What Do Ghost Shrimp Eat? | Diet & Feeding Tips

Shrimp are interesting. They can live in an aquarium with other peaceful fish or live alone in a shrimp tank. Ghost shrimp care involves feeding them and ensuring they have the right food. But, what do ghost shrimp eat? How do you feed a ghost shrimp?

Like other types of shrimp, ghost shrimp are scavengers. They eat algae off the side of tanks and rocks in the wild. This article looks at how you can provide that same healthy diet for your ghost shrimp in an aquarium setting.

What Kinds Of Foods Do Ghost Shrimp Eat In The Wild?

Ghost shrimp live in freshwater rivers and lakes. They spend most of their time in the lower levels of the water. The slow-moving rivers and lakes usually have sandy bottoms. The sand is essential because it will trap food that falls from above. Ghost shrimp can then scavenge the scraps. In their natural habitat, you’ll find pebbles, driftwood, and plants. Ghost shrimp use these to hide from predators.

In the wild, algae would make up the majority of a ghost shrimp’s diet. They gather algae as they move over hard surfaces. Ghost shrimp also eat dead plant matter. The ghost shrimp may nibble on live plants if they are hungry. The nibbling would not cause significant damage. Unless there were lots of ghost shrimps feasting on the plant. Being omnivores, ghost shrimp can also eat small insects and other tiny animals.

Palaemonetes paludosus

What To Feed Aquarium Ghost Shrimp?

Now that you know about their diet in the wild, it’s easier for you to plan your ghost shrimp’s diet. It’s best if you give them a varied diet to meet all their nutritional requirements.

It would be best if you fed your aquarium shrimp a diet that contains fats, proteins, and calcium. Shrimp can easily tolerate fatty foods. Store-bought foods will almost always include fats, whether live or frozen. Proteins are essential throughout a shrimp’s life, but especially during growth. Algae is a rich source of protein, as well as live/frozen foods.

Shrimp need calcium to grow. They use it for their hard shell. The hard shell protects the shrimp from other animals and danger in their environment. Calcium can also help your ghost shrimp molt more easily. You can find calcium supplements for your shrimp at online fish stores or your local pet shop.

Here are some things that you can feed your ghost shrimp:

  • Algae
  • Algae Wafers
  • Baby Shrimp Food
  • Brine Shrimp
  • Daphnia
  • Fish Pellet Foods
  • Flake Foods
  • Frozen Foods
  • Insects
  • Mosquito Larvae
  • Shrimp Pellet Foods
  • Small Live Foods

What To Feed Baby Ghost Shrimp?

Ghost shrimp larvae and baby ghost shrimp have a similar diet to adult ghost shrimp. After the larvae hatch, they are tiny. They mainly eat algae and a small bit of plant detritus.

You can feed baby ghost shrimp with algae wafers or flakes. But you have to break up the food into smaller particles. Remember, the baby shrimp have tiny mouths, so the finer the particles, the better. Don’t feed them live foods as they are not old enough to hunt or control them.

There is baby shrimp food available. You can find baby shrimp food in powder form, and all you have to do is sprinkle some in the tank so that your baby shrimp can eat. After five weeks, your baby ghost shrimp will be mature. You can now feed them the same foods you provide the adult ghost shrimp.

How And When To Feed Ghost Shrimp

You now know all the things that ghost shrimp can eat. But, do you know when to feed your ghost shrimp? Do you know how to feed your ghost shrimp? Luckily, feeding your ghost shrimp is an easy process. A tiny bit goes a long way. But it depends on where you keep your ghost shrimp.


If you have shrimp and fish in your tank, they will eat the leftover food. If you only have a tank of shrimp, you will need to give them extra nourishment. If your tank has lots of algae, then you can feed your ghost shrimp less. For an average tank with four ghost shrimp, you need to put one algae wafer every other day.

Ghost shrimp don’t need a strict feeding schedule. They will eat anything they find in the tank. Because they always eat algae, they never have to wait for food as there should always be algae in the tank for them.

Glass Shrimp

Warning

Please do not add anything with copper in it to the tank. Copper will hurt the shrimp, and they might die. You should keep other metals at a low level too. Most are toxic in large amounts.

Final Thoughts

Ghost shrimp eat almost anything and are easy to keep. The only thing you need to watch out for is whether they will be able to consume food. Since they are small, some foods are too big for their mouths. For tanks with fish, you don’t have to worry too much about their diet. You do feed your fish, right? A good calcium supplement is great to have to help your ghost shrimp grow a strong shell and also helps with molting.

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