Calcium and Iodine

shrimp do not require calcium or iodine dosing.
their carapaces are thinner and softer than
crabs and crayfish who do not get enough
of these minerals from typical food pellets.

so your ghosts are hiding, eaten, or died for
other reasons such as water chemistry, etc.

If you do regular water changes, there's calcium in the water.
You should look into other issues like high nitrates or poor water quality.

Thanks guys, I was just worried (I saw one today ). Spypet, you keep RCC, how do you dose calcium and iodine? Is iodine safe for other fish?

Kent and Seachem both make a liquid iodine supplement.
I dose half what they recommend since I'm not using it
for a reef, just to help crays/crabs out a bit. there is no
conclusive evidence that iodine even helps them molt,
but I'd rather be safe than sorry. also keep in mind that
more important than supplements is having places in your
tank for the crabs to molt in peace.

read on about calcium dosing methods;
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/general-planted-tank-discussion/42328-adding-calcium-snails.html
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/water-parameters/39304-adding-calcium-my-snail-tank.html

Ghosts are feeders. They aren't kept as other shrimp around here.

If they die for no reason it isn't your fault.

-Andrew

Hey thats a matter of opinion! I keep ghosts because of how they look. I'm also planning on keeping RCS soon. I know that many use them for feeding purposes, but that is not a reason for them to die. Mine also eat quite a bit of algae, and that makes me happy
Thanks spypet, those threads give good ideas.

well the conditions that they are bred in and kept in before you bought them is why they are generally weak and die quickly....much like those 10 cent goldfish at petco.

I guess you're right... but then I do get them at petco, and they do have them in the same filtration system/setup as the other fish they carry... I'm also pretty sure I've been loosing them because they tend to jump out of my tank (must not like it) and crash land on the dry floor:icon_cry: . But I wont really know until I setup my 20gal with RCS and some Ghosts too. Thanks guys!