Ghost Shrimp

[lenny]

I have picked up three ghost shrimp a week ago and they all appear to be adjusting to my tank quite nicely. I am guessing one is female as she has what appears to be a big batch of eggs under her swimming legs and am curious about her behaviour.

The other two shrimp seem to be just loving the tank. They are swimming all over and I can spot them quite frequently. The female is just always hiding out. I won't see her for a couple days and then may spot her inside one of my cave setups. Her swimming legs go quite frequently so I'm guessing she's fanning the little suckers. The eggs do appear to be quite sizable.

I'm a little concerned about my female. She's always hiding so I don't see her eating or anything. I've done a number of searches and haven't seen anything mentioned about this tendancy to be so reserved.

Does this mean anything?

 

[Sageofstupidity]

She could just be a shy shrimp. I had 2 and one was always out and about, picking flakes off the water top and the other was always hidden. I even did a water change and removed all decorations to change substrate and still could not find him. I read that fish recognize they are prey animals and thus require hiding spots, maybe it is just her personality or she could be protecting the eggs/fry is any hatched by keeping them hidden. Also note that they are molters, they will hide after molting definitely.

 

[lenny]

Ah! Good call on the molting thing. One of them did and if it's common for them to hide away after a molt, this is the only one doing it.

Thanks

 

[Kiara1125]

Hey, guys!! I got 8 Ghost Shrimp, 5 females and 3 males, on Thursday. I'm just wondering, how long is the gestation period for these guys and how often do they molt?? I have a very pregnant female and right now, I only have Platy fry in the tank, (oldest ones are 1 1/2- 2 months old) they are about 1/2 inch long, will they hurt the baby Ghosties?? <Nickname that me and my art teacher came up with for my new Ghost Shrimp. lol!!

 

[MotherOfGreatIntentions]

If they are ghost shrimp you will need brackish water for the babies so I wouldn't worry too much about the gestation period of the eggs unless you have a separate setup ready to go.