What shrimp is this?

[Blackin]

When I got them, I thought they were basic Ghost Shrimp, but now not too sure.
I've got about 30 of them in a 29gal Tall tank. The biggest one, nose to tail is roughly 2 inches long. They also have the really long front arms with pinchers.
Here's the best part... They eat snails(Ramshorns, Trumpets and Assassins).

I was kinda wanting to combine these and my collection of Red Cherry Shrimp into a bigger tank, but I'm scared these guys would wipe out the RCS.

Sooooo..... what kinda shrimp is this?

 

[Summer4infinity]

I've heard that sometimes a larger, more aggressive shrimp gets sold as ghost shrimp. You might try googling Macrobrachium shrimp, and see if this is what you have.


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[ImACoolguy]

Maybe an Amano or bamboo? I believe both are clear and get bigger than ghosts.


Caleb

 

[Summer4infinity]

Also, I'm not sure you'd want to put those in with your cherry shrimp. I personally wouldn't risk it. I've read that even the regular ghost shrimp can be way more aggressive with food than cherry shrimp.


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[Nils]

I've heard that sometimes a larger, more aggressive shrimp gets sold as ghost shrimp. You might try googling Macrobrachium shrimp, and see if this is what you have.


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Yep, this is what they are. Macrobrachium lanchesteri is the name. They are predatory prawns. Pretty cool but dangerous to small fish and shrimp (and obviously snails ) I wouldn't risk putting them with your cherry shrimp. Have you had any berried prawns yet? I think they are brackish, but I'm not sure. You can see the long arms at the front of yours, this is how you can see they are these prawns.

 

[Blackin]

I discovered they eat snails quite by accident. I had put two assassins in to help clean up a mild Ramshorn infestation. These were roughly 1" Assassins too. Next day, their empty shells were over in the corner of the tank.


Glance to the other corner of the tank and one of my big trapdoor snails(Maybe 2" wide) had a half dozen shrimp on it ripping it out of it's shell. By the next morning, his shell was empty and they had what was left of his carcass fighting over it.


Fast forward a little over a week.... Very few Ramshorns left, but a big pile of empty shells in the corner.


I think ya'll nailed it. I've googled the hell out of "Macrobrachium Lanchesteri" and that certainly does look like them.


What's funny is, I got roughly 30 of them for just $5 at a LFS. Thought they were Ghosts and was going to try to breed them to feed to the Catfish, Cichlids, frogs, etc.


/Sigh

 

[Nils]

I discovered they eat snails quite by accident. I had put two assassins in to help clean up a mild Ramshorn infestation. These were roughly 1" Assassins too. Next day, their empty shells were over in the corner of the tank.


Glance to the other corner of the tank and one of my big trapdoor snails(Maybe 2" wide) had a half dozen shrimp on it ripping it out of it's shell. By the next morning, his shell was empty and they had what was left of his carcass fighting over it.


Fast forward a little over a week.... Very few Ramshorns left, but a big pile of empty shells in the corner.


I think ya'll nailed it. I've googled the hell out of "Macrobrachium Lanchesteri" and that certainly does look like them.


What's funny is, I got roughly 30 of them for just $5 at a LFS. Thought they were Ghosts and was going to try to breed them to feed to the Catfish, Cichlids, frogs, etc.


/Sigh

That's good for some cool shrimp. Have fun with them!

 

[Firelily]

Don't trust is with any smaller species of shrimp it will hunt them down. In the right conditions these things breed like roaches.

 

[Blackin]

Well, haven't seen any breeding, eggs, tiny baby shrimps. I've had a few of the juvie Mollies in there with them for a while now and they seem to be surviving.


Couple new revelations though on these shrimp...


#1 - When I put flakes in to feed the mollies, all the shrimp swim around with them and catch flakes and eat them. It's weird watching a shrimp swim all around the tank like a fish catching food.


#2 - I'm catching Ramshorn snails from my other tanks and just throw them in here. Within a couple days, there's nothing left but empty shells. These things have a healthy appetite for snails. They don't care what kind or how big or small.


#3 - These things grow like weeds! I've got a few right now that are roughly 3" long from tip of tail to tip of nose. They're like little monsters!!


#4 - They don't seem to chew on plants at all. In fact, they appear to make great farmers. Always crawling all over the plants, grooming them.

 

[Autumnsky]

They can catch small fish with their little pinchers... Just feed them Crab Cuisine by Hikari it has good minerals for molting and is about $4. a bag.

I would throw in a Cuttlebone no additives, like they use for birds to eat. Soft side down and left float till it sinks. Then you can prop it up in a back corner like a surfboard in the sand or just lay down horizontally behind some rocks or plants if you don't want to see it. The shrimp will pick at it for minerals too.

Fun but fierce!