Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

Im new to owning shrimp so Im not too sure if I was raising them wrong to begin with. Well, my problem is that I got these ghost shrimp from the store about 10 days ago. I didnt know that they had eggs at the time and when I finally noticed I put them in a gallon bowl with 2 snails and a water plant. They were doing well up until now and the eggs were getting lighter and lighter and I started seeing eyes on the little eggs. I was getting extremely excited about it too. One of the ghost shrimp is more clear than the other and seems to be younger based on the size. The only problem is, I just checked now cause I thought they were ready to hatch, but it seems the mommy shrimp has died!! The bigger one that is not so clear is not moving at all even after I tried to catch it with a net. So Im curious as to whether it is sheding or dead, and if it is dead will the eggs still survive ;___;? Please help!! >___<;;;


~Kaoru

Ghost shrimp have a high death rate. Most believe it is cause they aren't well taken care of. Many suggest to expect a 50-60% die off rate in the first two weeks. I have had better success than that, but usually lose one or two in that time period. Add to the fact that it sounds like you gave your little girls two environment changes and that alone could be enough to cause the death.

The big problem is that ghost shrimp are hard to raise from babies. They go through a larval stage and don't just hatch as baby shrimp from their eggs. So, most don't even try to raise them since they aren't worth much and they aren't easy to breed at home. If you really want to breed them at home your best bet is to set up a tank just for them. Moving them around a lot can be stressful and if your water doesn't have a high quality then it can also cause problems.

If the mother is dead then the babies won't survive.