# Will ghost shrimp eat algae?



## esarkipato (Jul 19, 2005)

I haven't witnessed mine eating any algae, hair included. They are in a tank with cherries though, and I think the cherries get to it first


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## Lil boy blue (Jan 26, 2006)

Ghost shrimp will eat hair algae(mine did) but there are better shrimp out there that will take care of the algae and live longer... I believe cherry shrimps are good at algae control


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## Solace (Feb 12, 2006)

Lil boy blue said:


> Ghost shrimp will eat hair algae(mine did) but there are better shrimp out there that will take care of the algae and live longer... I believe cherry shrimps are good at algae control



I have some Cherries.. the cherries are in my 5gal and i am waiting on a breeding colony to get setup before i put any ammount in my 29gal. With the cheapness of the ghosts, i figured i could get an army of them and by the time i had enough cherries to support two breeding colonys, one in the 29gal, the ghost shrimp would be getting elderly 

$10 for 50 hair eating soliders isnt a bad deal in my eyes.


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## Solace (Feb 12, 2006)

I picked up 6 of these today -- Thery are... much, much more active than my cherries. Much much larger also. 

These ghosts are constantly swimming around the tank, they love to eat flake food.. If I put some flake food at the top of the aquarium, they swim to the surface and knock it in the water, then chase it around.


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## Lil boy blue (Jan 26, 2006)

yeah mind do the same with the flake food......i think there a cool not as colorful as the cherry but they are active night and day with me
And they breed like crazy....i bought 4 for my 20 and 3 for my ten then i mixed them in the 20 and the next day 2 had eggs....crazy....


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## jake (Feb 20, 2004)

I think any amount of algae ghost shrimp eat is accidental.


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## Lil boy blue (Jan 26, 2006)

yeah there are better shrimp out there for the job, but for the price they are good and fun to watch....mind did eat some hair algae when i fine put them in the tank....now they only eat the flake food


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Ghost shrimps are really good in eating "fluffy" algae, they eat hair algae too but don't expect them to take care of extensive hair problems. 

They tend to get stuck and entangled in them too...


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## Naja002 (Oct 12, 2005)

40 ghost shrimp wiped out the persistant thread algae problem I had in my 55gal. and have done a fantastic job of maintaining it.

Just don't feed them too much--or like the fish, etc--they won't be interested in the algae.....


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## 75 gallon (Dec 19, 2011)

i picked up 25 ghost shrimp today getting ready to release them well see how it goes, i will let you all know.

Thanks for the help glad someone asked the question!


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## jasonpatterson (Apr 15, 2011)

Holy necro Batman! In any case, you'll want to be careful keeping a bunch of ghost shrimp with other shrimp species if you are intending for them to eat algae. In my experience ghost shrimp become more aggressive if their food supply is limited (not surprising) and they have been seen eating other shrimp. They'll eat algae if there is no other alternative, but they'd much rather scavenge for flake food or pellets.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

jasonpatterson said:


> Holy necro Batman! In any case, you'll want to be careful keeping a bunch of ghost shrimp with other shrimp species if you are intending for them to eat algae. In my experience ghost shrimp become more aggressive if their food supply is limited (not surprising) and they have been seen eating other shrimp. They'll eat algae if there is no other alternative, but they'd much rather scavenge for flake food or pellets.


Yea, what jasonpatterson said. Often times LFS mislabel young macrobrachium as ghost shrimp as well. And as those grow up in your tank they will eat every living thing.

If you want a true algae eating shrimp, nothing can beat the amano shrimp.


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## gelbschnee (Jan 23, 2012)

some of my ghost shrimp seem to have a greenish color about them. has anyone every had this happen to their shrimp?


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## jasonpatterson (Apr 15, 2011)

They often have green innards and can get all manner of colored spots on their bodies. Their flesh is typically clear though.


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