Menu
Freshwater / Inverts

Glass Shrimp Information

Ghost Shrimp Carrying Eggs 6952307

Introduction To Glass Shrimp

Glass Shrimp is also known as grass shrimp or ghost shrimp. They are one of the most common species to breed. Their transparency is their sought after for clean-up crew and live food. They are mainly found living at the bottom of the fish tank feeding on the detritus. Ghost shrimp naturally thrive in salty water of wetlands.  Nevertheless they are an arty complement to any home aquarium. Whether alone or in a more populated tank, they always remain to be visually intriguing aquatic spectacles. Taking care of the ghost shrimp is also simple and rewarding.

Glass Shrimp History

Grass shrimp has existed in the U.S aquarium hobby from the beginning of the hobby. This specific species is usually sold as feeder shrimp to be fed to bigger fish. Ghost shrimp has a transparent body making them an appealing addition to your tropical aquarium. Ghost shrimp species is a bottom swimmer and walks along plants feeding on the food particles that haven’t been eaten by fish. This makes them cleaner shrimps since they consume the algae in the tank. Through their transparent bodies you can easily see the food they have eaten being digested.

Care for your Glass Shrimp

Most Ghost Shrimp found in the US are sold as food for other fish therefore they may not have a long lifespan in the home aquarium due to the conditions that they are transported in. If the shrimp survives or a captive raised stock is accessible, it’s quite simple to take care of them. A convectional aquarium will easily hold and support heavy population of this aquarium shrimp.

Recommended for Glass Shrimp

Painted Fire Red Cherry Shrimp

Ohko Stone (10lbs)

Crystal Red Shrimp (CRS) A-SS Grade

Feeding for Glass Shrimp

Ghost shrimp are passionate eaters. They will eat any food planned for the aquarium invertebrates or fish including flake foods and sinking pellets.  You can often see them swimming upside down under the water surface to feed on flaked foods.

Breeding Habits of Glass Shrimp

Breeding Glass Shrimp can be tricky at times in the home aquarium. It is hard to differentiate the sexes and they are a low order shrimp. Glass Shrimp eggs are laid as free floating larva and unlike other shrimp species their larvae are not minute versions of their parents. This poses a challenge in their raising. Upon hatching the small larva requires powdered algae (Spirulina is the algae recommended for this) and must be in a different aquarium to keep them away from the predators. After a week the larvae will then change to resemble a minute version of their adult parents. The larvae cease to require that extensive care once they accomplished metamorphosis.

Glass Shrimp’s Behavior

The Glass Shrimp are normally non-aggressive although there have been many reports of some that can get a bit antagonistic. Sometimes they can eat baby shrimp of other species or fish fry. Ghost shrimp are always a vigorous shrimp when there exists no predators in the aquarium. They are a great supplement to any aquarium with less fish for the shrimp not to be eaten. They are good little helpers in maintaining high quality water and keeping your aquarium clean.

Glass Shrimp for sale and where to buy

You can find Glass Shrimp in your local commercial fish store or local fish store but remember that they are sold as feeder shrimp for other bigger fish. They are also used as cleaner shrimp but they are neither effective nor colorful as other shrimp in the hobby.

Here is a list of online vendors where you can get ghost shrimp for sale

No Comments

    Leave a Reply