Freshwater Shrimp Eating Tetra Again

[Marshall..]

My friend had one of those shrimps and spotted it with one of his angel fish gripped in its claw.He boiled it.The shrimp not the angel fish.(something I dont agree with.)

 

[littleme1969]

My friend had one of those shrimps and spotted it with one of his angel fish gripped in its claw.He boiled it.The shrimp not the angel fish.(something I dont agree with.)

At the end of the day its not the shrimps fault Its the people who are selling these to fish shops as ordinary fresh water shrimp, and the fish shop owners for not checking.
I couldnt bring myself to kill mine So I set them up in thier own 30g which they seem very happy in. And the lack of fishie snacks means their growth rate has slowed right down thank goodness
Vids below in my sig

 

[lozronz]

Ha Ha! This problem again, lets not give them all bad press they are awsome little (no so little anymore) pets, they are just opportunist murdering psychopaths in the wrong environment.

I have found they can live with Clown loaches (although they seem a little confused cos they would normally eat shrimp if they were not 20cm and clawed up to the nines) Filter Barbs, Knife Fish and large Gibs and large Kribs.

Anything that does not have its wits about it all the time or rests or the bottom at night or is a slow swimmer or is too curious is lunch including fish much bigger than the shrimp.

Mine have also slowed in growth since I stopped ignorantly feeding them gormet Rams, angels, and corries.

 

[kev350d]

Ive been directed to this thread regarding some shrimp my wife purchased on the understanding from the store assistant at pets at home that they were indedd amano shrimps, as i couldnt find any this morning i presumed they had died (i was wrong) they are in there fit and well and infact one of them is to well as he sits under a slate and tries to pounce on the cardinals (i knew as soon as i seen them that they wernt amano but thought they were ghost (feeder) shrimp) looks as though i may have 5 of the shrimps you discuss here,
I'll post a pic later, only thing is their claws are small "at the minute" so im unsure if they are the species in question.

 

[lozronz]

Hey Bud,
If you are unsure, I would suggest being proactive about identifying them rather than the 'wait and see' approach, I am no expert on shrimp but if you whack a photo up I would have thought I would be able to identify them for you.

I know that on these forums on occasion people (not everyone, please don't shoot me down!) can be a bit overdramatic about potential for disaster when adding a new fish, but with these shrimp there is a very real danger you will loose a lot of your fish... and plants... and four of your five shrimp if your not careful.

mine when I first got them were quite soppy for a few months but then almost overnight decided that they were going to devour the tank!

like I said previously they are really interesting pets but if your fish are less than about twice their size you might be in trouble.

Good Luck!

 

[kev350d]

Hey Bud,
If you are unsure, I would suggest being proactive about identifying them rather than the 'wait and see' approach, I am no expert on shrimp but if you whack a photo up I would have thought I would be able to identify them for you.

I know that on these forums on occasion people (not everyone, please don't shoot me down!) can be a bit overdramatic about potential for disaster when adding a new fish, but with these shrimp there is a very real danger you will loose a lot of your fish... and plants... and four of your five shrimp if your not careful.

mine when I first got them were quite soppy for a few months but then almost overnight decided that they were going to devour the tank!

like I said previously they are really interesting pets but if your fish are less than about twice their size you might be in trouble.

Good Luck!

Hi there the photo's were on their way lol (having them you must know just how difficult they are to find in a planted tank lol) they are always around but when you need them they cant be found

Anyways i set the slr up for a good macro shot but after waiting an hour nothing, about 10minutes ago they came out so i quickly snapped a couple pics on the mobile:


Sorry about the quality (the first one the shrimp just looks evil lol)

If you need any more i'll try to pull them off on the camera instead of the phone.

 

[littleme1969]

Hey Bud,
If you are unsure, I would suggest being proactive about identifying them rather than the 'wait and see' approach, I am no expert on shrimp but if you whack a photo up I would have thought I would be able to identify them for you.

I know that on these forums on occasion people (not everyone, please don't shoot me down!) can be a bit overdramatic about potential for disaster when adding a new fish, but with these shrimp there is a very real danger you will loose a lot of your fish... and plants... and four of your five shrimp if your not careful.

mine when I first got them were quite soppy for a few months but then almost overnight decided that they were going to devour the tank!

like I said previously they are really interesting pets but if your fish are less than about twice their size you might be in trouble.

Good Luck!

