# Ghost Shrimp?????????????????



## LovinLiveBearer (Nov 26, 2007)

I just purchased 9 ghost shrimp and now I am wondering if I should not have..... I read that they will eat fry!? If this is like a common thing someone PLEASE tell me because I DO NOT want my babies to get eaten! Also...one of my larger ghost shrimp looks like it has something white going through his intestines...but it also looks like it could be a worm? Do ghost shrimp get worms?! If so that is gross (haha) and if this could be a worm should I take the shrimp back to the store before it spreads to my other fish? Or is there worm killer? :withstup: Please help. I don't want to let these things out of the bag until I know the truth about Ghost Shrimp. Thanks!


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## LovinLiveBearer (Nov 26, 2007)

*shrimp*

the first picture you can see the little white thing loop around in this belly...sorry it is really blurry! Then the other two are just of the ghost shrimp...are these things going to eat my fish. I just heard a story that they can eat adult fish if they are a certain type of "ghost shrimp" and that that is just a general name...I got these guys from petsmart for 30 cents each......


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Ghost shrimp will eat pretty much whatever they can find or catch. They'd have a heck of a hard time catching any fry, but if they managed it, they would eat them.

The white thing is a horsehair worm, a common parasite of shrimp. Get rid of it.


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## LovinLiveBearer (Nov 26, 2007)

*thanks and another question*

Thanks for the info. I have the shrimp with the worm in his own tank. I was told that they will pass and then the shrimp will be fine? If not I will flush him. It kind of makes me gag a little which takes alot because I am a medical assistant and see all sorts of gross things. Now if they do catch a fry and eat them ok....but can they catch a large adult fish? Should I just take them all back? I thought they would be great to clean my tank a little but not if they are moer harm than good. I do a good job cleaning my tank myself haha.


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## Guest (Jan 4, 2008)

IMO Platy and Mollie fry are a bit too large for the Ghost Shrimp I have seen. It would be really surprising to hear that one ate a Platy or Mollie fry.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

The adult fish are perfectly safe.
The horsehair worm won't likely leave, and in fact it will instead just drop a bunch of eggs all over the tank making things worse. The shrimp will only get worse off over time as the worm grows and grows. 
Bury it in the back yard, don't flush it. These stupid worms have an annoying habit of surviving in sewers and winding up all over the place.


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## LovinLiveBearer (Nov 26, 2007)

Ewwwww that is gross! Worms are nasty little things. I don't want to bury the guy alive! That is sad. I think I am just going to take them all back. I don't want to risk my fish getting worms. It did not look like the others had a worm but they were all in the same tank at the store and I don't know if they can be so small you cant tell they are there till they are huge. Yuck. That makes me sad thought because I really like shrimp. Ohwell. Better safe than sorry. I can just get a sucker fish....they eat algae and left over food right? Is there a good choice you might suggest for an algae eater or sucker fish?


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## fishbone (Jan 15, 2007)

TheOldSalt said:


> The adult fish are perfectly safe.
> The horsehair worm won't likely leave, and in fact it will instead just drop a bunch of eggs all over the tank making things worse. The shrimp will only get worse off over time as the worm grows and grows.
> Bury it in the back yard, don't flush it. These stupid worms have an annoying habit of surviving in sewers and winding up all over the place.


Better yet, dump the shrimp in boiling water. Quick death and kills off any and all parasites.


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

i agree with fishbone, sounds a little better than trying to bury it alive, haha.


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## Kribensis12 (Jan 1, 2008)

When my molly had around 50 babies i put them in a 20g around 2 week's later. Then after they hit a 1/2 inch i put in some ghost shrimp as garbage duty. We'll i came back from church to find a dalmation molly fry squriming inside of the shrimp! I took the shrimp out, and cut open the stoach and put the litttle guy back in. He died later that day. I dont think the shrimp would have gotten him unless he was already sick. I have some ghost shrimp in my con fry tank and haven had any con's get caught.


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