Ghost shrimp, with their transparent bodies, are excellent additions to your aquarium. Yet, you can’t just keep as many shrimp as you like in the same tank.
So, how many ghost shrimp in a 10-gallon tank is ideal? If you have such a tank and want to raise ghost shrimp, this post will show you how to do it properly.
Let’s check it out!
Contents
How Many Ghost Shrimp In A 10-Gallon Tank?
Generally, you can keep around 40 or fewer ghost shrimp per 10 gallons of water.
Their small sizes, approximately 1.5 inches in length, allow you to raise many of them in the same place.
Here is a rundown of the ideal number of ghost shrimp to put in your aquarium.
| Tank size (gallons) | The ideal number of ghost shrimp |
| 1 | < 5 |
| 10 | < 40 |
| 20 | < 80 |
| 30 | < 120 |
| 40 | < 160 |
| 50 | < 200 |
| 50 to 65 | 220 to 260 |
| > 65 | > 260 |
Factors That Affect The Number Of Ghost Shrimp In One Tank
The tiny size makes it easy for you to keep many ghost shrimp in your aquarium. However, other factors may affect the final decision, such as:
Tank mates
Ghost shrimp have a relatively small environmental impact as they release little bioload. Yet, the bioload in your tank may increase because of their tank mates.
In this situation, you can’t keep the estimated number of ghost shrimp since the aquarium’s bioload would be too high.
Instead, you have to perform much more maintenance and change the water more frequently. If you don’t mind, you can keep ghost shrimp with other fish.
If you don’t want to change the water every other day, you have to keep the population of the shrimp to a minimum.
Alternately, avoid keeping too many tank buddies that increase the bioload.
Fish like goldfish, cichlids, and other species can generate a lot of bioloads. Hence, it’s not advisable to keep them in your shrimp tank.
The shrimp produce little waste
Plants
Live plants do an excellent job of maintaining water quality. They also oxygenate the water, assisting in the filtration.
If there are many plants in your tank, you can keep more than five shrimp in there. Sometimes, the plants even allow for up to 10 shrimp per gallon.
If you like to raise many shrimps, choose floating plants like Amazon frogbits or water lettuce. These plants are good at collecting ammonia from the water and filtering it.
Floating plants are excellent for the shrimp
Filtration
A good filtration can work for many shrimp. So if you don’t install any filtration in the tank, keep only a low shrimp population.
Although ghost shrimp only produce little bioload, the particles will accumulate over time. They will pollute the water and release toxicants.
Water changes can solve this problem. However, it takes time, and you can’t perform it frequently. Then, a filtration system comes into play.
There are cheap items in the market, so choose one for the sake of your pets.
Hiding places
Ghost shrimps are a little aggressive. So, if there are several of them in a tiny area, things may not get along well with each other.
These species want to feel safe in their habitat. Hence, you need to give them hiding places. The more shelters, the better.
Here are some ideas you can try:
- Plants: Plants not only look good but also filter the water. They are great hiding places as well.
- Driftwood: You can put rocks, driftwood, and other objects. We love cholla wood since shrimps go crazy for them.
- Caves: Shrimps love hiding among the caves. However, these items take a lot of space and are more expensive than the other two.
Your pets need many hiding places
Breeding
You can put approximately 100 shrimp in one tank if you want to raise shrimp solely. Your shrimp will reproduce efficiently in a tank designed for them.
10 to 20 shrimp are an ideal beginning number for your shrimp. The number of females should be higher than males for them to breed.
The shrimp will battle to locate each other throughout the breeding season if the tank is too huge or there aren’t enough males.
You can find out some tips to breed ghost shrimps from this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC0rULpxn3s
What Will Happen If You Put Too Many Ghost Shrimps In One Tank?
Many problems might arise if you keep more shrimps than the suggested amount. Potential problems include:
- Ammonia levels will rise and poison every living thing in the aquarium. Ammonia buildup that is too high can make the habitat for shrimps highly toxic and even deadly.
- If you don’t give your pets enough hiding places, they may become aggressive and fight each other.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How fast do ghost shrimp multiply?
A female ghost shrimp can lay 20 to 30 eggs every three weeks. Then, it will carry them for another one to two weeks.
2. Do ghost shrimp need to be in groups?
Ghost shrimp can live on their own. They will thrive and don’t necessarily need to live in groups. Just make sure there is enough water for it to swim in.
Put your pets in groups if you wish them to breed. Try to have a few more females than males—either evenly or slightly.
3. Do ghost shrimp create a lot of waste?
Ghost shrimp have a very small ecological footprint and biomass. They help to reduce the number of nitrates and create very little waste.
Conclusion
If you have a 10-gallon tank, keeping about 40 shrimps or fewer will be ideal.
Remember to consider their tank mates, breeding, live plants, and hiding places before introducing them to your aquarium.
These shrimps are beautiful to watch for hours. Please do not miss any tips in your guide to give these gorgeous species perfect living conditions.
Thank you for reading!
Alex is a pet freelance writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience. He attended Colorado State University, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biology, which was where he first got some experience in animal nutrition. After graduating from University, Alex began sharing his knowledge as a freelance writer specializing in pets.
