# ghost shrimp



## G-Man (Apr 18, 2008)

Hello, I got some jack dempsey's and the other day I was at the lfs and wanted to buy some ghost shrimp. Got them before to help eat left over food on my other tanks. They were gone before they hit the water. The jack's loved em. How often would you recommend feeding them these shrimp. I have only been given them a mysis shrimp frozen cube and some tetra flakes.


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## cage623 (Feb 2, 2008)

I general live food that is bought at a LFS is a bad idea. It is too big a risk at introducing different illnesses into your tank. Most people that want to use live foods will breed it themselves that way they can limit feeding their cichlids diseased foods. I hope this helps.


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## heylady (Oct 14, 2004)

I totally disagree with the above post because we are talking about shrimp here, not fish. Shrimp (inverts) do not get or carry the diseases that fish get. So they are quite safe to feed to your fish. You might also want to try live crickets, and earthworms! Fish find them all very yummy :wink:

What I would recommend is that you gut load the shrimp first. Keep them in a small tank with an airstone going and give them spirulina flakes. Feed your fish shortly after and look ma, they ate their veggies too! 
You can gut load crickets too by giving them small pieces of fresh veggies and fruit. 
Squeeze out the dirt from the earthworms by applying gentle pressure right behind their head area and going down to the tail. (I usually do this under running water)

I usually give the fish "treats" once a week with their main diet being pellets. I also fast my fish once a week too.

HTH


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

I completely agree with Cage in regards to using feeder fishâ€¦ and HeyLady is right about the invertsâ€¦ and I learned something new about the wormsâ€¦

I get my Cichlids Ghost Shrimp on a rare occasion. I do not rely on them for any nutritional value but like to let the fish chase things around from time to time... they always seem eager so I assume they appreciate it...


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## cage623 (Feb 2, 2008)

I guess I should clarify my above statement. I totally agree with heylady that inverts will carry different diseases and parasites than fish. However feeding your fish inverts that you get at a LFS can still bring diseases and parasites into your tank. In the area that I am in most of the ghost shrimp are kept in tanks with other small fish (like tetras) at the LFS. If you buy these shrimp and take them home the water they are in could still have diseases from the LFS in them. So feeding your fish inverts bought from a LFS could still be dangerous for your fish because it could be introducing contaminated water.

I still stand by my statement that feeders (of any kind) are much better off if you are raising them yourself. This way you will be able to know what they are eating and better know if they have any diseases of parasites.


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## FiremouthShogun (Apr 26, 2006)

I feed my fish farm raised ghost shrimp they love them. Your biggest concern would be the introduction of snails and such unwanteds.

I will not be squeezing the **** out of worms so I'll only be using those for bait... 

HEylady u really <3 your fish...lol


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