Ghosties

[DormDrax]

No problems at ALL really...

Drax, the Ghost Shrimp, and the Snail all live in some sort of creepy harmony.


Seriously Drax will be slowly hovering after a falling piece of food but a Ghostie will nab it just from out of his biting range and he doesn't... like kill them haha. He just kinda headbutts them to surrender the food.

ANYWAY... really not an issue BUT it's bothering me because YOU ALL KNOW I'M OCD about this kinda stuff!

One of the shrimp... one of the in between sizes, not the smallest but not the largest... for the past few weeks has been a darker color, VERY noticeable. He's been like this for weeks, almost... black. He DOESN'T seem sick, he's just as active as the others can this happen?


Keep in mind... he's been this way for WEEKS, not a new thing and the other Ghost Shrimp are all Crystal clear... jeese and one of them is seriously probably setting a size record >.> Yep Bertha the one who was pregnant at first, she's like half the length of Drax...

[Malvolti]

... can't remember the name right now, basically a blackish version of a ghosty. I know they come in see-through red, black, green, yellow and blue. Look just like a ghostie but the carapace has a slight tint.

Shrimp can change colours slightly as they mature. Mine developed brown spots. There are a few theroies why this can happen; It can be diet related of how closely related they are to a wild or other variation. But I've never heard of one go from clear to black.

I'm wondering if maybe he was malnourished when he made his last shell and now that you(r mom) are looking after him he was able to regrow it with the proper colour. There are some theories

Edit: After doing some research most coloured shrimp are born clear/white and develop colour as they age. It may be what is commercially referred to as a Blackberry Shrimp. If it is you got lucky.

[DormDrax]

... HEY NOW! Hahaha All my mom does is drop food in, swish it around so Drax doesn't pig out on ALL of them... She's actually gotten quite good at tricking Drax to one side of the tank while she drops in the shrimp food. Yet... she thinks Drax is getting wise to her... if she so much as TOUCHES the food container near the tank he goes on full alert and just swims back and forth around the feeding area.

I on the other hand every weekend clean the tank... well decently Gravel Vac it, clean the glass of algae, fiddle with the plants, remove dead plants, trim the plants. Check the water, do one 20% change when I get home, then another 20% change before I head back to school which I think is fine. The water has never been so perfect. It has a SLIGHT Ammonia reading but then again I REALLY think it's just me misreading it, it's like the 0% color with a slight dingy greenish too it but then in some light it looks yellow... so ........ anyway even so still within normal healthy ranges with the water changes (which I do after I test).

So it's NOT like I'm making her do EVERYTHING haha. Besides, she says she enjoys it.

About the shrimp... Interesting...
I actually have pictures but UGH I don't know I've just been so lazy about updating, even though you'd probably ALL LOVE how my tank looks now... like a REAL Water Garden! I've anchored several stems of the Hornwort so the tank has these green arches of it floating in it. Sometimes you can't even see the Shrimp until they get fed... yet I've counted like 50 times... there ARE 10 in there.
He's the only dark one, all the others have a healthy glass look with... some have alittle green and s................ actually alot of them are developing white speckles on them. BUT........... Oh whatever I'll post pictures tonight within the next few hours after I finish this painting for class then you can tell me what kinda species of Ghosties I got haha.

[Malvolti]

Hmm...turning green you say? As in their shells are turning green or they have a green spot to saddle looking thing inside their back at the base of the "head"?

[DormDrax]

Taken Sunday before I left back to the Dorms... the other clearer ones in the Album are actually from February 6th. That one there was one of the smaller ones... he's grown haha.

But notice the little white speckling on the tail?

[Malvolti]

Oh, those white spots are normal. As they age you'll start to nice orange spots aswell on the tail, claws and whiskers.

Are you sure it's a he? from this angle it looks kinda like a she. If the tail shell is starting to grow down around the swimmerettes it's a she.