Grass Shrimp

InvaderJim · #1 12/27/2007, 07:44 PM

I got some saltwater Grass Shrimp from the LFS to feed my snowflake eel and I was wondering if people keep them in their sump to keep them alive or what? And do you acclimate like you would a regular shrimp?

elegance coral · #2 12/27/2007, 07:56 PM

Are you sure they are salt water shrimp? Most of the time when people use the term grass shrimp here in Florida they are talking about the small almost clear fresh water shrimp that maxes out just over an inch long. If they are larger then they are salt water shrimp and you can keep them in your sump if you put a cover on it or keep the water level very low.

InvaderJim · #3 12/27/2007, 07:58 PM

I googled Grass shrimp and it came up grass/ghost shrimp so I'm not sure. So I'm not really sure exactly which they are. They are really tiny and pretty much clear but they are in saltwater.

ImAFinAddict · #4 12/27/2007, 08:13 PM

same thing. just cover any return pumps.

InvaderJim · #5 12/27/2007, 08:14 PM

So they will be ok to live in the sump?

elegance coral · #6 12/27/2007, 08:17 PM

Those are fresh water shrimp. If they are truly in salt water they will be dead by morning. What is the salinity of the water they are in?

InvaderJim · #7 12/27/2007, 08:21 PM

Salinity is almost 1.040! Should I just dump them in the tank and let the eel have a go at them?

elegance coral · #8 12/27/2007, 08:31 PM

If you have some fish that can help the eel eat them, I say go for it. If not, the shrimp that the eel can't find will just die in the tank and pollute the water. The eel is about half blind and will not be able to find them all. In fact he will be lucky if he gets any of them. He can smell very well, so he may find some of them after they die.

You may want to ask an experienced person at your LFS about those shrimp and why they are in salt water. My guess is that some new employee screwed up.

InvaderJim · #9 12/27/2007, 08:42 PM

I've only got 4 really small ones. So you think they are going to die either way?

elegance coral · #10 12/27/2007, 08:49 PM

They can survive for a few hours in salt water but that's about it. They will be dead by morning if left is salt water.

InvaderJim · #11 12/27/2007, 08:53 PM

True. Seems like it would be a pain acclimating them back to freshwater though.

elegance coral · #12 12/27/2007, 09:10 PM

They're not expensive and they aren't endangered or anything. I wouldn't worry to much about it. You can take a dip net to any lake or stream here in Florida that has weeds growing in it and catch these shrimp by the hundreds. I say just throw them in the tank and see how it goes.

InvaderJim · #13 12/27/2007, 09:17 PM

Alright I will do that. I'll find a stream or something to and start collecting some. Thanks for the info!

InvaderJim · #14 12/28/2007, 01:22 PM

I found two of the shrimp had survived overnight and were hanging out on my magfloat this morning.

tcmfish · #15 12/28/2007, 01:28 PM

I am by the ocean and you can collect them in the intercoastal waterway which is 1.020-1.025 so they can live in saltwater.

InvaderJim · #16 12/28/2007, 01:38 PM

Alright I guess that explains it. haha

intermision · #17 12/28/2007, 01:54 PM

We keep them in brackish water at our store, but there are some swimming around in both our fresh and saltwater tanks.

InvaderJim · #18 12/28/2007, 02:26 PM

That's pretty neat. I'm curious as to how long they will live in my tank.

tcmfish · #19 12/28/2007, 02:39 PM

I put them in my tank in my room they have been there for a few months.

McTeague · #20 12/28/2007, 03:16 PM

I have found that glass shrimp/ghost shrimp/grass shrimp that are acclimated to freshwater will die in a day or so in salt or brackish. I have never seen them in pet stores in anything but freshwater.

Just to be clear I am talking about these:

tcmfish · #21 12/28/2007, 03:19 PM

There may be different species but the ones I am keeping in saltwater and that I have fed to my marine betta's are just like those.

If you are going to feed a snowflake you may want to try bigger shrimp. One of my friends has a tiny baby snowflake and he feeds it the bigger shrimp we catch. Which I think are only saltwater. I don't know how it does it but somehow it gets them down.

McTeague · #22 12/28/2007, 03:29 PM

Well, I think the species has the ability to live in fresh, brackish, or salt. I think they will live in what they are acclimated to and die in that which they are not.

pledosophy · #23 12/28/2007, 03:47 PM

I've acclimated fresh water ghosts to salt water, a few hundred at a time, several times (more then 20) and not had issues. I used them to feed seahorses when I was out of town, otherwise I would just dump the fresh water shrimp straight into the tank.

If not acclimated to salt the shrimp will live 24-48 hours in the salt water before death. Once acclimated they are cool for some time.

If your looking for bigger shrimp seawaterexpress.com sells salt water white shrim, which can get very very large over time. Maybe to big for the eel, but good for the BBQ.

SCR · #24 12/28/2007, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by InvaderJim
That's pretty neat. I'm curious as to how long they will live in my tank.

I've had mine in with the corals for over a year now. I got them out of the intercoastal, ( Indian River).

tcmfish · #25 12/28/2007, 05:24 PM

^^^ Same here. Corals and mandarin and pep and harlequin shrimp plus these. got them out of the indian river