Q&A for How to Breed Ghost Shrimp

Not very long. I bred my shrimp; it took them about 30 minutes to an hour.

If you don't have an extra tank, then yes. Put the breeder net far from the filter so the fish don't get sucked in.

Yes. Once she is done depositing the eggs, remove the mother or she will eat the larvae.

No, due to the size difference, the bigger, cheaper ghost shrimp will eventually wipe out all of your smaller, more expensive crystal red shrimp. However, both will thrive in similar water parameters.

They are almost invisible to the naked eye, though once they begin to grow a bit, you can spot them using a magnifying glass.

Not necessarily. The egg color depends on the shrimp's coloration and how dark she is.

Every few weeks, up to once a month. You will see small green dots in the female's abdomen.

Breeding ghost/glass shrimp is known to be difficult. The baby shrimp need proper food, and if the conditions aren't right, all of the shrimp can die or not reproduce. If you stress the female too much, she will drop the eggs.

If you use any kind of divider or separator which separates the mother or babies from the rest of the tank, keep in mind that water chemistry changes have much more impact on small bodies of water. Any decaying food or missed water changes could quickly kill the animals inside.

At least as much substrate should be used as will cover the bottom of the enclosure, but there is no way to use too much or too little, as long as the tank has proper filtration. Same goes for moss balls and other plants. As long as the shrimp have room to maneuver between the plants, you can use as little or as many as you'd like. Shrimp love to feel hidden and safe, since everything including other shrimp can try to eat them, so more is usually better.

Any non-aggressive community fish like tetras, guppies et cetera are fine.

The mother or the other fish might eat the babies. To ensure the safety of the babies, put them in a different tank.

Yes, when shrimp or fish have eggs, they cling to things like wood, plants, rocks and toys.

There is no way to safely prevent your shrimp from laying eggs, but if you remove all male shrimp from the tank you house your females in, the eggs will not be fertilized, and no baby shrimp will hatch. Eventually the female will abandon her infertile eggs, and they will be eaten by her and her fellow lady shrimp.

A temperature of 72-75 optimally. A little warmer, up to 79, if they don't like it that cold or you have other fish that need the 80's.

Ghost shrimp stay very small and while compatible with your goldfish, are liable to being eaten. If you are going to house any type of shrimp with your goldfish, put some caves and ornaments in the tank, so your shrimp can hide and retreat to because the odds of your goldfish trying to eat them is about 99%. But with hides and ornaments, they will usually survive quite a while.

Yes. The babies' and larvae's mouths are too small for most foods, so crush a pellet or a couple flakes for the shrimp. One pellet per day should be fine for up to 20 babies.

About three weeks. The swimmerets paddle to bring oxygen to the eggs, which hatch in about three weeks. At that time, the female will use her swimmerets to disperse the baby shrimp into the water column.

Put all your fish in a bowl of water that is de-chlorinated, empty the tank of the water and remove the shrimp. Wash the plants and gravel thoroughly to make sure no eggs remain, then put everything back in the fish tank. Add de-chlorintaed water and then acclimatise the fish to their fresh, clean environment.

Female shrimp are significantly bigger than males, and females will have eggs under them every few weeks or so.

The color of the eggs depends on her body color, and your gravel color It generally won't change depending on fertilization. If you can see eggs and have a male shrimp, then the eggs are probably viable.

The eggs in the female's body are not already fertilized. If you want fertilized eggs, add a male ghost shrimp into the tank.

No, a male is required to fertilize the berried female. (Berried is the term used to describe a female carrying eggs.)

The eggs will drop from sitting high to low in her body, attached to her spinnerets. Sometimes the eggs get darker, but the color really just depends on the shrimp.

Try adding a male. If you have already have a male, try putting them in a separate tank/bowl which will help calm them down. The water temperature should be around 65-75 (18.33 degrees Celsius). A filter is optional but o would recommend adding a bubbler. Water quality is also a need for your shrimp to breed.

It is because they are very easy to raise, making their use as a pet most popular for beginners. They are also rather inexpensive, sometimes only costing $2.

There should be twice as many females as there are males if you want to breed them. You should have around 5 more females for it to work.