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How many ghost shrimp in a 5 gallon?

22K views 16 replies 4 participants last post by  Jynx 
#1 ·
I'm thinking of getting some ghost shrimp for my tanks. What would be a good number? I do weekly water changes, my tanks are cycled, and all that good stuff. Do they need any special care? Food, water type, etc... Also, are cherry shrimp good too? because my lfs has a huge tank of cherry shrimp! They are so pretty!!:-D
 
#2 · (Edited)
Cherry shrimp are ghost shrimp that have been genetically bred to be red, they are the same thing though. I have 5 ghost shrimp in my 5.5 gallon with Zeus. He does not seem to mind them, other betta may, or the shrimp may fin nip, not like a tetra, just thinking it it food, But if you get nice shrimp and a friendly betta they can coexist!

They are scavengers and will eat just about anything they can get their little pincers on. They are not primarily algea eaters, but will eat forms of bush algae that proper algae eaters will not touch.

I drop a couple flakes in when I feed Zeus. He has no interest in the flake, it sinks to the bottom and the shrimp go nuts over it. I have also seem them eating the film that grows on my driftwood since it is still leaching tannins.

They are very adaptable like a betta and can thrive in a vast array of conditions, but prefer very stable water conditions. ph rage is 6.0-8.0, water temp 70-80 degrees farenheit. They are salt tolerant and it is beneficial to them when they molt as the new carapace will harden much faster!
 
#10 ·
I just looked at the price of cherry shrimp on thatpetplace.com

Oh my goodness, I could get a VT for that price! They are 3.99 each. Maybe I will ask for Cherry shrimp for my birthday. I don't want to spend like 16.00 on something that might get eaten. :-( I might have to go with ghost shrimp.
 
#15 ·
Yeah I've had snakes so I don't mind the idea of live food but I don't want her to get the bloat- but she seemed to really enjoy hunting them down so I think I'll get more but keep them in the tiny pet carrier so she only has one or two in there with her at a time. I had hoped to eventually add her to a community tank when I eventually move- but my Lulu is turning out to be quite the little predator so I'll just let her have the 3 gallon to herself.
 
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