Ghost Shrimp, also called Glass Shrimp are one of the easiest species of freshwater shrimp to keep. They are primarily translucent, small and highly active. Ghost shrimp are extremely popular due to their low price. Ghost shrimp can often be purchased en mass for as little as 20-50 cents each. This price makes them attractive to prospective owners but also as a live feeder for larger carnivorous fish. Ghost Shrimp are scavengers and do an excellent job of cleaning the aquarium of rotting debris and algae. They are effective at actively reducing nitrates within the aquarium and having a very low biomass footprint.
When compared to other types of shrimp, like Crystal Red Shrimp and Red Cherry Shrimp, Ghost Shrimp are very tough and can handle a lot. For this reason they are the best beginner shrimp to trial before moving on to more expensive varieties. They are easy to breed and maintain. Ghost Shrimp will consume almost any type of food. They are also effective scavengers. Ghost shrimp are tolerant but are still sensitive to water fluctuations. Water chemistry should be kept stable when housing Ghost Shrimp. If they begin to look unwell in the aquarium immediately check the water temperature and recent additives.
Ghost shrimp are a popular freshwater crustacean often added to community aquariums as scavengers Their transparent bodies and energetic movements add interest to planted tanks But what many hobbyists don’t realize is that ghost shrimp can also readily breed in captivity,
In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about ghost shrimp reproduction. Read on to learn how to identify pregnant females, optimal breeding conditions, average clutch sizes, and how to care for ghost shrimp larvae once they hatch.
An Overview of Ghost Shrimp
Before jumping into breeding specifics, let’s start with a quick overview of ghost shrimp basics
Ghost shrimp, also called glass shrimp, are a species of small freshwater shrimp native to North America. Their scientific name is Palaemonetes paludosus.
These shrimp have pale translucent bodies with a slight yellowish or greenish tinge. Their internal organs and sometimes eggs may be faintly visible through the nearly see-through exoskeleton.
Ghost shrimp typically grow to around 1-2 inches long as adults. Females are usually slightly larger than males.
Wild populations of ghost shrimp are found in shallow freshwater streams, ponds, rivers, and wetlands across much of the United States and Mexico. They tend to live in areas with sandy or muddy substrates and abundant vegetation.
In the home aquarium, ghost shrimp make excellent tank cleaners. They are constantly filtering the substrate for bits of food and debris. Their small size also makes them suitable for nano tanks under 5 gallons.
Now let’s take a closer look at breeding and reproduction in this fascinating shrimp species.
Do Ghost Shrimp Lay Eggs?
Yes, female ghost shrimp do lay eggs. Ghost shrimp breed readily in captivity if provided good conditions.
Female ghost shrimp produce batches of eggs every few weeks year-round. They do not have a fixed breeding season. So egg-laying and hatches can happen at any time of year in a home aquarium.
This makes ghost shrimp a good option for aquarists who want to experience raising baby shrimp without investing in more delicate dwarf shrimp that only breed seasonally.
Let’s break down the ghost shrimp reproductive process step-by-step:
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Mating – A male ghost shrimp will mate with a receptive female. He passes a sperm packet to fertilize her eggs.
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Eggs Develop – Fertilized eggs develop under the female’s abdomen, turning green or orange. They are visible through her translucent body.
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Hatching – Within 2 weeks, the larvae hatch from the eggs and emerge as tiny free-swimming shrimp.
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Maturation – The juvenile shrimp mature over several weeks, shedding their exoskeleton and growing. Within a few months they reach adult size and begin breeding.
How Often Do Ghost Shrimp Breed?
Ghost shrimp can breed quite prolifically. Under ideal conditions, a single female may lay new batches of eggs every 3-4 weeks.
So a healthy population of ghost shrimp can produce new generations of offspring nonstop all year long. Their breeding is not seasonal.
This allows a small starter colony to turn into a large population within only a few months. It’s one reason why ghost shrimp are a favorite feeder shrimp for fish farms – they multiply rapidly.
In the home aquarium, you’ll want to limit breeding to keep your shrimp population under control. Here are some ways to limit reproduction if it gets excessive:
- Separate males and females.
