The Basic Care Guide For Ghost Shrimp

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Ghost shrimp are fairly small shrimp with an almost “ghost-like” appearance. They are great for small tanks and they are just fascinating creatures to watch. They are so clear that you can actually see food as well as eggs inside of them! These shrimp are truly fascinating creatures God has made. These shrimp are good cleaners as they eat plant debris, so if you have plants and some seem to create dead plant debris that you really just don’t want in your aquarium, you perhaps should look into getting some of these!

Tank size

Image by jacobmwhitney1 from Pixabay

Many recommend 5 gallons for these shrimp, but they could stretch and could thrive in a 3 or even a 2.5 gallon tank. Others say 1 gallon could work for a very small colony of 3-4. They are fairly small and can live in fairly small tanks!

Tankmates

Some tankmates could be

  • Snails
  • Possibly Neon Tetras
  • Other shrimp
  • Possibly Cory Catfish, especially of smaller kinds such as pygmy

 

Tank Environment

Like all shrimp, ghost shrimp do best with plenty of green aquarium plants. For ideal situations, the plants will be lush and green, and almost everywhere in the tank. Also, a special substrate would be best for both the shrimp and the plants. One type of substrate could be sand (make sure the sand is safe!!!).

Diet

There are multiple different types of food you can feed your shrimp such as …

  • Fruit such as watermelon and cucumbers
  • Vegetables such as zucchini
  • Algae pellets
  • Frozen foods such as frozen bloodworms
  • More such as small live food

You can also supplement your ghost shrimp with calcium. Calcium rich foods that you can feed your ghost shrimp could be kale, broccoli and collard greens. You can read more about this here. 

Water Temperature

The ideal water temperature for ghost shrimp is about 72-82. They can in much colder temperature, in fact as low as 65 F!

pH

The ideal pH for ghost shrimp is about 6.0-7.0.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]


Try reading “The Basic Care Guide For Boesman’s Rainbowfish!

Also try, “How to Make an Ecosphere!”

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How To Care For Brine Shrimp (From Birth To Death)

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]I have seen many videos and articles showing you how to hatch brine shrimp, but I hardly saw any videos about caring for adult brine shrimp. After a while of experimenting, I have made a care guide for anyone who wants they’re brine shrimp to live their life. In other words, this is a care guide showing you how to keep your brine shrimp from dying at the first week of their life.

These creatures are truly amazing in God’s creation. I hope this care guide helps.

Let’s get into it.


Things You Will Need:

  1. Container (Preferably a 1 quart jar)
  2. Brine Solution for 1 quart (if using quart, more information about it later)
  3. Spring Water
  4. 2 Small Pieces of Limestone
  5. Brine Shrimp Eggs
  6. Pipette
  7. Brine Shrimp Food (Ideas for food will given later)

Extra Bits Of Information You Will Need

Once every week slowly drip fresh spring water into the container. Drip  12 drops then wait 2 minutes. Then repeat 10 times

Slowly aerate the container with a pipette (if the container is small, if the container is large an electric aquarium aerator may be necessary) twice a day for 1-2 minutes each time.

Water changes aren’t always necessary. If you do change the water, make sure the brine shrimp don’t remove any of the brine shrimp. If you end up removing one but still have it alive, slowly scoop it into a spoon and slowly dip the spoon back into the container.

You will need to keep care of these little creatures that God made safe you they can live a long life!

If you do not shine a light on the container during night, or partially during the day, cover the opening with aluminum foil or of the like.

Preparing

Container

Preferably, a 1 quart glass jar. But if it slightly smaller, there shouldn’t be a big effect. Fortunately, brine shrimp don’t need large volumes of water, as they don’t grow that large.

Water

When you settled on the size of the container, you will need a brine solution as brine shrimp do live in brine water I may see how you may get it wrong, but they do need it. The brine solution should contain of tp of kosher salt (table salt could kill your brine shrimp), 1/2 of a teaspoon of Epsom salt and a pinch of baking soda if you use a 1 quart jar, altar if your container is either larger or smaller than 1 quart. Also, make sure to pour 2 small pieces of limestone. This can help the brine shrimp survival rate.

Slowly pour the spring water into the container. Then slowly pour the brine solution into the container. Finally add 2 (about one tenth of the size of a U.S. penny, you also use 1 if your use a smaller container or 3-4 in you are use a large one) pieces of limestone and stir the the water until the solution has been dissolved.

Heating

Finally after the everything has been dissolved (limestones DO NOT need to be dissolved, do not worry if they don’t as they most definitely won’t), shine a 72-100 watt bulb (make sure it’s actually a 72-100 watt bulb) and wait around 10-15 minutes.

Adding The Eggs

Finally when the container has been heated, add a pinch of brine shrimp eggs (brine shrimp eggs can be bought at amazon). Make sure the light is on most of the day if possible. Now, wait 24 hours. After the 24 hours you may see white specks. These are baby brine shrimp. They are also called brine shrimp nauplii.

First Feeding

After the brine shrimp are around 24 hours old, feed them either flour, egg yolk, algae powder or all above. Only give them a pinch as a little goes a long way for these tiny nauplii. Feed the brine shrimp every 3 days until they are around 2 weeks old.

The Second Week Of Their Life

Now when the brine shrimp around 2 weeks of age, the brine shrimp will look a lot more like their adult form. Around this time, it would be ideal to change the feeding schedule to once every day from now on if possible.

From now on, feed the brine shrimp once a day, and aerate the tank twice a day for 3 minutes. Brine Shrimp generally live for around 1-3 months.


These shrimp are truly amazing and definitely one of The Lord’s more interesting and fun creatures He made!

Have a problem with the care guide? Comment below and show us how you’d do it different.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]