ACK! my ghost shrimp attacked my goldfish

[lyquidphyre]

My ghost shrimp have gotten HUGE and more aggressive. The bigger ones killed and ate the smaller ones. Also, my guppy had died (come to think of it, it wouldn't of surprized me if they killed him) but when I noticed my guppy was dead I was leaving and figured I would get him out of the tank when I got home. By the time I got home (which wasn't that long after) my ghost shrimp had eaten the body.


Just now I caught the two bigger ones pinning my calico goldfish to the ground and attack him. I hit the glass out of reflex and one jumped off and the other one didn't quit until I stuck my hand in the tank and "shooed" him away.

Is this what normal ghost shrimp do? Or did they give me something more aggressive thinking they were ghost shrimp?

And what do I do with them?

 

[Sinuhe]

Maybe they are not Ghost Shrimp, after all? Based on what I've been reading about shrimps, Ghost Shrimp should not attack fish. I recently bought a shrimp that I, too, thought was a Ghost Shrimp at first, but based on help from people at the forum, we determined it was actually from the Macrobrachium family, shrimp that have big claws. They have been known to catch fish, and then one day I saw him catch an Oto. I returned him to the LFS, and they compensated me with other stuff worth his original price, and actually even more (because I'm a regular customer). How big is your shrimp, and are his claws strong? Here is a picture of my "killer shrimp" .

 

[Allivymar]

Do they have sorta long arms with pincers at the end lyquid? I'm wondering if they're long arm shrimp; I don't think true ghost shrimp have the capability of catching healthy fish, but long arm shrimp do.

Theres some pics here so you can see what I mean: http://www.shrimpcrabsandcrayfish.co.uk/Shrimp.htm?Longarm.htm~mainFrame

 

[Allivymar]

LOL Beat me by a minute Sinuhe!

 

[lyquidphyre]

I went to that site you gave the link for and they look like a cross between the "Macrobrachium sp.-- Indian Prawn" and the "Macrobrachium sp."

Right now they look more like the 2nd one because they aren't as dark as the Indian Prawn and their pincers havn't developed that much...

They have been attacking my fish lately. Im gunna put them in my old betta bowl- if I can catch em

 

[RogerMcAllen]

How much did you pay for the shrimp? Ghost shrimp are feeders, so they should not have been more than a quarter a pop. All others I have seen have been more expensive than that. I also second that idea that a ghost shrimp would not attack anything.

 

[TankGirl]

If it has no claws it is a shrimp, if it has claws then it is considered a "prawn" and is a predator. That is the rule of thumb when buying shrimps for me. Sometimes you can get away with keeping them in a tank of large, aggressive fish, or just keep them in a small tank of their own. If you have not removed them, do so right away, as they will not stop, and will soon take over the tank!

 

[lyquidphyre]

They didn't have claws when I bought them- you could hardly see them when I bought them.

I just called the fish store to let them know what they sold me.

 

[Sati]

Wow, I wonder if that's what I had years ago. I bought ghost shrimp that ate 3 of my neons in 1 day. I could see the stripes down the insides of the shrimp. I took the shrimp back to the store to get a refund and some free neons. The guy who had just sold me those "ghost shrimp" went nuts on me telling me that ghost shrimp don't eat neons. He pulled out books showing me pics of them living together and everything. I told him I don't care what the book says but that the "ghost shrimp" he sold me DID eat my neons. I never went back to that stupid store again.

 

[lyquidphyre]

Yah the ones I had started to chase my fish and now that they are gone some of my fish hang out at the bottom more.

Mine how brown stripes down the side as well.. if you look at the link that Allivymar
posted the Indian Prawn best resembles what I had

 

[Sinuhe]

I think mine was also Indian Prawn. I still have one shrimp/prawn left in one tank. So far, he's much smaller in size, and his claws don't look that offending, but I'll keep an eye on him, and if he grows big/ gets aggressive, I'll have to get rid of him, too, or get him a separate tank.

Ghost Shimp have claws, too, right, and they are still considered shrimp? I'm confused . To make it even more confusing, "prawn" and "shrimp" are translated into one, same word in Finnish.

 

[lyquidphyre]

How much did you pay for the shrimp? Ghost shrimp are feeders, so they should not have been more than a quarter a pop. All others I have seen have been more expensive than that. I also second that idea that a ghost shrimp would not attack anything.

i got them for about 20 cents. Ive come to the conclusion they weren't ghost shrimp *nod*

 

[RogerMcAllen]

Yes, but I wouldn't really call them claws, as much as I would pinchers. They are very small and only really useful for picking up things.

 

[justapain]

Ghost Shrimp attacks

My girlfreind and I are tyring to raise Ghosts and have one with hatchlings but we have never seen one attack a fish nor feed on a dead one but they do protect themselfes from fish when a fish get to freindly in looking for a bite