ghost/glass/whisker(etc) shrimp

[yongkeat]

I have seen recent commotion of them in this forum it looks like its popular with western hobbyist so i might share some of the knowledge about them here, feel free to correct me if i`m wrong.
INFO:
From what i know ghost/glass/whisker(and some other name) are all closely related or if not are of the same species and originated from Asia.And usually they are wrongly marketed under different name and here in singapore we call them ghost shrimp(rarely glass) and they cost about 1-2 SGD for about 20 pc and are commonly used as feeder for monster fish like arowana.They are very hardy but are vulnerable to transport stress and high ammonia level.I have experience breeding them before to feed my arowana so i`m about to share how i take care of them.And note even if they are closely related, different families from different continent may have evolved to adapt to higher or lower temperature,ph and etc, be sure to ask for their source or better yet call the supplier on how they are being bred.For example species from florida require abit of salts in order for shrimplet to survive.A tip before buying them,is to look at their body, buy only active shrimps with clear body and not those with milky patches as most are doomed to die if they do have milky patches.Do not kept them in a small tank as overcrowding tend to lead to cannibalism
parameter
I have kept them in a 20 galleon tank with a cycled hob(sponge the inlet if you intend to breed),no substrate, water changes every weekly with a piece of indian almond leave added into the water,and kept in room temperature.Air stone might be needed if the tank is small and your HOB doesn`t break your water surface hard enough, so to summarize it.(they are very hardy so don`t have to be exact.)
ph-->6.5 plus minus
TDS-->200-300
temperature-->24-26 degree Celsius (Higher temperature freq of breeding increase)
ammonia/nitrate/nitrite-->near 0 but never 0(they are nasty eater)
tank setup
A HOB -->(or any other you prefer) with intake rate per hour is 3x the volume of your tank(applies to all filter)For example a 20 galleon tank will need a filter with a intake rate of water of 60 galleon per hour.As always overkilling is recommended(getting a 100g/hr for your 20g tank).
2 tanks-->(if you want to breed them) at least 2ft in length and make sure they are covered(they are jumpy)1 tank for babies another for adult.Its possible to keep a healthy population of baby and adult together in a single tank at least 4ft long and above and heavily planted if not,its almost impossible to keep a sustainable population.
Air pump and air stone as mentioned above.
Indian almond leaves-->lower ph
Substrate not necessary bare tank for easy cleaning only if you have access to almond leaves but if its a planted tank or you do not have access to the leaves, go ahead get Amazonian or some ph buffering substrate.
Heater/chiller(depend where you live).
breeder box
feeding
Although omnivore i seldom see them take vegetable product, so i fed them frozen blood worms,daphnia,brine shrimp(hikari brand) just about anything will do fish feed/pellet etc they will eat almost anything except moss or plants in my case -.-For babys feed powder plankton,live daphnia,or other fish fry food(Do not use liquifry,horrible product)And as usual for breeding purpose, feed higherprotein content like fbw.(note they are damn easy to gutload as a feeder)
breeding
Buy atleast 12-16 pc at a ratio to 3 female to 1 male as some will die due to transport stress,sexing is easy,female are gigantic compare to male.keep them together for a month in the same tank and then transfer pregnant female to separate breeder box in the 2nd tank and feed them as usual.But note do not stress them or they will drop the eggs.Dose salt if your species larva require salt,Inspect all the female in the box everyday and remove those without egg back to the first tank.If you see a female swimming against the tank wall rapidly up and down,DO NOT DISTURB ITshe is releasing baby and may stop releasing baby if disturbed and the babies will die and rot resulting in the mother death too.Begun feeding small amount of fry food after 24 hours since the egg disappear/repeat.water changing must take caution,do small amount of water change to the baby tank every day a cupful will do or more if you feed more. and check the cup for any larva.They are fast grower in my opinion 1-2 month for the larva is enough maturation duration to be moved to the adult tank to be kept as pet or feeder.
Extra tips
Adding moss of any kind (java,flame etc) has been known to increase survival rate of weak adult and larva but must be used with a planted tank light as the moss will die without a light source,the moss will provide or trap some bacterial food,living daphnia(if you have put some in) and trapped food substances and the larva will graze on it.
Any question please feel free to ask, and any expert out there if there`s something wrong again feel free to correct me,this is for educational purpose and any helpful input is greatly appreciated.

[Mustafa]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for providing information about your experiences. I'll just add a few clarifications. First of all, as you are from Singapore, you are almost certainly talking about Macrobrachium lanchesteri. If you could provide a picture of the exact animals you are keeping, that would help with the identification. The larvae of this species take about 4 weeks to turn into postlarvae...so they need to be fed for that long. The "Florida species" you talk about is Palaemonetes paludosus. This species is pretty much never sold outside the US, except possibly Canada. It does *NOT* require any salt at all. Its larvae turn in to postlarvae within a week. The larvae don't require food although they will gladly take it. There are lots of species that may be sold as "ghost" or "glass" shrimp, so it's always a good idea to figure out what species one has, as most of them have quite different life-cycles and breeding patterns.

[yongkeat]

Hey thank you for sharing mustafa! Alright here`s a picture of the exact species i`m breeding

http://i961.photobucket.com/albums/ae93 ... 2small.jpg
the eggs are usually green of the shrimps i breed.DIfferent fish shop sells feeder shrimp with different shell patterns/egg colour
it may be just a colour morph or different species but all are known as ghost shrimp here thus the confusion.

[Mustafa]

Very interesting. The species in your picture does seem to the Palaemonetes paludosus here from the US. To be absolutely sure, I would have to see them in a non-stressed state in a normal aquarium. I had no idea that this species was exported to Asia at some point (and is possibly being bred there). Asian countries usually have tons of Macrobrachium lanchesteri to go around. There is also a possibility that this is a an Asian Palaemonetes species. However, the only Palaemonetes species with any red markings (red dots on the tail, claws/chelae, feelers etc.) that I know of is P. paludosus. Either way, as you said, they are all probably called "ghos shrimp" there as they look similar enough to the untrained eye to be all lumped in the same category.