Atyopsis Moluccensis

[Mystil]

Hello Peeps

A few months ago I bought some cherry shrimps and got another "mystery" shrimp in the bag (the bloke could not be bothered to get him out of the bag) and I took it home.

I have just been browsing on the internet and I have found identical colouring ones to the one in my tank and they are called Fan shrimp (Atyopsis moluccensis).

Problem is this shrimp is doing quite well in my tank but:
a) he is only about 1-2cm long, how long does it take them to grow to full size (3inches+)? and is this their true size?
AND
Does he need a special diet? I cannot see if he has fans on his forelegs as he is quite flighty but he does not seem to be lacking any food.

Any info on this species would be appreciated if anyone has or is keeping these.

Thanks again
Liza

 

[three-fingers]

Could you possibly take a picture? If it was a fan shrimp you should see him in the filter flow trying to feed, try looking at night as they can be more active then. If it is a fan shrimp you should really try to make sure it gets some powdered flake or something every one-two days so it doesn't have to ware down it's fans so much foraging elsewhere.

I'd be interested to see what it is as I've never seen a fan shrimp that small yet.

 

[Mystil]

I will try to get pictures tonight of him on my hubbys camera.

He also changes colour on a regular basis from dark brown to Bright red but the strip down his back always remains white.
I almost mistake him for one of my cherries till I see his stripe.
I have never seen him using fans to get food and I feed flakes every few days.
Thanks three-fingers

 

[Mystil]

After all that and he has decided to go into hiding the little scamp....i swear he knows I am waiting with the camera!

I will try again tomorrow night and see if i get anywhere.

 

[Shrimper]

I will try to get pictures tonight of him on my hubbys camera.

He also changes colour on a regular basis from dark brown to Bright red but the strip down his back always remains white.
I almost mistake him for one of my cherries till I see his stripe.

I hope you do manage to get a picture as it sounds like it might just be a cherry shrimp that looks slightly different. Some of my cherrys have a white stripe along their back and not all of them are a perfect red,

The smallest bamboos i have seen have been over an inch long and have very obvious fans instead of the normal claws, most are bigger than this.

There are some smaller fan shrimp species and it could be one of them... try to get a picture of the claws to help with the ID.

One other question is has it ever carried any eggs? If it has then it must be a cherry shrimp unless you have more shrimp the same species as it.

 

[Mystil]

Nope never carried eggs.
It just does not look like the same shape as a cherry...alot slimmer, smaller and pointier head end.

Maybe it is but i have my doubts, we will see!

 

[Mystil]

FINALLY pictures! like blighter finallly came out a minute ago.

Sorry they are not too good but hopefully you will get the jist. Not very big piccs im afraid..i havent a clue how to magnify them!

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[three-fingers]

Well done getting the pics (they are hard lil buggers to catch), in imageshack, you cant post thumbnails on forums - always use the 'direct link' code and paste it in the 'insert image' box that comes up when you press the button for it above when you are writing a post.

From that picture it's 100% not a bamboo shrimp, it looks just like 'Malaysian rainbow shrimp'.
See here: [URL="http/www.shrimpfanatics.com/shrimp-rainbow.html"]http/www.shrimpfanatics.com/shrimp-rainbow.html[/URL].
I have them too, and they are easy to keep, get a bit bigger than cherry shrimp but smaller than amano shrimp, and can apparently breed in freshwater (not seen any babies yet, but they carry loads of tiny eggs - more than cherry shrimp).

 

[Mystil]

Thanks! I have no clue how to magnify the pictures. Could you tell me for future reference three-fingers? I was using Imageshack.

"Malaysian rainbow shrimp"
Hmmm at least I know what I have got. I will have to do some more reserch on the RIGHT shrimp type now.

The mystery is solved....now I just have to get my one afew friends, which is going to be difficult cause they dont have them around here at all. He or she may have to stay single for the time being.

 

[three-fingers]

No problem .

First:

Then, once it's uploaded:

And to copy the direct link:

And put it in a post:

It should come up like this:

I prefer to use photobucket though, accounts are free and it's faster. Another advantage with photobucket is the pics stay on your profile so you can go back and copy the link in the future too, without having to upload it again.

 

[raptorrex]

"Malaysian rainbow shrimp"
Hmmm at least I know what I have got. I will have to do some more reserch on the RIGHT shrimp type now.

The mystery is solved....now I just have to get my one afew friends, which is going to be difficult cause they dont have them around here at all. He or she may have to stay single for the time being.

Atyopsis moluccensis. bog standard Bamboo/wood shrimp, to give them their most common names. young one at that. they often like to hang over an air stone, not for the air, they create a current and this draws debris off the substrate, which they eat. crumbling flake very fine may also help. its not unusual to find them scavinging on the substrate either, some do some dont. I've not seen them hang around the filter outlet, pointless anyway as there should be littl or no food in the just filtered water, but i have heard of it. they really do need some places to hide, when they moult.

 

[three-fingers]

Atyopsis moluccensis. bog standard Bamboo/wood shrimp, to give them their most common names. young one at that. they often like to hang over an air stone, not for the air, they create a current and this draws debris off the substrate, which they eat. crumbling flake very fine may also help. its not unusual to find them scavinging on the substrate either, some do some dont. I've not seen them hang around the filter outlet, pointless anyway as there should be littl or no food in the just filtered water, but i have heard of it. they really do need some places to hide, when they moult.

Good info on bamboo shrimp, but that's not what we have here, take a close look at the pictures .

What Mystil has is one of the Caridina cf. babaulti shrimp known as 'rainbow shrimp' due to how often they seem to change colour.

Just like 'green shrimp' and others, they are shrimp within the Caridina genus which are like (but may or may not be) Caridina babaulti.

You'll see them listed on various sites as Caridina cf. babaulti "rainbow" or Caridina cf. babaulti "insert random lfs name here".

 

[raptorrex]

i would disagree, now there is something odd lol, both the name they were sold under and the pic are Bamboo/wood shrimp. imo. even the colour change range is identical to that which i observe.

 

[TylerFerretLord]

Normally I'd agree with boboboy here, however I can't make any fans out in that picture and Mystil hasn't seen any either.

Mystil, think you can stare at your tank for a few hours to see if you can catch it fanning?

 

[three-fingers]

The legs are completely different from bamboo shrimp though (even ignoring the lack of fans) - not nearly as thick and stocky.

The body shape is also different, and look at that rostrum! I have male's and female's of both species in the same tank - and while these pics aren't the clearest (shrimp pics aren't exactly easy), that's certainly not a bamboo shrimp.

Compare them to the picture in the first link I provided then compare them to pics of bamboo shrimp . The colour is closer to that pic than I've ever seen my bamboo shrimp (or even any pictures of bamboo shrimp on the net). Not that it matters, these guys are called 'rainbow shrimp' for a reason...

And don't get me started on lfs shrimp/fish names .