Ghost shrimp verse snail....

[Sake]

Okay so I had a bit of dead plant matter in my tank and decided to get a few snails to eat it. So got a few from a friend dropped them in the tank, watched and waited for my brand new snails to start cleaning up for me! Well only one problem, I have ghost shrimp in this aquarium....No sooner than that snail hit the bottom a smallish ghost shrimp rushed over to check it out, I didn't think anything about it he was all excited his little claws and legs feeling all around the snail. Then a few other ghost shrimp noticed the activity and came over to investigate...I get a phone call, come back to check on my snails progress and um what the heck the snail is dead with shrimp swarming it and eating it???

Is this normal behavior for ghost shrimp or are my just nuts? Can i be sure the ghost shrimp did this or do you think it was more likely the kuhli loaches? I didn't see the loaches out so i dunno, you tell me lol

 

[GodFan]

Ghost shrimp are sometimes really other more violent shrimp. I have heard of them taking out fish. In fact I know of somebody who bought either a ghost or amano shrimp that became a homicidal prawn!

 

[mataichi]

I have ghost shimp, kuhli loaches and both ramshorn and mystery snails and everything gets along fine. You may have got some more aggressive kind of shrimp. The ramshorn snails were a hitch hiker on plants though so I wouldn't mind if something did eat a few of them.

 

[Boogety48]

Are you absolutely sure the snail is dead? Was it hanging out of it shell when you moved it around? Sometimes snail just don't move. Mine also likes to float around the top of the water.

 

[Sake]

Well considering the ghost shrimp had it out of the shell completely, I'm fairy sure! Oh and it seems to me like these aren't ghost shrimp anymore they are way bigger than usual and their claws seem a bit large I removed them out of the tank!

 

[Boogety48]

Oh yea that sounds dead lol. My ghost shrimp don't have big claws, mine are little. Every once in a while when my snails sit on the bottom, my shrimp will pick at them but they don't kill them. I wonder what kind they are.

 

[Sake]

I've done a bit of searching on it last night and they may be something called a long armed prawn not sure though and like I said they are removed from the tank and for good! lol I gave them to my nephew who has some red clawed crabs and gold fish, so far they don't bother the crabs or the goldfish.