Red Clawed Shrimp

[eoibio]

I am looking to get some red clawed shrimp from the Macrobrachium sp. for my 60 gallon community tank.What size is 'small'?I read they eat small fish...Any help on this? Thanks!:help::dance:

[bettabrat]

A little advise when it comes to the Macrobrachium sp in general. I do not have red claws but have Macrobrachium lanchesteri (or so I think), Some can be aggressivetowards smaller slower fish and shrimps. I had some ghost shrimp and a couple amano shrimp in my community tank and my Macros killed them all off, I think they waited until their molts...because slowly my shrimp population started to dwindle until I was left with just the Macros. Oh but they won't touch my Bamboo shrimp, that is a plus. It wasn't until doing constant research trying to figure out about the breeding cycle for these guys did I learn about how aggressive they really are. To me it sounds they are about as opportunistic as crayfish. I am not trying to steer you away just be picky when mixing them in a community tank. If they are the only shrimp you should be fine. I have not noticed any fish casualties as of yet, but when the females are berried they appear to be aggressive towards all in the tank fish or invert. I have bumble bee gobies which are the smallest fish in my community tank and the largest is a sword tail Molly.

As for size I think the species in general can vary. My shrimp are right around 2.5" and the male is a wee bit smaller at about 2". Here is a link about the Red claws http://www.petshrimp.com/redclawmacro.html seems pretty informative.

I'd love to see pix if you do end up getting some. One of these days I'd like some myself.

[black_sun]

To me it sounds they are about as opportunistic as crayfish.

And they will even eat crayfish! They attack them when they begin to molt (or have just molted) and kill them.

http://www.plantedaquariumscentral.com - The owner of this site raises, breeds and sells them. Try emailing her if you need additional information from anything you get here. She's very helpful and nice.

[eoibio]

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[pik01]

they won't touch my Bamboo shrimp
Interesting, do they leave bamboo shrimp alone as a general rule or was this just what you've seen in your tanks so far?

[tennesseemom]

I have 8 red claws in a planted 55 gallon. I also have logs and other places for them to claim. They get along just fine with my cories, otos, and tiger barbs. They don't bother anyone, and none of the other fish bother them.

Before I sold some and moved some into the 55 gallon, I had too many in a 14 gallon, and they would attack each other and the endlers in that tank. Even though the tank is planted and they were a lot smaller then they are now, it's clear that they need space more then anything.

I have 2 adults in a 10 gallon and they get along fine, but I would not put any more then that in a small tank.

They also need a more meat based diet, including pond snails.

And they love to eat cubes of worms out of your fingers:)

[pik01]

that sounds cool long as the eating stops where the fingers start :)

[bettabrat]

Interesting, do they leave bamboo shrimp alone as a general rule or was this just what you've seen in your tanks so far?

So far just in my tanks. I think it's a size thing.

[bettabrat]

And they love to eat cubes of worms out of your fingers:)

I have been doing that recently with mine, very fun to watch them float back up to the top until the worms soak up enough water. LOL