# Ghost Shrimp



## Fish Kid 808

Hello there fish forums. I have come to you, yet again, for help. 

Okay, so here is my situation. I am on vacation in the wonderful state of Oregon. And I will be heading back to Hawaii in a week. I was looking around at Pet Co. and found a tank full of Ghost Shrimp. They are, what I'd guess, pretty cheap for only 49 cents each. And on my side of the island at home, I cannot find ghost shrimp for sale. So I was wondering, if I could buy some jars, fill them with dechlorinated water, and place one shrimp in each jar, would the shrimp survive the flight? I would only be able to fill the jars with 3 ounces of water since I would be taking them in my carry-on bag. The total time the shrimp would be in the jars would be probably 14 hours until they could be placed in my tank at home. I wasn't sure if they'd survive the long time in the jars. So what do you think Fish Forums? Could this work or would I just be sending shrimp to their death?


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## rjrstrang

My best guess would be no they probably won't survive 3 ounces of water won't hold oxygen for very long. If you have family in Oregon or you know someone there have them properly package them and ship them too yourself overnight


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## jlpropst00

I might get kicked off of here for saying this, but at 49cents its worth a try.


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## Fishy Freak

I think they will be fine, had 10 come over night delievery, and now can't count how many in my tank.
They wouldn't need much air as they are so tiny.


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## Fish Kid 808

rjrstrang said:


> My best guess would be no they probably won't survive 3 ounces of water won't hold oxygen for very long. If you have family in Oregon or you know someone there have them properly package them and ship them too yourself overnight


There really isn't any family here that would have the know how to do that.



jlpropst00 said:


> I might get kicked off of here for saying this, but at 49cents its worth a try.


I don't think you'll get kicked off for that. People have said worse and your just voicing your opinion. Aha. And is 49 cents that good a deal, I looked online and it said they go for $1 a handful.



Fishy Freak said:


> I think they will be fine, had 10 come over night delievery, and now can't count how many in my tank.
> They wouldn't need much air as they are so tiny.


Did they come with pumps or in jars like mine.


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## Fishy Freak

They came in a plastic bag, all 10 together, then in a polystyrene box. I also drove 9 hours with a jar with 2 large cory cats in it just opened it every hour to let air in. They also were fine.


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## Fish Kid 808

Fishy Freak said:


> They came in a plastic bag, all 10 together, then in a polystyrene box. I also drove 9 hours with a jar with 2 large cory cats in it just opened it every hour to let air in. They also were fine.


Ah, hm. I'm very tempted to do this but I've decided to not. It would be a little weird explaining why I have 4 jars of shrimp in my carry on. Aha. Plus the jars cost more then the shrimp are worth.


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## snyderguy

Yeah they should be fine. It's worth a try.


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## Fishy Freak

I'd check on the importation laws before I'd try, a web site prehaps. And just bag them or use takeaway food containers to carry them.


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## Corwin

You can try it and some may live but I doubt you will make it without any casualties. Ghost shrimp are sold as feeders 99.9% of the time, which is why they are so cheap. The problem with this is that they are often treated fairly poorly during transport and arive at their stores in bad condition. Because of this when people buy ghosts to keep as pets they are often perplexed or dissapointed by very high mortality rates in the shrimp they bought. In other words even if you lived nearby and could take them straight home to their future tank you would still probably lose anything from 10-90% of what you bought. Dont get me wrong their a great pet and very interesting to watch, but your best bet if you want to keep them would be to buy them online off a site that isnt selling them as feeders, or buy a whole bunch off a site that is selling them as feeders and then replace the ones that die by purchasing more after.


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## Corwin

Also arent there fees in the states for taking possibly invasive species like fish across borders into places where they dont normaly exist?


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## DigzTheBeatz

I live in Oregon and I have tried to keep these shrimp. My boyfriend found them at Petsmart for $0.33 each and wanted them. They didn't last. The longest lasted about a month. Went into a small and local lfs and found out that the ghost shrimp are brackish water creatures, like mollies. Not freshwater. That is why ours did not do well. Cute, little, hard to see, fascinating creatures. The price is good, but not sure they are worth it. I'm pretty sure some of them were eaten as well. 
I recently just bought a giant blue wood shrimp and love it. Shy, but cool. It's about 2-3". Easy to spot. If you really want shrimp I would recommend finding a freshwater one that costs a little more. Then you can actually see them and enjoy them more.


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## Corwin

Theres a LOT of missconceptions around ghost shrimp. This is because there are a plethora of different species whicha are sold under the same names. Some of which are infact brackish, however most are not.


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## CalvinKE

you could put them in plastic bags with water and put the bags in some sort of container and put it in your bag (not carry on)


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## kris_41

I bought 3 Ghost Shrimp from Petsmart and they lasted about a month and died.


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