How To Acclimate Ghost Shrimps?

Every shrimp keeper needs to know how to acclimate shrimps. When you are keeping ghost shrimps, you need to know the exact acclimation process for ghost shrimps. So, I wrote this article to give you a step by step acclimation guide.

You need to adjust the ghost shrimps to the temperature and other water parameters of the aquarium to acclimate them. You can do this by a drip acclimation process.

For the acclimation of ghost shrimps, you should consider some facts. In this article, I have discussed them all thoroughly. So, go through this article to get all the important information together to acclimate your ghost shrimps properly.

Why Do You Need To Acclimate Ghost Shrimp?

Acclimation is needed for a ghost shrimp to expand its lifespan. There are some factors like temperature, pH, KH, and GH to provide the proper environment for your shrimps. So, you should be careful about this point.

If the shrimp can not acclimate to the environment of the tank or aquarium, it can lead them to shock or even death. If you transfer the ghost shrimps from the carrying bag directly to the tank, that will be a completely new environment with different parameters. And it’s not easy for a little creature like a ghost shrimp to survive in the new place.

So, in order to save your shrimps from any kind of risk, you should focus on the acclimation of the shrimps first.

Let’s check out the factors you need to know for acclimating ghost shrimps now.

Factors You Should Maintain Before Acclimation Of Ghost Shrimps

There are some differences between keeping fish and keeping shrimps in the aquarium. Shrimps are more sensitive than fishes.

 When you are keeping ghost shrimps, you must consider some factors. Because a large number of ghost shrimps that are sold at the shop come from free water from the natural environment. When you are taking them home, they already have gone through a lot of stress. So, it’s not impossible for them to die if they come to a completely different environment. So, look over the factors needed for acclimating the ghost shrimps.

Temperature

It’s one of the most important factors. As ghost shrimps are sensitive, they can not tolerate high temperatures. But make sure that the temperature is not too low to survive for the tiny shrimps.

The optimum temperature for the ghost shrimps is between 68° F and 82° F. It’s normal to change the temperature regularly. And that doesn’t have a severe impact on your shrimps. However, if the temperature fluctuates at a high rate, you need to use a heater to control the temperature.

Water Parameters

pH: It means the potential of hydrogen. Its range is from 0-14. If the pH of a substance is below 7, then the substance is acidic. Ghost shrimps can survive in an acidic environment. You need to keep the pH between 7 to 8.

If you need a test kit for measuring the pH, I’ll recommend API Master Test Kit. With this master test kit, you can measure ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and many other water parameters. It is certainly a worthwhile investment for any shrimp keeper!

GH: It means General Hardness which indicates the level of calcium and magnesium. Optimum GH range for ghost shrimps is 5-8 ppm.

KH: It is the abbreviated form of Carbonate Hardness which indicates how quickly the pH of the tank water can fluctuate. However, optimum KH is from 5 ppm to 8 ppm for ghost shrimps.

With this GH & KH Test Kit, you can measure both the GH & KH of your shrimp tank water. There is no need to buy two separate test kits. Certainly a handy test kit that will help you a long way!

TDS: It stands for Total Dissolved Solids. It includes all the minerals dissolved in the water. The optimum TDS is 150-200 ppm which should be maintained. This is a good TDS meter at a cheaper price range.

Let’s have a look at all the water parameters together.

Parameter	Optimal number	Limits
pH	7-8	7-8
GH	5-8 ppm	3-15 ppm
KH	5-8 ppm	3-12 ppm
TDS	150-200 ppm	100-400 ppm

Minerals

There are many minerals like ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, chloride, etc. However, try to keep them in an optimal range.

Tools You Need To Acclimate The Ghost Shrimps

After making the environment of a tank or aquarium suitable for the ghost shrimps, you need to start the process of acclimation. In this process, you need some tools.

At first, I’ll recommend this Drip Acclimation Kit. It consists of everything you’ll need to drip acclimate your shrimps. So, if you can, invest in this cheap kit to make your life hundred times easier!

The list of tools can be longer or shorter according to the needs. However, I’m giving you the standard list.

