost shrimp don't last well since they're considered feeders and so not always kept by the stores with great care.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

I can put them in a slightly bigger tank and even add a hob filter if I must but it needs to be cycled? Even just to keep then alive for a few days? I can keep a tang in an uncycled hospital tank for weeks but ghost shimp can't do it?

 

[WVNed]

I keep both kinds

A little killifish came in one of the shipments. He lives in my fuge.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Ok so should I try adding a little bit of salt to the water (what salinity)? I bought them from a freshwater tank. No rodi, got it. Is tap best or should I use ro?

 

[...]

Are you using them as feeder shrimp? They deserve a life better than being eaten! FI not for feeder purposes best of luck.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Friends?

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Are you using them as feeder shrimp? They deserve a life better than being eaten! FI not for feeder purposes best of luck.

Yes they are feeders. Predators need to eat

 

[WVNed]

I use 50% each tap and RODI. It kind of depends on what you tap water is like. I also keep guppies in with the freshwater ones.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

I use 50% each tap and RODI. It kind of depends on what you tap water is like. I also keep guppies in with the freshwater ones.

My tap is just under 30 tds but I'm not sure what all they put in it. Do you still recommend half and half?

 

[saltcats]

Ok so should I try adding a little bit of salt to the water (what salinity)? I bought them from a freshwater tank. No rodi, got it. Is tap best or should I use ro?

If they came from freshwater I'd leave them in that - it's what they're acclimated to, and from what I've read there's no easy way to tell which specific species you have to determine if yours is brackish or exclusively freshwater.

Tap or RO or RODI is fine, as long as neither the RO nor RODI are pure. I don't think ghosts are overly fussy but they need at least some KH - say 3, as a rough minimum. (The tap, of course, would need to be dechlorinated! )

I think you should be fine in an uncycled tank as long as you keep an eye on ammonia. Shrimp are very sensitive to that, but they also have a very small bioload. After all, it's not like they're going to be living there for too long!

My tap is just under 30 tds but I'm not sure what all they put in it. Do you still recommend half and half?

In the freshwater shrimp circles I move in, we aim for around 150 tds so I think you'll be fine!

 

[lion king]

You do want a foam filter and you do have to seed it with freshwater bacteria, your lfs probably has a little 1oz bottle cheap. You don't have to cycle the tank, they can live in really bad water. You probably want about at least 5g water volume, it can be a small tank or even a larger tuperware type container. Dechlor tap water don't use ro/di, ro/di will have too low ph. Room temp is fine unless you let your house get as cold as mine in the winter, then at least 70, higher than 80 is usually no good. You will lose some, let your lfs take the biggest loss and go the day after they get them. If you are ordering a bag, expect losses. Feed the fresh dead ones, that's usually one of the 1st steps to getting them to take other dead things. Or just feed them to other fish.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

looks like others beat me to it! Darn.
As others have said the RODI is to empty for anything to live in. Dechlorinated tap water would work the best for the setup fosho. I'm just going to order saltwater grass shrimp and keep them in my refugium lol Much easier and potentially safer for the predatory fish (I'll be feeding a sole and a frogfish so I'll need food on hand for a bit).
Good luck raising these! If you have any breakthroughs please share them xD

 

[WVNed]

My Tap is 130 TDS so I usually do the first fill with it and then use RODI so the hardness doesnt go up.
I had them in a 20L because that is what I had.

 

[Karen00]

Dont use such a small enviroment they need to be kept in a fish tank similar enviroment need to be cycled etc just the same as keeping fish also I find they need water on the softer side

+1 on this although I have fairly hard water so I think they're fine in both but a good setup is needed. I kept a few in a 2.5g with just a little in tank filter. No heater, just room temperature. If you're just using them as feeder shrimp you could keep more in that size given they wouldn't be in there for long regardless.