- Remove egg-laden females to hatch eggs in a separate tank.
- Introduce predator fish that will eat larvae.
- Sell or give away excess shrimp to other aquarists.
With some population control methods, you can enjoy breeding and larvae hatches while still keeping your overall shrimp numbers in check.
How to Identify Pregnant Ghost Shrimp
The easiest way to identify pregnant female ghost shrimp is to look for developing eggs.
When a female is carrying a clutch of fertilized eggs, they will be visible underneath her body. The small green or orange egg mass is located between the shrimp’s legs on the underside.
The eggs are held securely in place by tiny pleopod appendages on the female’s swimming legs. She constantly fans and aerates the eggs with her swimmerets to provide oxygen.
A “berried” female that is visibly carrying eggs is a sure sign she has been breeding. The term berried refers to the bright berry-like egg mass on a pregnant shrimp.
Additionally, pregnant ghost shrimp may display slightly fewer swimming movements and prefer to rest near the bottom. Their appetite may decrease somewhat as their energy goes toward incubating the eggs.
If you see green or orange balls forming under a female ghost shrimp’s abdomen, that confirms she has been fertilized by a male and is incubating eggs.
Ghost Shrimp Egg Hatch Timeline
Once a female ghost shrimp is visibly carrying a clutch of eggs, how long will it take before they hatch? Here is a typical timeline:
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Week 1 – Eggs develop beneath the female with no visible changes.
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Week 2 – Fertilized eggs grow larger and begin developing eye spots, which appear as two darker dots inside each egg. The female fans the eggs frequently.
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Week 3 – Eyes become fully visible as black spots in each egg. The female’s fanning increases. Eggs start detaching and hatching into larvae.
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Week 4 – Most or all of the eggs have hatched out into tiny free-swimming larvae. Female is no longer “berried”.
The complete egg development and hatching process typically spans 2-3 weeks from fertilization to hatching. If you notice a female carrying a fresh clutch of eggs, expect them to hatch out within 14-21 days on average if conditions are good.
Optimal Conditions for Breeding Ghost Shrimp
While ghost shrimp will breed in most aquarium setups, you can maximize hatch rates by optimizing conditions. Here are ideal parameters for encouraging breeding activity:
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Temperature – Maintain water between 70-80°F. Warmer temperatures speed up metabolism and breeding.
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pH – Ideal pH is around 7.0 to 7.5. Acidic water below 7.0 can impair breeding and hatching.
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Tank Size – A 10 gallon or larger tank gives breeding pairs space to interact. Avoid cramming breeders into tiny tanks.
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** Plants** – Plants provide hiding spots for mating and egg-laying. Floating plants give fry shelter. Java moss is ideal.
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Water Changes – Frequent partial water changes keep hormones and pheromones from building up excessively and over-stimulating breeding.
Aim for the water parameters above to create an optimal shrimp breeding environment. This allows females to produce large, robust clutches and increases hatching success.
Caring for Newly Hatched Ghost Shrimp
The tiny larvae that emerge from ghost shrimp eggs require specialized care for their first few critical weeks of life. Here are some tips for raising newly hatched shrimp:
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Move pregnant females to a hatchery tank so larvae don’t get eaten.
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Feed infusoria, powdered fry food, or crushed flakes 3+ times daily. Larvae need constant grazing.
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Avoid water currents that can trap larvae – use an air-powered sponge filter only.
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Add plants like java moss for shelter and biofilm grazing.
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Perform 10% daily water changes in the hatchery tank to remove waste and replenish oxygen.
With attentive care, many of the fragile larvae will survive to adulthood. After 4-6 weeks, they can be moved to the main tank.
Typical Ghost Shrimp Clutch Sizes
The number of eggs in each ghost shrimp clutch can vary based on the female’s size and health. But here are some typical clutch sizes:
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Young females’ first clutches may only contain 10-30 eggs.
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An average adult female carries 20-40 eggs per reproductive cycle.
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Very large or old females may produce up to 60 eggs at once.
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Clutch size tends to increase with each successive breeding cycle.
So while clutch sizes vary greatly, a general rule of thumb is 20-50 eggs per batch for most adult ghost shrimp. Under good conditions, even just one or two berried females can produce dozens of new larvae with each hatch.
