Ghost Shrimp

Ghost Shrimp, also known as Glass Shrimp, are aptly named after their appearance. Their bodies are transparent with the exception of orange spots, which can be found on the tail, and bands of orange on the antennae and front legs of the shrimp. This makes for fascinating aquarium watching as the color of the food being consumed by these shrimp will show through their abdomens.

Being that they are not picky with their food choices, Ghost Shrimp make good cleanup crews for aquariums. They will eat leftover food that fish miss, clean up a carcass of a dead animal, and will graze on small bits of algae, but don’t expect a tank with Ghost Shrimp to be algae free. Ghost Shrimp will even go after live prey, so be aware that if you have fry or smaller shrimp in the tank, Ghost Shrimp are opportunistic and will do what they can to get a meal.

Snacking on the carcass of an Oto.

Trying to eat a Malaysian Trumpet Snail with little success.

Scraping leftovers off the shell of a couple snails.

Algae wafer meal.

Ghost Shrimp eating fish poop. Before you get too excited about finding your aquarium garbage disposal, read this.

Big things eat little things. Sound like something everyone should know, but remember when you get your Ghost Shrimp that if a fish’s mouth is close to the size of your shrimp, it will try to eat these shrimp. I’ve found that given enough hiding places in a community tank with fish that can’t eat the adults, enough population will survive and an equilibrium population will be reached.

Ghost Shrimp breed readily, and because of the ease with which they multiply, they are very inexpensive, and it is easy to establish a population. Given a fairly large group of shrimp, you will most likely see females carrying eggs around after a while.

Female with eggs.

Ghost Shrimp make excellent additions to community tanks, and they make a great food source for larger fish. If you show someone unfamiliar with fish keeping a tank with Ghost Shrimp, they will be fascinated. Most people think only fish belong in aquariums.