Imposible search for an special shrimp

[JDogg]

ok i am looking for some shrimp for my 75 gallon tank.

it is a lightly planted (hopefully when i get Co2 figured out it will become more heavily planted)

you can look at my info for exact plants, inverts and fish.

here are my requirements, can you think of a shrimp species that fits the bill?

1) South American in origins, to fit biotypic-ish theme of tank

2) large enough and hardy enough to survive GBR and Bolivian Rams.

i am fairly convinced that no such shrimp exists (at least not in the hobby)

any ideas?

 

[Pleco]

A Giant African Filter shrimp may be able to live in that environment. They are hard to find though, i havent seen on in any of my LFS's. They as the name implies are huge, i believe in the 6" + range when they are adults.

Maybe some adult flower/filter shrimp, but they would have to be more on the full grown size.

Most shrimp are acclimated to FW in their early growth stages and then sold as FW shrimp.

-Pleco

 

[Toirtis]

One of the fairly newly discovered Atya species from Central and South America would fit the bill, such as Atya scabra or Atya margaritacea, although I am unsure if they are available in the hobby in the US to any degree yet.

 

[JDogg]

not a shrimp, but any thoughts on this guy? http://www.freshwaterinverts.com/4000.html

 

[JohnPaul]

I can't think of any shrimp that would fit the bill. In terms of survival, yes the Giant African would work, but as the name implies, it hardly fits the South American biotope theme! Some of the large-clawed (Macro. sp.) shrimps would be able to fend for themselves, but then you might have the opposite problem--at full adult size, it would be your rams who would be in danger.

Have you considered dwarf crayfish? It is a very new and rapidly expannding part of the aquarium hobby. These are crays that at full adult size get to around 1.5", maybe 2". They are peaceful, do not attack fish, nor do they tear up plants like the more common crayfish in the hobby do. And as long as they had hiding places for molting, I would *guess* they would be ok with rams. (I've never owned any so that's just a guess.)

Not sure about fitting the South American biotope, but I do know some of the most popular ones in the hobby currently are from Mexico, so at least that is getting down towards the right direction.

Best source of info I know of off-hand would be http://www.petshrimp.com, they have one article on dwarf crayfish in their articles section and then a whole discussion forum dedicated to crays in their forums section. There are some hardcore dwarf cray owners there, I am sure they could help you with the biotope question as well as general compatibility questions.

 

[Musket]

JDogg, that is one kewl looking crab! I couldn't keep it because I keep brig snails... but maybe someday.. I could put him in with my bichirs... well, until they get bigger anyway.

 

[Veneer]

I can't think of any shrimp that would fit the bill. In terms of survival, yes the Giant African would work, but as the name implies, it hardly fits the South American biotope theme!

Actually, Atya gabonensis occurs in Atlantic drainages of South America as well as in West Africa. Atya scabra has also been showing up on exporter lists: www.franksaquarium.com is soon expecting a shipment from Ecuador (see http://www.franksaquarium.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=7 and http://www.crusta10.de/UserFiles/Image/Fach8.JPG for images).

 

[Veneer]

JDogg, that is one kewl looking crab! I couldn't keep it because I keep brig snails... but maybe someday.. I could put him in with my bichirs... well, until they get bigger anyway.

In truth, Aegla (which have no common name in English) are not crabs. They belong to the infraorder Anomura and are thus more closely related to squat "lobsters", porcelain "crabs", mole "crabs", hermit "crabs", and king "crabs" than true Brachyura.

 

[Veneer]

Some Jonga or Potimirim may also be able to suit your purposes.