Agressive ghosts?

Veneer · Post by **Veneer** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 4:29 am

Pea-brain wrote:As for the origin of the ghost shrimp, the place i bought them from says they are farm raised, but I don't know what ghost shrimp or region they descended from.

I know what site you're talking about. These "ghost shrimp", according to others who've made purchases, uniformly seem to be some sort of Macrobrachium.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 7:29 am

Mine were definitely Palaemonetes paludosus and not macros. These were ones that I actually bred and know the egg size, the duration of the larval stage, etc. You can check viewtopic.php?t=1131 for pics.

I will get more to see if I can confirm the "myth" of the shrimp eating ghost. I've been thinking about getting more for a while as they are interesting shrimp to keep anyway.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 7:47 am

I've been thinking about getting more for a while as they are interesting shrimp to keep anyway.

I too am thinking about getting some more of these shrimp. I just need to find a healthy stock, which is a difficult thing

Pea-brain · Post by **Pea-brain** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 2:03 pm

I have had 2 or 3 pregnant females also, although I think I may only have 1 female that isn't the death white. I may have 3 healthy (including the questionable male) and 2-3 death white in my tank right now because I over fed and my nitrates have built up and caused PH crashes. I've just gotten a bag of crushed coral to fix this, and am doing a series of water changes. Luckily my asian filter shrimp and my last crs are still healthy, though my filter shrimp hides alot. However the matter of the aggressive shrimp remains, and he is really peppy. He started up the chase again, and I'm thinking I should isolate him. would a net hung over the tank be good enough? I think I can dig up my mom's old 20 gallon, buy a cheap filter, air pump and heater and cycle it in a week or 2. Even less if I squeeze my matured sponge into the water. Or I can take my sting ray filter and put it in there. It was made for ten but I don't think the bioload of one shrimp would need anymore. besides one of my red nose shrimp keep swimming into the jet of water cause by it and gets swept into the wall. The same one. over and over. I think it likes it.

On an interesting side note, you know that stuff that accumulates on suction cups? My new shrimp have completely cleaned all my suction cups. They are great algae eaters.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 7:22 pm

I got 6 ghosts tonight for 25 cents each. As it turns out, one of them wasn't a ghost at all, but what looks like a rainbow shrimp. I got several others like this with my last amano purchase. These were all quite young ghosts, so we'll see what happens. The agression I saw was all with large females.

Pea-brain · Post by **Pea-brain** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 3:08 pm

I just emailed the place I bought the ghost from and complained. I didn't demand compensation, since I am not 100% sure that it is a macro, and it would be very hard to prove it is not a slightly larger than average ghost shrimp. I have noticed an orange glow on its shell. It is very hard to describe, other than as a slight orange sheen. I haven't seen this on any ghost shrimp or any pictures of them. Could that help identify the shrimp maybe?

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 5:14 pm

Have you seen a pregnant female ghost before? Their backs look like this before the lay the eggs.

Pea-brain · Post by **Pea-brain** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 5:46 pm

I don't think it is a female. The female ghost shrimp I've seen have had a a larger back and seem a bit more clunky looking while the males have a more streamlined looking shape. I have a pregnant female right now, and I see what you're talking about, but the orange is mostly in the body, rather than the tail or back. It is almost like it is highly polished. Once I net it (I'm having trouble. It is still chasing, but not as much as before. It seems to know I'm trying to catch it, so it runs when I open the cover

) I will hang it over the tank with enough net dipped in so it can move comfortably. Then I might be able to take a clear picture and you can see what I'm talking about. I suspect that I won't be able to post it until late saturday or sunday though, as I am busy tomorrow and most of saturday.

Pea-brain · Post by **Pea-brain** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 11:36 am

Well I transfered the "ghost" into a 10 gallon with my stingray filter. It has an airline, some plastic fake rocks, a handful of najas, and I am currently soaking some maple leaves for leaf litter. about how long will it take a maple to release its tannins, do you think? I am keeping them in a 1 gallon bucket under a window, and have had them since friday. I wish I could take a picture, but the camera is out of batteries and i don't know where the charger is, and also you can't really make out that orange color without a bright light. Once i get the camera charged I'll try to use the flash or something. Maybe even put a lamp over the tank. Also it seems the night before I transfered it to its new home another rasbora went missing. I have one left. They really don't like swimming alone and I am considering a mercy killing. A quick one, of course. With the remains given to my "ghost" shrimp. It is looking pretty stressed and may die either way....

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 1:12 pm

Sorry to hear about your fish

With regards to the leaves, I personally soak my leaves for about two weeks changing the water every few days. At the end of this time I do not notice any darkening of the water.

Debi · Post by **Debi** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 3:33 pm

Hi Everyone,

I had a single healthy Red Cherry Shrimp in a 10g and I transferred 3 ghost shrimp females with berries into it. The next morning I only found the bottom 1/2 of my Red Cherry Shrimp, plus the 3 berried females. There were no other critters in the tank, not even a snail.

I personally think that the ghost shrimp can be aggressive, but only at specific times. But that is only my opinion, I would not put the 2 together again.

Debi