# Ghost shrimp and Iodine in pirnaha tank



## Winkyee (Feb 17, 2003)

I've read that ghost shrimp need iodine to stay healthy,
How much per gallon and how often?

Is it safe for my rhom?
I really like these little guys , they really clean up and my g/f Tracy likes the tank more
Thanks 
Pete

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View attachment 89154


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## Winkyee (Feb 17, 2003)

up


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

I kept ghost shrimp sucsessfully out ever adding anythingo the water


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## Winkyee (Feb 17, 2003)

Thank you.
We really like them and don't want to see them die. They seem to be growing pretty quickly and are pretty cool to watch.


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## Ex0dus (Jun 29, 2005)

Dr.Zoidberg said:


> Thank you.
> We really like them and don't want to see them die. They seem to be growing pretty quickly and are pretty cool to watch.


how many you got in your tank?

I added 50 so far to my 135 thinking about adding another 25-50 shortly.


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## Winkyee (Feb 17, 2003)

Ex0dus said:


> Thank you.
> We really like them and don't want to see them die. They seem to be growing pretty quickly and are pretty cool to watch.


how many you got in your tank?

I added 50 so far to my 135 thinking about adding another 25-50 shortly.
[/quote]

I've only got about 15-18 in there atm, I am going to add some more when they get some larger ones in. I've lost a few here and there , I see them getting eaten by tankmates and they are a white colour.That's why I was asking about iodine since it's supposed to help them shed but don't want my rhom to get screwed up by it.

Here's a few pics.


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## 33truballa33 (Oct 18, 2004)

full of eggs.. i hear they breed quite easy as well.. i used to keep them in my pygos tank but they always got chomped up.. once i get rid of my severums i will get more


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## H4N (Nov 10, 2005)

do ghost shrimp eat alge to?


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## sprtslvr785 (Mar 3, 2005)

I just bought 8 ghost shrimp today. The guy at the petstore told me they get shipment in today and they never came. I want to get some more so hopefully they will breed, good little clean up crew. The only thing that sucks is finding them little bastards before I suck them up with the python.


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## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

i cant find mine. But i usually find thier old skins, or could that just be them?

How easy are they to breed? Id like to put some in my tanks.

And what gravel is that? i like it


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## sprtslvr785 (Mar 3, 2005)

I was also wondering what kind of gravel that is.

Can you post a pic of the whole tank? It looks like it would be sweet just by looking at those small pictures.


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## 33truballa33 (Oct 18, 2004)

its playsand


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## Winkyee (Feb 17, 2003)

It's playsand from Home Depot.

Rinse Rinse Rinse before adding it.
then when done rinse some more..


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## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

another POTM up there.

do plants grow in sand?
The guys at my lfs said they wouldnt do to good.


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## MR HARLEY (Aug 12, 2003)

amazing tank


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## Sparky73 (Dec 16, 2005)

Wow that tank is freaking awesome. I love it!

Whats the chances of getting Ghost Shrimp to live with Red Bellies? I would love to have some, but never figured they could really live with any other "decent sized" fish. How big do they get? How many per tank? (10 Gal, 20, 30, 55, ect). How do you get them iodine?

Jon


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## 33truballa33 (Oct 18, 2004)

Jon said:


> Wow that tank is freaking awesome. I love it!
> 
> Whats the chances of getting Ghost Shrimp to live with Red Bellies? I would love to have some, but never figured they could really live with any other "decent sized" fish. How big do they get? How many per tank? (10 Gal, 20, 30, 55, ect). How do you get them iodine?
> 
> Jon


i wouldnt put them with reds. my pirayas used to eat them all the time. they dont get very big.


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## Ex0dus (Jun 29, 2005)

how many is to many in a 135? (semi heavily planted) I was thinking 75-100. ?


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## 33truballa33 (Oct 18, 2004)

id just put an assload of them in there. i had liek 80 in my 200 gal.. didnt last long.. piranhas like them... i think imma put like 50-100 in my 100 gal


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## Guest (Jan 7, 2006)

do you think its worth having them aas far as cleaning? do they really do that good of job?


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

Ghost shrimp are scavengers and will pick up small bits of food here and there. I've added them to my 72 bowfront community as a random clean up crew. I'm not sure if they all got eaten or if they're hiding. I only added a couple dozen. But no, they are not effective algae eaters. They may nibble but they're not a good solution for it. The two types of shrimp that are good are Amanno/Yamatto (depending on the name you go by) and Cherry. They are more expensive though.

The store I works at sells ghost shrimp as feeders. So it costs me less than $3 for a dozen of them.

If putting them in a tank with piranhas make sure there is adequate cover. And by adequate cover I mean more than a couple of fake plants and a piece of driftwood. otherwise they WILL get eaten. When adding them to the tank you'll probably also have more success if doing it when the lights are out (so the piranhas don't see them) and if you add a bunch at the same time. This way if the piranhas do swarm and attack there's more of a survival rate.

Some will get eaten over time.

Ghost shrimp are not hard to breed at all. It's possible to do it in something as small as a 5 gallon tank. If you have enough cover in your tank, small caves, etc, I'd just recommend adding some java moss for the shrimp fry to live in for a bit and feed off of and you'd probably get some breeding going on within the tank. I'm hoping to achieve that in my community - but I think between the discus, loaches and dwarf cichlids I may not have much of a chance, heh.


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