Hi there the photo's were on their way lol (having them you must know just how difficult they are to find in a planted tank lol) they are always around but when you need them they cant be found

Anyways i set the slr up for a good macro shot but after waiting an hour nothing, about 10minutes ago they came out so i quickly snapped a couple pics on the mobile:


Sorry about the quality (the first one the shrimp just looks evil lol)

If you need any more i'll try to pull them off on the camera instead of the phone.

Hi..
I'm the other demon shrimp holder that came a croper I also bought mine from pets at home, and was sold them as peacfull fresh water shrimp that wouldnt get about 5cms. Now the largest is 24cms and they live in their own tank. They managed to eat all 15 of my tetras other than one little guy that died of loneliness . They also ate about a dozen guppies and ive lost count of the number of young apple snails they nosshed on.
Yours look verry similar to what mine did when i first got them. About 3.5cms long, small claws and generally very placid. But within a month they were nipping at my fish and growing like mad.
There are alot of different varients on this shrimp and I have seem many different colours/markings to the body. I would just keep an eye out at first, keep a head count on your fish, and also watch for damaged and torn fins as that was the first thing I noticed. They hunt when the lights go out and creep up on your fish while they are sleeping
They grow very quickly which is one of the trates of this breed, as it turns out they were bred for the food trade and are infact a type of prawn, so you could have well of had their brothers and sisters in your king prawn curry!..ROFL
Like I said cant be totally sure if you have the demon variety, just keep a close eye on them.

 

[three-fingers]

Looking at those pics..it is very hard to tell at this stage . They could still be Macrobrachium assamensis as i said before, but you will know whether they are or not as soon as they pass that 3" mark, and you will need to re-home them or remove other inhabitants of the tank.

Good luck anyway

 

[lozronz]

Same as what littleme said really,
They look very simular, same markings on the head etc, you probably won't have any problems till their claws start to take colour (orange or blue then eventually black...mine went anyway) I think someone established in an earlier tread that the colour bears refence to the pecking order (blue/black being the evilest!)

 

[kev350d]

Yeah i noticed one today with what was either a casting or half of anoth shrimp in its claws chowing away.. The do half make light work of their food, they are becoming very confident and will hold their ground against any of the fish and even challenge them for food.

I can understand why they take their aggresion out on the tetras "the cardinals and glowlights tease them senseless" other fish such as the gourami's and clowns dont interact with them at all, I only ever see three at any one time now so its hard to tell if infact the other two are dead.

I'll more than likely keep them until they become an issue and if they are what we think then i'll depart company or maybies set them up in a tank of their own.

 

[littleme1969]

Yeah i noticed one today with what was either a casting or half of anoth shrimp in its claws chowing away.. The do half make light work of their food, they are becoming very confident and will hold their ground against any of the fish and even challenge them for food.

I can understand why they take their aggresion out on the tetras "the cardinals and glowlights tease them senseless" other fish such as the gourami's and clowns dont interact with them at all, I only ever see three at any one time now so its hard to tell if infact the other two are dead.

I'll more than likely keep them until they become an issue and if they are what we think then i'll depart company or maybies set them up in a tank of their own.

Yes they do eat their own shed. Its a way of taking back nutrients. It wont be such a problem at the mo, but when they get larger the first one to shed may come a bit of a cropper. The others will seak it out quicky and attack it. Nipping of legs claws and antenna, they may even kill it if all the others jump in at once .
The ratio of water to shrimp is about 10gallon so I have read. so If you have them in a small tank your going to have big problems in the future. I would say with 5 you will get some deaths anyhow with the smallest being eaten first
But as I said before do regular head counts on your fish, paying atention to the tetras. Mine ate my neons within weeks of going in the tank

 

[ant0]

just looked at this thread again - i took him back. Exactly the same type as littleme1969. Ghastly thing didnt suit my tank, was ignorant when i bought him from pets @ home

 

[puddle_inc]

i'll take him. i'll pay shipping. if you don't want him anymoe. i have a tank specifically for shrimp and crabs. he would fit in great.

 

[littleme1969]

i'll take him. i'll pay shipping. if you don't want him anymoe. i have a tank specifically for shrimp and crabs. he would fit in great.

Hi I have one on e.bay at the mo if you still want one ...
Long Arm Shrimp for sale

 

[Colin_BC]

right. He's going back to the LFS then, i'd noticed myself that its grown quite a bit too

Please tell them when you return him, what he actually is, as these are being sold all over the UK at moment as just fresh water shrimp, no mention that thay can get as big as 15" and some even larger

Yowza..... That's a bit of an oxymoron; isn't it? 15" shrimp?! Pass the cocktail sauce please.... (jk)