Big Shrimp

[severum boy]

Was in my local fish shop today after a tip off and found, after a bit of looking, what I was told was an armoured shrimp. It was about 2.5", a light blue colour, with big heavy plating (hense the name I guess), and he looked like a marine mantis shrimp with very small fans. Does anyone have any practical knowledge of this shrimp? How could I best accomandate it at home?
It was £14.99 and some CRS were £4.99 (!!!!!!!!!!!)
Thanks in advance, Max

 

[three-fingers]

African filter shrimp . I wouldn't get one unless your tank is at least 6 months mature as they filter feed and specifically just trying to feed them will pollute the water. They are basically just bigger bamboo shrimp, very peaceful and wont hurt any fish, even fry.
They need lots of hiding placed for when they shed their skin, same as any invert, other wise this will happen.
They are very cool though .

 

[CBBP]

They are sometimes Known as Vampire Shrimp but African filter shrimp is better. If you see Vampire shrimp be careful and make sure it has the fans. Long armed shrimp are also called Vampire shrimp and those eat fish.

 

[PookPook]

Atya Gabonensis is their name. There are several filterfeeding shrimp a few small, most belong to the Atya group if you are into reasearching. Look for names starting with Atyaopsis, Atya, Micratya... There are some good listings on some German sites. The thing with those other species is that they are not readily available in the trade like Atya Gabonensis and Atyopsis moluccensis

 

[severum boy]

Thanks all,
Anyone know what size tank they need? Can they be fed? The guys at the fish store get some algae flake on their hand, add some water and rub their hands together then place them into the tank. This means tiny particles are floating around for the shrimp to eat, is this not practical in an aquarium?
It has no claws, they also had some clawed shrimp in and it was nothing like them.

 

[three-fingers]

For something that filters its food from the water, and gets to 15cm+ i would say 30 gals minimum for one shrimp. If you have a mature 6 months or more tank, then you wont need to specifically feed them. Trying to feed them specifically is very tricky, especially since they hide most of the time and you wont see them. It can also degrade the water fast because they defiantly aren't going to eat all the food you put in and no other fish will eat it because its so small. If you see them trying to pick food off the ground with their fans, that means there isn't enough food in the tank for them and they cant feed properly.

 

[severum boy]

Any idea how they would be with fish? I have a 25gal with 2 ropefish, 2 climbing perch (unagresive compared to evreone elces experience), 3 butterflyfish and a Dormitator Maculatus gobie.

 

[three-fingers]

They are 100% OK with anything that wont eat them when they shed, but they defiantly need a hiding place. When you keep them with bigger fish that would want to eat them this happens .

 

[severum boy]

Il put in a couple of hiding places in then. Thanks for the link, looks like il bide my time befor getting the shrimp, il wait untill everythning is settled first.
Thanks for all repiles give, Max