• Small bowl or container: It will be used to transfer the shrimps from the carrying bag to this bowl. The bowl should be big enough to hold sufficient water. And make sure that the shrimps can not jump from the bowl although the ghost shrimps are not seeing jumping usually.
• Scissors: You need scissors to cut the shrimp carrying bag. If you don’t use scissors, some water along with some ghost shrimps can be thrown out of the bag which can be harmful to the shrimps. So, try to use scissors to open the bag safely.
• Airline tube: If you use the siphon method, then you must use this. Water is transmitted to the container from the tank. This method will equalize the temperature of the water of the container and the tank.
• Shrimp net: You should transfer the shrimps from the container to the tank by using a shrimp net. It’s possible to transfer directly from the container. But the chemicals used in the container may pollute the water of the tank. It’s better to use a shrimp net to avoid water pollution of the tank.
• Spoon: You can use this to transfer shrimps from the container to the shrimp net.

Steps To Acclimate The Ghost Shrimps

Acclimating is a very important task in keeping the ghost shrimps. Because it’s the beginning of their new life in your aquarium. So, they need to acclimate first to survive in this new environment. And you are the person who can help them in this process by following some steps.

Step 1: Planning Everything Before Acclimating:

Since acclimation is very essential for the ghost shrimps, you need to plan everything to acclimate properly.

The first thing is to plan the day, you will take them home from the shop. Or you can order them from an online shop. Plan that day so that you can give proper time to take them home. Don’t hurry too much so that your little shrimps don’t get hurt.

It’s also possible that you bought them from the shop, but can’t transmit them to the tank on that day. Regarding this issue, you can transfer them to a container with some food. But it’s not applicable for a long time.

Make sure what things you will need primarily to acclimate the ghost shrimps. Manage them before buying the shrimps. And plan every procedure you need to acclimate your shrimps.

Step 2: Visualizing the ghost shrimps

You need to open the box containing the shrimp carrying bag in a dim room. Bright light can be harmful to the shrimps. Carefully look at the bag. Notice if there is any dead shrimp. If there is any, you should isolate the dead shrimp from the bag after cutting the bag. Because it can increase the ammonia of the water which is not good for other shrimps.

Step 3: Acclimating The Temperature

You need to match the temperature of the bag like that of the aquarium. But as there is a variety of bags, look over the following 2 points. Choose the one suitable for you.

Non-breathing bags:

If the carrying bag is non-breathing, then you can float the bag on the tank water for 20-30 minutes. Though the substance of the bag can be harmful to the tank water, many people use this method. If you are afraid about it, then follow the next point.

Breathing bags:

These types of bags have small pores on their surface. While moving these bags in the air, there’s no problem. But when you put them in the water, oxygen will come out through the pores causing oxygen deficiency in the bag.

So, never float the breathing bags on the water of the aquarium.

You can keep the bag in a dim room for half an hour to one hour.

Step 4: Cutting The Mouth Of The Shrimp Carrier Bag

Firstly, cut the shrimp carrying bag with scissors. Make sure that the water doesn’t fall. Hold the mouth of the bag carefully. Then transfer the ghost shrimps to the container.

Step 5: Transferring The Shrimps To The Container

Now transfer the shrimps carefully into the container. You can deliver them directly. But it’s better to pour some water from the bag into the container. Then transfer the ghost shrimps one by one with a net. Then pour the rest of the water into the container.

Step 6: Setting The Air Tube

If you use the siphon method, this step is for you. It’s a cool idea. In this method, put one end of the tube into the tank water. Keep another end in the container. You need to make some loose knots to do this process smoothly. Otherwise, you can use any small clip so that the lumen of the tube becomes thin.

However, after beginning the siphon, make sure that the water drops are dropping at a rate of 1-2 drops per second. This process needs to be continued for 1 to 3 hours. When the tank water will be ¾ of the water of the container, then stop this process. Now, it’s time to get your ghost shrimps into the aquarium.

Step 7: Transferring The Ghost Shrimps To The Aquarium

At this point, your shrimps are going to their new permanent home where they will live the rest of their lives. So, make their entrance carefully.

Use a shrimp net to transfer the shrimps to avoid the touch of the container to the tank water for safety. And don’t mix the water of the container with the tank water. Many people do it. But I recommend you to avoid this. After transferring all the shrimps, keep light of the aquarium off for 4 hours. And wait for 12-24 hours to give them food.

Final words

As ghost shrimps are too tiny and sensitive, you should be careful about their acclimation. I tried to give you a proper guidance about the acclimation process of ghost shrimps. If you follow my advice, hopefully your little ghost shrimps will be able to live properly in their new home.