Breeding ghost shrimp is an easy and fun way to gain experience raising baby shrimp. Their constantly replenishing populations provide live food for predatory fish and restock aquarists’ supplies of feeder shrimp.
To recap key points:
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Female ghost shrimp produce eggs every few weeks year-round.
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Look for green/orange eggs under the abdomen to identify berried females.
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Eggs hatch into tiny larvae that must be protected and fed carefully.
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Ideal breeding conditions
Ghost Shrimp as live feeders
- It is possible to breed ghost shrimp to feed aquarium fish. Oscars, Arowanas, Cichlids, Angelfish, Discus, and Trigger Fish, as well as other larger freshwater species, will benefit. Ghost shrimp have a lot of natural fats and oils that help them color and grow.
- Ghost Shrimp are much less likely to spread disease than other species that eat live food. Parasites can be found in feeder fish and blood worms, but not in ghost shrimp because they are invertebrates.
- A separate tank should be set up so the Ghost Shrimp can breed. Ghost Shrimp are easy to breed and can be raised to provide a steady supply of food for the display tank every week. Further reading regarding breeding can be found below.
Adding the Ghost Shrimp
- Ghost Shrimp can live in aquariums that are bigger than 5 gallons. It is best to keep them in an aquarium with only their own kind of fish. Larger fish can easily bother and eat ghost shrimp because they are small and can’t defend themselves. Before you put the shrimp in the aquarium, make sure it has been chemically tested and meets the above requirements.
- Put the Ghost Shrimp in a bowl after taking them out of the bag. Make a siphon from the aquarium with air-line tubing and a rubber band. Wrap the rubber band around a bent part of the tube to kink it. Change the bend so that one drop of water can drip out of the tube slowly every second. For the next 20 to 30 minutes, let this drip into the bowl and keep a close eye on it.
- Use a soft mesh net to move the Ghost Shrimp into the aquarium after 20 to 30 minutes. When moving the shrimp, cover the net with one hand so they can jump out and get away.
- Even though ghost shrimp are tough, bad water can hurt them. If a situation does arise check the water immediately. Perform a water change and try to identify the problem. You should move the Ghost Shrimp to a good temporary home if you have more than one aquarium. Even if the conditions aren’t ideal, is usually much better than leaving them in an aquarium full of poison.
- Here is a link to a full article on how to set up a shrimp tank. More detailed instructions on how to set up, cycle, and choose the right hardscape
- Ghost shrimp eat anything they can find, so they will eat a lot of different things. They eat everything, so brush algae and food that falls to the ground are natural foods for them.
- Ghost Shrimp can eat processed foods like flakes. They are typically unfussy eaters. If you look closely, you can see that the food in a ghost shrimp’s body is very clear. Ghost Shrimp will also eat boiled zucchini and soft vegetables. The shrimp need nutrients, and vegetables are a cheap way to give them those nutrients.
pregnant ghost shrimp (hatching eggs)
Do ghost shrimps lay eggs?
Ghost shrimps lay eggs – they never carry the eggs inside their bodies and nourish them with yolks or through placental attachments. The eggs are fertilized externally by the male. As such female ghost shrimps bearing eggs are considered gravid, not pregnant.
How long does it take ghost shrimp to hatch?
pregnant ghost shrimp (hatching eggs) It typically takes about 14 days for the fertilized eggs to hatch. If we take this and add the number of days a female needs to produce a batch of unfertilized eggs, then we can estimate that the entire process lasts between 44 and 54 days.
How long do ghost shrimp carry eggs?
Female ghost shrimp will carry their eggs for a total of three weeks before they hatch. This time includes the development of the eggs as well as the fertilization. Most female ghost shrimp will carry 20 to 30 eggs at a time. Will Ghost Shrimp Breed in a Community Tank?
Are ghost shrimp pregnant?
Despite some common myths floating on the internet, the color of the eggs has no relation to fertilization. Any female Ghost shrimp carrying eggs below her abdomen is considered pregnant or “berried”, regardless of their color. Berried is another term used to describe a pregnant shrimp.