Singapore Flower Shrimp

[steelhealr]

Common Name(s): Singapore Flower Shrimp, Wood Shrimp

Scientific Name: Atyopsis moluccensis

Family: Atyidae

Origin: Asia

Maximum Size: Up to 3 1/2 inches

Minimum Aquarium Size: 20 gallons

Care: The Singapore Flower Shrimp should only be added to your tank after it is well established. They prefer a planted tank and hiding places. They can be shy and usually are found hanging out near the intake grate of your filter. The two I have stay there almost continually. They range in color from red to brown and are very peaceful. They have a light stripe down their back and can quickly change color. Be careful to not add them to your tank if you have aggressive fish or fish that will eat invertebrates.

Feeding: The Singapore Flower Shrimp has specialized legs that beat the water and collect food in the water column, hence, they are filter feeders. I crush up some flake into fine particles when feeding the other fish and I don't drain off any liquid from frozen food. You should drop pellets if your water tends to be extremely clean. They will eat infusoria, bacteria in the water column and floating algae but not algae that clings to tank surfaces. As mentioned above, they tend to hang out near the intake grate of your filter as this is where all the food gets siphoned. Be careful when you do your monthly maintenanced on your filter that you don't injure your shrimp when you pull out the intake.

Breeding: This shrimp can be sexed by looking at size. The male is larger than the female. A tank without fish reportedly will induce breeding more than a fully stocked tank. Offspring are born live and do not last long in the tank if not removed.

 

[Bloo]

One of the other common names often sold under in the UK, is Bamboo (Fan) Shrimp.

Lovely & docile and also get along (or rather completely ignore) my Amano Shrimp.

Here is mine

 

[JonathanT]

Good call Bloo, it seems Wood Shrimp and more commonly Bamboo Shrimp are more "proper" common names. Petsmart now carries this species under the name "Marble Shrimp."

There are two other species I know of that can be found on the pet trade, one of which can grow over six inches. It is often stated that members of this family can use their fans, when closed, to "poke" potential predators/harassers. I still wouldn't recommend keeping it with things that could harm it, even if it does have some meager defensive measures.

-Jonathan

 

[grasshopper_green]

I just got two of these, and I think they're really cool. Instead of the grasping feet like amano shrimp, they have feathery fans for filtering.
I've read that the males have the first pair of walking legs enlarged, while the females have all the walking legs equally slender.

 

[GShorty1981]

I had one of these dudes in a newly cycled tank about a year ago,he was great,i u8sed to handle him much liek i do my cleaner shrimps in my reef tank,most people were grossed out by him tho and when i sold my tank i had to give him away to the LFS as nobody wanted him! lol...even the girl behind the county let off a squeal when she saw him!

He was a big shrimp tho,about 5" in size and fat! he was sold to me under the name 'rock shrimp' by Maidenhead Aquatics..however Bamboo Shrimp seems to be the most common name from what i have read.

 

[lordofthesea]

one very effective method of feeding these shrimp and any other fan shrimp for that matter, is to squirt liquid fish fry food direstly into its fans using a pippette. if it is picking up it's food with it's fans off the floor, it cannot filter enough food.

 

[sylros]

one very effective method of feeding these shrimp and any other fan shrimp for that matter, is to squirt liquid fish fry food direstly into its fans using a pippette. if it is picking up it's food with it's fans off the floor, it cannot filter enough food.

Picking up stuff from the floor or piece of wood is what they are doing, is this not normal behavior? Also, they don't seem to hang around the filter pipe which s fine by me...does it mean that there's enough food everywhere else in the tank? I just got them so I'm trying to find out more. The sandy bottom doesn't seem to bother them at all, they munch constantly while the other fishes zoom around them. They are very placid, even with fry around.

 

[IdaRosson]

I bought a bamboo shrimp from my LPS last week. It was obviously starving as it was collecting food off the bottom at the store but it seemed to move around fine. My shrimp seemed to be doing okay other than I never actually have seen it eating and it hasn't been fanning for food. Yesterday before I left it was lying on the bottom of the tank, when I got home today it was on its side not moving at all. I thought it was dead but when I went to take it out it clung to the net and I had a hell of a time trying to get it off. It's color is a bright red/brown and from what I know that's healthy and when they're dying they turn really pale. I really don't know what the issue is with her. I've owned two bamboo shrimp before and they lived for over two years. It looks like its fans may be damaged but I can't really be sure. I have corys (which I know are harmless), three dwarf gourami and three yoyo loach. From what I've read yoyo loaches eat shrimp so I'm a little worried this might be the reason my shrimp isn't doing very well even with its size. Any feedback would be helpful, I love bamboo shrimp and paid quite a bit of money for it. 

 

[xcheryl]

One of the other common names often sold under in the UK, is Bamboo (Fan) Shrimp.

Lovely & docile and also get along (or rather completely ignore) my Amano Shrimp.

Here is mine

Vampire shrimp as are fan feeders. I have two, a blue and a pink. They are large and my cichlids don't bother them. I have sponges in their tank which I squeeze twice a day. Makes the water cloudy but it clears within an hour leaving deposits for my bottom feeders and other fish on the plants, hardscape and sand.

 

[MuddyWaters]

I LOVE these shrimp! I like to stare at them as they sit in the water flow with their little satellite dish hands grabbing the unseen in the water and chowing down. I don't have any currently, but they are one of my favorite underwater critters of all time.