FW shrimp

[Azimiut]

I bought this little guy and put him in my 38 gal tank with just angels and one small african ciclid and asorted tetras. I was told that he will get huge, and I am trying to find info on him.
looks: about 1.5" with long arms and large red claws
told they can be very agressive and grow large enough to eat my tetras and some day the ciclid. what the hell is he ? any info would be great!

 

[Wippit Guud]

That's sounds more like a crayfish than a shrimp. Think miniature lobster. Basic rules: if they can grab it, they'll try to eat it.

 

[OrionGirl]

Sounds like a crawdad/crayfish. Looks like a miniature lobster?

These guys are not community friendly. They will catch and eat any fish they can. They also dig up/destroy plants, and redecorate at will.

If it were my tank, I'd take it out. Maybe setup a smaler tank just for him.

If you'd like some shrimp in your main tank, ghost shrimp and amanos will do well as long as nothing sees them as a snack.

 

[RTR]

Sounds like a Macrobrachium shrimp to me (aka long-armed shrimp). These include the largest FW shrimp, but there are hundreds of species, so they are not easy to ID. Do a Google search on the genus name.

 

[GDominy]

I agree with Rtr....

check out the following page for GREAT info on Freshwater inverts

http://www.shrimpcrabsandcrayfish.co.uk

They have a section specifically for identifying Macrobrachium shrimp. I had a species of Macrobrachium that I never was able to identify and he started eating my fish when he reached 3". He loved eating them tail first but would never eat the heads (too boney).

These critters are not good community members, however are quite interesting to take care of.

 

[Azimiut]

definately a shrimp, no crayfish. anyways, you can no longer buy crayfish in AZ from fish stores, they were banned by game and fish. even blue lobster.

 

[Serrateeth_2002]

Does it look like this?

 

[Azimiut]

not that red, but it is still small, could change still. I will find out for you all.

 

[keely]

Originally posted by Azimiut
I was told that he will get huge, and I am trying to find info on him.... told they can be very agressive and grow large enough to eat my tetras and some day the ciclid.

Um... just curious, why exactly did you buy something you were told would eventually kill your other tank inhabitants? Darwinian experiment?