Is A Glass Shrimp Easy To Care For? What Is It?
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By PAllen Brown
Glass shrimp are a great beginner pet for children or adults who want something different and low maintenance. Their name comes from their transparent body and the way they swim, which reminds many people of fish made out of glass. They're a species of brackish water shrimp that live in mangroves. Here are reasons why glass shrimp are easy to care for.
They Adapt Quickly
They adapt well to life in a tank. Glass shrimp are also known as ghost shrimp, so it's no surprise that they're the perfect creatures to put in an aquarium at night. They're very active during the day and will swim around looking for bits of food left by your fish, but when you turn off the light they immediately sink down into the substrate and go to sleep.
They Only Require Brackish Water
Glass shrimp prefer slightly salty water because their natural habitat is mangrove swamps where freshwater from rivers mixes with saltwater from tides or sea spray. If you want to keep a few glass shrimp then all you need is salt added to tap water until it's around the same salinity as seawater.
They Eat Almost Anything
Glass shrimp are omnivores who will eagerly accept just about any food you give them. This includes flake fish food, fruit or vegetables, and pretty much anything from your kitchen that has been cooked (as long as it doesn't contain chemicals like onion powder). If you're trying to avoid overfeeding your shrimp then consider cutting up larger pieces of food into smaller pieces before putting them in the tank because glass shrimp really love snacking on tiny bits of stuff.
They Don’t Grow Very Large
Glass shrimp stay quite small; even when they're full-grown they're only about an inch long, including their tails. If you keep your shrimp in brackish water then they may live for over two years because this increases their lifespan
They Produce Very Easily
One male glass shrimp can breed with several female glass shrimp if they all live together without any other males around to inhibit them or compete for territory. Keep the sexes separated and in a dedicated breeding tank and you'll soon have plenty of tiny baby shrimp swimming around your aquarium.
All you need is a separate breeding tank filled with brackish water (around 1 tablespoon per gallon) lots of plants such as java moss, and a heater to keep the water temperature between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. You can use food coloring as well if you want; this helps the shrimp breeders see their eggs because they're clear.
It’s Easy To Keep Them Happy
A small group of adults will be perfectly happy in a 10-gallon aquarium that's filled with just a few rocks or pieces of wood to provide hiding places and somewhere for the babies to go during the day when the tank is dark. They don't need any extra filtration or aeration and it's best to leave the tank lid off so they can swim around at will.
They Contribute To Aquarium Cleaning
Glass shrimp eat leftover food, which means they help keep your aquarium clean already without you doing anything extra to maintain it. This makes them a great pet for people who are very busy because their fish won't be getting sick from dirty water and you'll still have time to look after them properly when you get home from work in the evening.
They're Very Cheap
You can usually pick up a small group of adult glass shrimp for just a few dollars from local aquarium stores or online. This makes them perfect if you want to buy a pet on a budget and the best choice for people who are just getting started with fish keeping and want to explore before they spend a lot of money.
They're Safe With Other Animals
Glass shrimp are completely safe to keep with most types of fish because they're too small and slow to cause any trouble. They may not get on very well with fish who are bigger, faster, or more aggressive than them but you definitely don't have to worry about your shrimp being eaten. For example, You can even keep a group of ghost shrimp in an aquarium full of cichlids without any problems as long as the cichlids aren't significantly bigger than the shrimp.
Glass shrimp are perfect if you want something to keep your fish tank clean that's cheap, safe, and easy to look after. They reproduce quickly, don't require much extra effort, stay quite small, eat just about anything, and are unlikely to ever die of illness or old age.
All in all glass shrimp make excellent pets for people who are new to aquariums and have very little spare time on their hands because they won't have any problems as long as you feed them some brine shrimp every now and then.
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