Many people enjoy looking after fish and crustaceans and in recent years a popular choice of aquarium life has been the shrimp. There are a great number of shrimp species in the world, some of which prefer saltwater conditions and others which make their homes in a freshwater environment.  Many of these are well suited to life in an aquarium and one such example of this is the ghost shrimp which has the Latin name Palaemonetes Paludosus.

The Ghost Shrimp is native to North America and can be found in many freshwater locations in the south of the country where the water temperature does not drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The shrimp gets its name from the fact that it has a transparent body which can be seen through and was thought to give it a ghost like appearance. Other common names by which it is known include the American Glass Shrimp or the Grass Shrimp.

Ghost Shrimp are crustaceans and can grow to a size of around 2.5 to 5cm (1 to 2 inches) as adults. They have transparent bodies and can have a spot on their tail which is orange to yellow in color. The tail is flattened to aid the shrimp swim and it has 10 sets of legs set along its body with the front two pairs ending in small claws to help them feed. When shrimp species first became popular as aquarium animals, Ghost Shrimp were the first used in America as they were the only ones which were readily available at the time. They had originally been used as food for larger fish and this is still the case. However as shrimp became more popular as pets the Ghost Shrimp became known as an aquarium animal in its own right.

The Ghost Shrimp is well suited to freshwater aquariums which should be at least 10 gallons in size to accommodate them and have plenty of plants and hiding places. It prefers water temperatures of between 68 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit and a water pH of 6.5 to 8. The best type of substrata for the shrimp is gravel. It is a scavenger with a diet which mainly consists of algae and other detritus and left over food in the aquarium. It has a fairly peaceful temperament and will usually live for around 2 years if it remains healthy. They can be easily kept in an aquarium environment with other fish which are not too big and aggressive. However larger fish may view them as food and it is better to keep Ghost Shrimp with smaller, less aggressive fish.

Ghost Shrimp will readily breed in an aquarium if they are kept in large enough groups which contain male and female shrimp. It is not that difficult to raise the young as long as they are removed to a separate tank. They tend to be fairly inexpensive to purchase compared to other shrimp species available and as they are effective aquarium cleaners they can be an excellent addition to an aquarium.